![Damon Allen banner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Damon_Allen_banner.jpg)
This is a list of
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
s passing statistics for quarterbacks that have played outdoor
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. Below is a listing of the combined professional football league leaders for passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing completions, and passing attempts.
Because
indoor football is played on a much shorter field and heavily favors offensive scoring, its records are not included in the main list, but are noted in
a separate addendum below; likewise, as is standard for statistical record-keeping,
exhibition game
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
s,
all-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
s (such as the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
) and
preseason
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
contests are not counted.
During the NFL season,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
quarterback
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...
passed
Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...
to become the all-time passing yards leader in professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
history.
[Drew Brees breaks Anthony Calvillo record](_blank)
/ref> Brees had surpassed Anthony Calvillo
Anthony Calvillo (born August 23, 1972) is the quarterbacks coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. He was professional football's all-time passing yards ...
for the record in the previous season, while Calvillo had surpassed Damon Allen
Damon L. Allen (born July 29, 1963) is a former professional quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is currently fourth in all-time professional football passing yards and second in all-time CFL passing yards after he ...
for the record in the CFL season. Allen broke the previous record held by Warren Moon
Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...
in . Moon had held the record since when he surpassed the record set by Ron Lancaster
Ronald Lancaster (October 14, 1938 – September 18, 2008) was an American-Canadian professional football player and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 16 seasons, he ...
, who had surpassed Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
during the CFL season. Unitas established the record set forth in this listing, while Matt Ryan is the leading active QB chasing Brady.
In the NFL season, Brady surpassed Brees for the all-time passing touchdowns record; Brees had surpassed Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with th ...
for the record the season before.[Saints’ Drew Brees breaks Peyton Manning’s career touchdown pass record](_blank)
/ref> Manning had held the record since the NFL season when he surpassed Brett Favre's record.[Peyton Manning breaks TD record](_blank)
/ref> Prior to that, Brett Favre held the record since the NFL season when he surpassed Warren Moon's record.[If Warren Moon was to combine his CFL and NFL stats he would rank second in the NFL](_blank)
/ref> Moon had held the record since when he surpassed the record set by Fran Tarkenton
Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...
. Tarkenton had surpassed Johnny Unitas during the NFL season. Ron Lancaster overtook Tarkenton's lead in the touchdown pass category during the CFL season. However, Tarkenton retook the lead during the NFL season. Unitas established the record set forth in this listing.
Brady has held the record for pass completions since passing Brees during the 2021 NFL season; Brees surpassed Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...
during the season.[Drew Brees passes Brett Favre for most career completions](_blank)
/ref> Favre had held the previous record since the season when he surpassed Warren Moon's record. Moon had held the record since 1992 when he surpassed the record set by Fran Tarkenton. Tarkenton had surpassed Johnny Unitas during the NFL season. Unitas established the record set forth in this listing.
Brady has held the record for pass attempts since the 2020 NFL season when he surpassed Brees, who had surpassed Favre earlier in the same season. Prior to being surpassed by both Brady and Brees during the 2020 NFL season, Favre had held the record since , when he surpassed Warren Moon
Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonton ...
.[CALVILLO WILL NOT RETURN TO ALOUETTES THIS SEASON](_blank)
/ref> Moon had held the record since when he surpassed the record set by Fran Tarkenton. Tarkenton had surpassed Johnny Unitas during the 1975 NFL season. Unitas established the record set forth in this listing.
Brady, Moon and Unitas are the only gridiron quarterbacks to have held the record in all four of the major passing categories (passing yards, passing touchdowns, pass completions, and pass attempts) at the same time. Brees held each of the four records at one point during his career, but never held all four of them at the same time.
Other categories from this listing that provides all-time leaders include Rodgers, who is pro football's all-time passer rating leader, Ricky Ray
Ricky Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. Ray spent the majority of his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He also ...
, who is the all-time pass completion percentage leader, and Ron Lancaster, who is pro football's all-time interceptions leader.
When considering regular season and post season combined, Brady is the all-time leader in gridiron passing yards with 101,747, which surpassed Calvillo's mark of 82,365 yards in 2019. Brady is also the leader in all the other three major categories when considering post season performances (731 touchdown passes; 8,871 pass completions; 13,843 pass attempts).[By the numbers: playoff performers](_blank)
/ref>[Pass Yards Reg+Post](_blank)
/ref>
All-time outdoor professional quarterback passing statistics
:''Updated through current season; minimum 40,000 passing yards.''
:''Bold and highlight denotes an active player.''
= Leader in category for outdoor gridiron football.
= Former leader in category for outdoor gridiron football.
North American outdoor gridiron football leagues
;The following leagues are eligible for inclusion for statistical purposes:
* National Football League (NFL)
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
, since 1920
* Canadian Football League (CFL) and predecessors, 1929–2019, 2021-¹
* Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), 2016–2019, 2022-
* XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
, 2020²
;The following former leagues include statistics for players who attained the minimum 40,000 passing yards:
* United States Football League (USFL), 1983–1985, 2022-
* NFL Europe (NFLE), 1991–1992; 1995–2007
* United Football League (UFL), 2009–2012
* Alliance of American Football (AAF), 2019²
Notes:
* ¹ The CFL's East Division has existed since 1907 but did not legalize the forward pass until 1929.
