Peyton Manning, Brett Favre: Broncos QB Second In NFL With 500 Touchdown Passes Behind Packers Legend

Peyton Manning made history on Sunday (Oct. 5) when he became only the second player in the National Football League to throw 500 touchdown passes in his career. He notched the milestone on the Broncos' opening drive against the Arizona Cardinals with a 7-yard pass for a score. The Broncos won the game, 41-20.

The only other QB to reach the 500 mark was legendary Green Bay Packers point man Brett Favre, who holds the league record with 508 TD passes.

As is the way for the selfless Manning, he pinned much of credit on his teammates.

"I do think about how many people have helped throughout my career with something like that and just how grateful I am for that help and support," Manning said, according to ESPN. "Football is the ultimate team game, and so I guess one man kind of has to accept it, but I kind of accept on behalf of a lot of coaches and teammates."

This time, it likely was tight end Julius Thomas – who caught No. 500 – that Manning was thanking the most. Coincidentally, Thomas was also the recipient of Manning's record-setting 51st touchdown pass of the 2013 season.

The difference here, though, is that in 2013, Thomas threw the milestone game ball into the stands following the play. This time, he didn't make the same mistake. He saved No. 500 for his teammate, handing the ball off safely to a member of the team's equipment staff.

"This time I remembered," Thomas said. "This time, no way was I going to forget. I'm just fortunate to have been on the receiving end to the kind of plays people will remember about Peyton Manning."

Broncos head coach John Fox also took a moment after the game to reflect on the success of his star quarterback, putting into words what many fans were already thinking.

"It's pretty incredible what Peyton accomplished," he said.