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History of the NFL's career passing leaders

By Mark Craig

October 6, 2018 at 9:45PM

Drew Brees is 200 yards behing Peyton Manning (right) for the most passing yards in NFL history (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

HISTORY OF CAREER PASSING LEADER

There have been nine career leaders in passing yards since the NFL began keeping track of non-scoring statistics in 1932.

Years record was heldTotal yards (current rank)

x-1. Arnie Herber11 (1932-43)8,041 (213th)

2. Sammy Baugh16 (1943-59)21,886 (94th)

3. Bobby LayneFour (1959-64)26,768 (65th)

4. Y.A. TittleTwo (1964-66)33,070 (36th)

5. Johnny Unitas10 (1966-76)40,239 (19th)

6. Fran Tarkenton19 (1976-95)47,003 (11th)

7. Dan Marino12 (1995-2007)61,361 (4th)

8. Brett FavreSeven (2007-14)71,838 (2nd)

9. Peyton ManningSince 201471,940 (1st)

And coming as soon as Monday night …

10. Drew Brees—71,740 (3rd)

x-Stats from Herber's first two seasons aren't included because the NFL didn't start keeping track of non-scoring stats until 1932.

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).