The Colts franchise page on the awesome Pro-Football-Reference.com lists the franchise's leading passer, rusher, receiver and winningest coach. It's not a surprise that those leaders are Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy. The prolific offenses of the Peyton Manning era Colts have been lighting up scoreboards and notching victories for a decade now, but where do the Colts stars rank in the NFL’s history?
Obviously Peyton Manning is the starting place, he’s the Colts all-time passing leader having passed Johnny Unitas in both yards and touchdowns last season. Peyton holds the Colts all-time completion record as well, but still trials Unitas by nearly 100 for the lead in interceptions.
In the history of the NFL Peyton Manning sits as 8th in completions and will likely move from 3rd to 1st among active players in completions with both Brett Favre and Vinny Testaverde claiming to be retiring.
Rank - Player(age) - Completions-Leads Peyton by -Years to pass(at career ave)
1. Brett Favre (38) 5,377 1909 7
2. Dan Marino 4,967 1499 5
3. John Elway 4,123 655 2
4. Warren Moon 3,988 520 2
5. Drew Bledsoe 3,839 371 2
6. Vinny Testaverde (44) 3,787 319 1
7. Fran Tarkenton 3,686 218 1
8. Peyton Manning (31) 3,468 -
If Peyton were to match his career average of 347 completions next season he would pass Testaverde and Tarkenton, matching his career high would put him into 5th between Moon and Bledsoe.
In passing yards Manning again trails Favre and Testaverde, but no other player active last season. He is 9th in NFL history
Ranks Player (age) Yards Leads by Years to pass
1. Brett Favre (38) 61,655 20,029 5
2. Dan Marino 61,361 19,735 5
3. John Elway 51,475 9,849 3
4. Warren Moon 49,325 7,699 2
5. Fran Tarkenton 47,003 5,377 2
6. Vinny Testaverde (44) 46,233 4,607 2
7. Drew Bledsoe 44,611 2,985 1
8. Dan Fouts 43,040 1,414 1
9. Peyton Manning (31) 41,626 -
Manning has averaged 4,163 yards per season. At his current rate Manning will become the all time leader during the 2012 season in the 15th year of his career at age 36.
Manning trails only Favre among players active last season and only Favre, Marino and Tarkenton in NFL history
Rank Player(age) TDs Leads by Years to pass
1. Brett Favre (38) 442 136 5
2. Dan Marino 420 114 4
3. Fran Tarkenton 342 36 2
4. Peyton Manning (31) 306 -
Peyton has averaged 30.6 touchdowns so far so he will be atop the leaderboard in the 2012 season in the 15th year of his career at age 36.
In the remaining categories Manning ranks:
9th in pass attempts
2nd in passer rating (Steve Young)
49th in Interceptions thrown
1st in passing yards per game
4th in completion percentage
Peyton has expressed a desire to play for a least 6 more seasons (16 total) and has also mentioned 18 as a good number of seasons to play for. Though it may be hard for a player as dedicated to the game to step away even then. Manning's game is based on unmatched preparation, great decision making and a phenomenal arm. None of those are things that leave a QB quickly or at all with age. Many players cite the between game grind of preparation as driving them to retire, Peyton thrives on it. Manning has a shot at every passing record in the book (though INTs may be tough).