Peyton Manning Breaks Brett Favre's NFL Career Passing TD Record

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning officially became the greatest touchdown passer in NFL history Sunday by setting a new all-time mark with his 509th regular-season scoring toss.

The record-breaking play came on an eight-yard throw to receiver Demaryius Thomas against the San Francisco 49ers in an eventual 42-17 Week 7 Sunday Night Football victory. Manning would go on to finish with a 22-of-26 mark for 318 yards and four scores.

Bleacher Report illustrated the historic moment:

Former record holder Brett Favre passed on this congratulations via his Twitter account: 

After the historic moment, SportsCenter and ESPN Stats & Info provided eye-popping context to the weight of the record:

Journalist Tommy Tomlinson hit home on the very human side of the equation:

Manning himself, of course, handled the situation in typical Manning fashion:

It was abundantly clear very early in Manning's career that he was poised to become one of the greatest signal-callers in NFL history. In surpassing Favre's previous record of 508 touchdown passes, his legacy is cemented, to say the least.

While Favre has been knocked down a peg in the record books, he revealed prior to Manning's ascent to No. 1 that he was happy to step aside for a player of his caliber, according to The Associated Press (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).

"I'm glad it's Peyton that's doing it," said Favre. "I think a lot of Peyton. I know him well. I know his family well. His dad was one of my idols."

The Green Bay Packers legend also made it clear he wasn't clinging to the record.

"I'm not surprised, as well as he's been playing for so many years," said Favre. "I think as far as wanting to hold onto the record, I mean I have no feelings of, 'Oh, my gosh. I wish I could hold onto that.' None whatsoever."

In fact, this isn't the first time this season Manning has topped one of Favre's records. Per ESPN Stats and Info, the former Indianapolis Colts great also bested Favre's mark for most touchdowns thrown in the fourth quarter and overtime in a Week 5 win over the Arizona Cardinals:

That was the same contest in which Manning became the second player to throw for 500 touchdowns. According to Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders, it took Manning 49 fewer games than Favre to reach that landmark:

After reaching 500 touchdowns, No. 18 deflected praise in the direction of others in his typical fashion, per ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold:

"

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. 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.

"

Although Manning has seemingly never been one to dwell on his statistical accomplishments, this is obviously a huge milestone for the 13-time Pro Bowler. In fact, the record-breaking performance is made even more special by the fact that many wondered if he would ever play again after missing the entire 2011 season with a neck injury.

Not only has he continued to play, but Manning has also enjoyed some of the best seasons of his career. Even at the age of 38, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight to the University of Tennessee alumnus' dominance.

Based on Manning's current form, it isn't outrageous to think that he could realistically surpass 600 touchdown passes in the near future. After throwing 55 last year, it's clear that there is almost no limit to what the former Super Bowl champion can accomplish.

Manning would likely trade it all for one more Super Bowl ring, and he definitely has a chance to get one over the next couple seasons, but the records are icing on the cake.

If nothing else, it is nice to see Manning receive the praise he so richly deserves after rewriting history once again.

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