Colts quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 389 yards on Sunday, and that put him ahead of Dan Marino on the all-time passing yardage list. That meant a lot to Ryan.
“I’m proud of that,” Ryan said. “I’ve gotten to know Dan since I got into the league back in 2008 and I love him. He’s a fun guy to be around. He was the ultimate guy when I was growing up, he’d sling it. And I remember the first time I met him he said, ‘Hey, no matter what happens man, keep slinging it.’ I was like 23 at the time, I was like, that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. And here I am 37 and still remember him saying that to me. Any time you’re mentioned in the same breath as Dan, it’s pretty cool, and I’m proud of that.”
Ryan now has 61,500 career passing yards, moving him into seventh place all-time and ahead of Marino, who retired with 61,361 yards.
Up next for Ryan are No. 6 Philip Rivers (63,440 yards) and No. 5 Ben Roethlisberger (64,088 yards), both of whom are within reach for Ryan this season. It’s definitely possible that Ryan will move into the all-time Top 5 this season.
To get higher than that on the career yardage list, Ryan will need to play at least another couple years. Brett Favre is fourth with 71,838 yards and Peyton Manning is third with 71,940. Drew Brees is in second place with 80,358, which is probably out of reach for Ryan.
Tom Brady is in first place all-time with 85,929 yards and counting, a record that is far out of reach and that Brady will surely own for many more years, maybe many decades.