NFL 2014: Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning part of golden QB generation

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was obviously extremely forward thinking when he coined the phrase: “You’ve never had it so good.”

And, while he was probably referring only to the British economy in his famous speech of 1957, it most certainly applies to the NFL in 2014 as we draw breath between Weeks 5 and 6.

Consider these two little factoids that popped up on my TV screen just a few hours apart on Sunday:

1) Peyton Manning has just completed his 500th touchdown pass, making him only the second player in NFL history to reach that mark.

2) Tom Brady has just topped 50,000 yards passing, making him just the sixth player to top that mark, and just the third who is still active.

Excuse me? Just the THIRD who is still active? Of all six players to reach that lofty plateau, fully THREE are still playing? OK, so my TV can’t actually answer me, but I had already had my mind boggled quite enough for one afternoon/evening of pigskin pandemonium, so I wasn’t letting that one drop.

Carving

On top of the remarkable stat of Manning reaching 503 touchdowns (by the time he had finished his single-handed dismantling of the not-inconsiderable Arizona defence), and in only 244 games, compared to Brett Favre’s 302, we were reminded that no less than half of the all-time top six passers are still busy carving open defensive secondaries today.

Favre (71,838 yards), Dan Marino (61,361) and John Elway (51,475) have all long since hung up their cleats, but each of Manning (66,257), Drew Brees (52,655) and Brady (50,232) are still plying their trade on a week-to-week basis in front of our very eyes.

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Brees is also fourth on the all-time touchdowns list (with 372, just 48 behind third-placed Marino) and Brady fifth (365), which means that those who were paying attention in the past 16 years, have seen Peyton, Tom and Drew pass for a staggering 1,240 touchdowns, or nearly five scores every time that trio take the field.

It’s a litany of light-em-up ball-playing that we have pretty much become accustomed to, but it should still grab your attention when two milestones like that come along practically back to back.

Fully 500 touchdowns and 50,000 yards.

OK, so it’s a lot easier to pass the ball and shred defences in this day and age than it was when Fran Tarkenton (sixth all-time with 342 touchdowns) and Johnny Unitas (ninth, 290) were doing their stuff, but to get a week when both Manning and Brady reached new heights in even their stellar careers is distinctly eye-catching.

It begs the question – is this the genuine Golden Age of passing quarterbacks?

Pantheon

It is certainly extremely timely to focus on what’s happening ON the field rather than assorted and sundry sordid goings on OFF it (and yes, the sagas of Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, et al, do still drag on). The league needs positive PR like Kim Kardashian needs the paparazzi.

But the more you watch the likes of Manning, Brady and Brees (and Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers and Tony Romo, come to that), the more you see an absolute pantheon of supremely skilled and breathtakingly accomplished quarterbacks who continue to put up numbers that would have astonished those of just two generations ago.

And then you listen to them when they come off the field and your admiration only increases.

Because not only do Manning and Co talk the talk AND walk the walk inside the white lines, they are just as effortlessly eloquent in front of a microphone, showing the kind of respect both for the sport and their opponents that speaks volumes for their character, their upbringing and the sheer joy of playing sport for a living.

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These are All Stars both in the way they play and the way they live their lives. Like the recently retired New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter, they can have fans of the opposite team cheering for them, almost as if they can’t help themselves.

It is sport that transcends the usual boundaries and which lights up the dark corners created by the unfortunate deeds of the handful of miscreants.

They are wonderful role models and great examples of how to succeed in sport because, while they make it look easy for much of the time, you know they have put in the work and the dedication and the repetition and the study to make it all happen.

At the same time, while Messrs Manning, Brady and Brees are still raising their statistics to video-game proportions, we are also seeing the next generation of potential end-zone plunderers beginning to make their marks.

Yardage

During the same week of 503 touchdown passes and 50,232 yards, we also had three touchdown passes and 323 yards. Slightly less than the day’s two transcendent pass-masters of the NFL, but significant nonetheless. And then there was a two-and-334 performance, and another of two-and-264, as well as a three-and-155.

Putting the names to the stats, that was Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck of Indianapolis, Carolina’s Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.

All four had impressive games – especially Wilson against Washington – and all four remain firmly on track for many more years to come. And, while the Packers’ passer may be the oldest of the group at 30, by today’s standards he still has at least another eight or nine years left, and he could certainly make his mark towards the top of the record charts.

Rodgers currently sits at No.38 for career touchdown passes (200) and 62nd for passing yardage (25,352). Surprisingly, however, he has played only 99 games and, if he stays healthy enough to Peyton Manning’s age, he could easily start another 144.

Given his current scoring and yardage average per game, that would put him at around 490 touchdowns for his career (good enough for third place, all-time, presuming that Brees doesn’t add another 118) and roughly 62,700 yards (more than Marino, and also third in the all-time list).

Not all will go on to the mind-boggling numbers that Manning and Brady have already put up, but there’s still scope some to feature in those lofty heights for passing production.

That means we currently have no less than 10 front-rank quarterbacks all of whom have the potential to finish in the top 25 by the time they are ready to join Marino, Elway and Co with their slippers up in front of a good fire. Add in the fact Eli Manning is already in the top 20 in both categories and now it’s 11 – and counting.

There’s still scope for the likes of Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Nick Foles and even Joe Flacco (surprised? Double his current total of 128 TDs in six-and-a-bit years and he’d currently jump to No. 13) to feature in those lofty heights for passing production, which then gives you fully 15 teams – almost half the league – with a passer capable of shooting out the statistical lights.

Of course, not all will go on to the mind-boggling numbers that Manning and Brady have already put up, and it’s hard to imagine all of them being the smooth, iconic professionals that Peyton and Tom most certainly are (although you feel all of Rodgers, Luck, Wilson and Romo are made of the similar Right Stuff).

But the potential is certainly there and the fact there are SO many truly remarkable quarterbacks all at the same time really does bear out what dear old Harold said all those years ago, when the NFL was still an upstart league – we really never have had it so darned good as a football-watching public.

Roll on the next game!