Matthew Stafford passes John Elway on all-time passing yards list
Former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford reached another milestone in his NFL career on Sunday as the Los Angeles Rams beat the Carolina Panthers. Stafford threw for 252 yards on 26-of-33 passing, and in doing so, passed NFL legend and Hall of Famer John Elway on the all-time regular season passing yards list.
Stafford ranks 11th with 10 players ahead of him. Tom Brady ranks first with 86,172 followed by Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Ben Rothlisberger. Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers are the only other active quarterbacks aside from Brady ahead of Stafford while Phillip Rivers, Dan Marino and Eli Manning fill out the rest of the top 10.
Stafford won his first career Super Bowl this past season after making the move west to Los Angeles from Detroit where he spent the first 12 years of his career. After a stellar three seasons in Athens, earning All-SEC Freshman honors in 2006 and First-Team All-American status in 2008 while also leading Georgia to an 11-2 record and the No. 2 ranking in the final AP Poll in 2007, Stafford was selected first overall by the Lions.
Stafford served as the team’s primary starter from 2009 to 2020 including a breakout 2011 season where he became just the fourth player in NFL history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a single season and led the Lions to their first playoff appearance since 1999. Stafford was beat up during the 2010 season, injuring his shoulder in the opener before returning in Week 8 only to re-injure his shoulder in the very next game. His showing in 2011 earned him NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He would go on to lead the Lions to two other playoff appearances in 2014 and 2016, being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2014 while leading an NFL record eight fourth quarter comebacks in the 2016 season. He also holds league records for most passing attempts in a season (727 in 2012) and for being the first player to compete 60% or more of his passes in every game during a single season in 2015.
Last season in Los Angeles, Stafford led the Rams to the NFC West division title, setting franchise records for passing completions, passing attempts, passing yards and tied Kurt Warner’s record for passing touchdowns in a single season. He threw for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns on the Rams way to a 12-5 record. In the playoffs, Stafford earned his first postseason victory over the Arizona Cardinals as he threw for 202 yards, two touchdowns and added another on the ground. Then, he threw for 366 yards, two touchdowns and once again added a rushing score in a Divisional Round win over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Stafford and the Rams defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship despite trailing 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter and came way with a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. Once again the Rams trailed in the fourth quarter, and Stafford orchestrated a drive in the final minutes to score.
During the offseason, Stafford singed a four-year, $160 million contract extension with the Rams. He also underwent an elbow surgery after experiencing pain throughout the previous season.
