INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford's latest NFL milestone has him in rare company.
With his 6-yard completion to wide receiver Puka Nacua in the fourth quarter of Sunday's Week 1 regular season game against the Texans at SoFi Stadium, Stafford became the 10th quarterback in league history to reach 60,000 career passing yards.
Currently in his 17th NFL season, Stafford needed 191 yards to reach the milestone entering Week 1. He finished with 245 – completing 21 of 29 passes and also throwing for a touchdown – in the Rams' 14-9 win over the Texans.
"It brings back a lot of memories, you know?" Stafford said postgame. "I've been blessed to play this game for a long time with a bunch of great players. The cool thing about quarterback, and my thought about it is, I can't throw for any of those yards without 10 other guys that are doing their job, and so it's really cool. I share it with so many people, and so many teammates, and a bunch of coaches, and my family and everybody that's helped me get there. You get in those longevity-type places where you're breaking those kind of things, it's not, 'Oh, that was a cool year, or a cool two years.' I mean, it's been a long time, and a lot of people have sacrificed a lot to help me out along the way, and I appreciate each and every single one of 'em. But it's cool. It's an amazing thing. And sure as hell glad that we did it getting a win, too."
Stafford also tied Matt Ryan (223 games) for the second-fewest games needed to reach 60,000 career passing yards. Only Drew Brees hit the mark faster at 215 games.
Nacua didn't realize postgame that he was part of history until a little bit after the fact (and with some help), and in the moment it led to a hilarious exchange between quarterback and wide receiver.
"It was actually pretty funny. He came up to me and was like, 'Man, I would I'm glad the ball went to you,'" Nacua recalled postgame. "And I was like, 'Oh, yeah, thanks brother. I'm pretty sure the play was supposed to come to me.' And then as he says that, I look up on the big screen, and it's like, 'Oh, Matthew Stafford just passed 60,000!' And I'm like, 'Oh! I'm so sorry brother, I totally missed that! And then I was like, 'I understand why you said that! I'm grateful.' I think it was funny because, I didn't say this to him, but the rookie record was Carson Wentz when we got it broken in San Fran. It's nice that one of those will have Matthew Stafford-Puka Nacua tagged to it."
It was yet another example of another day day in which Stafford was in command, and on a historic day no less.
"Really awesome for him to go over 60,000 yards. That's unbelievable," head coach Sean McVay said. "Real testament to the consistency of what he's done."
NFL CAREER PASSING YARDS LEADERS
1. Tom Brady | 89,214
2. Drew Brees | 80,358
3. Peyton Manning | 71,940
4. Brett Favre | 71,838
5. Ben Roethlisberger | 64,088
6. Philip Rivers | 63,440
7. Aaron Rodgers | 62,952
8. Matt Ryan | 62,792
9. Dan Marino | 61,361
10. Matthew Stafford | 60,054