* ² To date, these leagues have not had any quarterbacks whose career statistics rank high enough to qualify for this list. Quarterbacks who played in these leagues are still active in professional football and thus, in theory, could appear on this list in the future.
* The inclusion of a league in this list does not imply major or minor league status. No players who played in the American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
threw for 40,000 career yards, even as NFL and CFL quarterbacks from the same era achieved that feat.
Addendum
For the purpose of this list, indoor American football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller a ...
statistics have been excluded. While overall passing yards are not substantially greater in a given indoor football game compared to a CFL or NFL contest, the number of touchdowns in that form of the sport is far higher, and a list including them would invariably favor indoor football quarterbacks in the number of touchdowns thrown. Quarterbacks who would qualify for this list in yardage statistics if indoor football statistics are included are listed here separately:
*Ricky Ray
Ricky Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. Ray spent the majority of his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He also ...
has 1,296 additional passing yards from his time with the Fresno Frenzy of AF2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
which was a league of indoor gridiron football.[Highlights](_blank)
/ref> These passing yards are not included in the totals above since this list consists only outdoor gridiron football statistics and because AF2, the extinct minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
of the defunct Arena Football League, played at a semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
level. (Ray, though he was on the 53-man roster of the NFL's New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
in 2004, spent the entire season as the third-string quarterback and never took a snap or threw a pass during his time in the NFL.)
*Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend fr ...
has 44,931 gridiron passing yards. However, this list consists only outdoor gridiron football. His outdoor gridiron football statistics from his time in the NFL (32,344 passing yards)[Kurt Warner - Profile](_blank)
/ref> and his time with the Amsterdam Admirals
The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe.
History
The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...
of NFL Europe
NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...
(2,101 passing yards)[Kurt Warner jersey and football added to Hall's collection](_blank)
/ref> totals 34,445 outdoor gridiron passing yards. He also passed for 10,486 yards as a member of the Iowa Barnstormers
The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa) ...
of the Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
, which is played indoors.
* Aaron Garcia has 62,180 gridiron passing yards. However, all of his totals were accumulated in the now-defunct Arena Football League (AFL), an indoor league. Six other AFL players (Mark Grieb
Mark Richard Grieb (born May 23, 1974) is a former Arena football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League (AFL). Grieb currently serves as the head coach of the Sacred Heart Prep G ...
, Clint Dolezel
Clint Dolezel (born March 25, 1970) is an American football coach and former professional arena football player in the Arena Football League (AFL).
Dolezel was a quarterback in the AFL before becoming the head coach of the AFL's Philadelphia So ...
, Andy Kelly, Sherdrick Bonner
Sherdrick Deon "Sed" Bonner (born October 19, 1968) is a former American football quarterback who played fifteen seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL).
High school years
Bonner attended Azusa High School in Azusa, California and was a stude ...
, John Dutton, Tommy Grady
Thomas Grady (born March 18, 1985) is an American football quarterback who primarily played in the Arena Football League (AFL).
After a standout high school career at Edison High School, Grady signed with the University of Oklahoma to continu ...
) have amassed over 40,000 gridiron football passing yards indoors[AFL Passing Records](_blank)
/ref> (Grieb has an additional 499 yards[Claymores 1998 Statistics](_blank)
/ref> for his play with the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe and 408 yards for his play with the Las Vegas Outlaws of the original 2001 version of the XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
, while Kelly has additional yardage from his time with the Rhein Fire
Rhein may refer to:
Places
* Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no)
* Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
* Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland
Ships
* SM ...
of NFL Europe, then known as the World League. Dutton reached 40,000 combined with his one year in the Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...
. Grady completed his milestone during his time in the National Arena League
The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States.
Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...
.).
See also
* List of National Football League passing yardage leaders
*List of National Football League passing touchdowns leaders
This is a list of the top 50 National Football League (NFL) players by total career regular season passing touchdowns.
Tom Brady holds the record for most passing touchdowns with 645 and most playoff touchdown passes with 86.
Regular season ...
*List of National Football League passing completions leaders
This is a list of the top 50 National Football League quarterbacks career regular season passing completions and attempts, of quarterback playoff completions and attempts by players with over 250 playoff completions, and combined career totals.
...
*List of National Football League records (individual)
Here is a list of the records in the National Football League set by individual players.
Service
* Most seasons: 26, George Blanda, 1949–1958, 1960–1975
* Most seasons, one team: 21, Jason Hanson (Detroit Lions), 1992–2012
*List of NFL p ...
*List of Canadian Football League records (individual)
This is a list of Canadian Football League regular season records that are effective as of the end of the 2022 CFL season.
''Italics indicate an active player.''
Games
Most Games
*408 - Lui Passaglia
*394 - Bob Cameron
*370 - Damon Allen
*340 ...
*List of leagues of American and Canadian football
This is a list of current and defunct leagues of American football and Canadian football.
Leagues in North America
Current professional leagues in North America
Professional outdoor leagues
''Major''
* National Football League (NFL), 192 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passing, quarterbacks
Lists of National Football League quarterbacks
American football records and statistics
Canadian Football League records and statistics
National Football League lists