One of the more interesting things to note when you look at the all time leaders in touchdown passes is Peyton Manning’s spot on the list.

The Career Top 10 Touchdown Passing Leaders
1. Brett Favre - 442 TDs
2. Dan Marino - 420 TDs
3. Fran Tarkenton - 342 TDs
4. Peyton Manning - 306 TDs
5. John Elway - 300 TDs
6. Warren Moon - 291 TDs
7. Johnny Unitas - 290 TDs
8. Vinny Testaverde - 275 TDs
9. Joe Montana - 273 TDs
10. Dave Krieg - 261 TDs

Comparing Peyton Manning to the rest of the players on that list and one thing comes to mind. Brett Favre is at the top of the list and played 17 seasons in the league. Vinny Testaverde is on the list and played 21 season with seven different teams. But look at Peyton Manning, he is number four on the list of all time touchdown passes thrown by a quarterback, and he has only been in the league for ten seasons. He is averaging 30 TD passes a season, at that rate he would pass Brett Favre in a little less than five seasons.

One of the more popular statistics used to evaluate a quarterback in the NFL is completion percentage. This statistic gives an idea of the quarterback’s control. Through the end of the 2007 season, here is a list of the top ten quarterbacks based on their career completion percentage.

1. Chad Pennington
2. Kurt Warner
3. Steve Young
4. Peyton Manning
5. Carson Palmer
6. Daunte Culpepper
7. Drew Brees
8. Marc Bulger
9. Joe Montana
10. Ben Roethlisberger

The interesting thing to note in this list is that all but two of these quarterbacks are still active. Only Joe Montana and Steve Young (coincidentally, teammates at one time) are on this list and retired. Some of these players may not be on this top ten list by the time their careers are over, but some will remain there for many years to come. An interesting thing about the top two players on the list, Chad Pennington has struggled with injury troubles and fallen out of favor with his team’s fans and Kurt Warner has started games for three different teams in a career that has seen him on top of the world and also given up on.

Another interesting question came in from Dana in Missouri. Dana comments that the longest pass thrown by a quarterback last year was a 91 yard pass thrown by Jon Kitna. She would like to know who threw the shortest pass that ended up being the longest pass of the year.

The simple answer is George Corbett who threw a 36 yard pass in 1932 that ended up being the longest pass thrown that year. Corbett only started one game that year for the Chicago Bears but evidently made the most of it. We all know that during those early days of the NFL there wasn’t much emphasis put on passing, so we’ll explore it a little deeper.

The shortest pass that ended up being the longest pass of the year since 1950 was thrown 79 yards by Babe Parilli in 1967 for the Boston Patriots.

The shortest pass that ended up being the longest pass of the year since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 was thrown 84 yard by Greg Landry of the Detroit Lions in 1973.

Thanks Dana!

Okay, let’s take a look at the year-by-year interception leaders. No one wants to lead the league in interceptions, but sadly someone must. Here are some interception leader facts you may not know.

Q. Who has thrown the most interceptions in one season?
A. George Blanda, who at the age of 35 threw 42 interceptions as quarterback for the Houston Oilers.

Q. Who has thrown the fewest interceptions but still managed to lead the league in interceptions?
A. Benny Friedman, the quarterback of Brooklyn threw just 10 interceptions in the NFL’s first year in 1932. The answer for the same question since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger is Joe Ferguson, who in 1982 threw 16 interceptions for the Buffalo Bills, but this was a strike-shortened year. Since the AFL-NFL merger, the quarterback who threw the fewest interceptions to lead the league in interceptions was another Buffalo Bills quarterback. Jim Kelly in 1992 threw 19 interceptions to lead the league.

Only three quarterbacks have lead the league in interceptions in back-to-back years, and they’re both in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame. George Blanda (1964 & 1965), Joe Namath (1974 & 1975), and Vinny Testaverde (1988 & 1989).

Vinny Testaverde holds another distinction on the interception leaders list. He is the only quarterback to have lead the league in interceptions in four different seasons.

The youngest player ever to lead the league in interceptions was future Supreme Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White who did it at the age of 21.

The oldest player to ever lead the league in interceptions was Vinny Testaverde who threw 20 interceptions as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys in 2004.