We all know that Tom Brady set the single-season passing touchdowns record in 2007, when he threw 50 touchdowns as the New England Patriots went 16-0. That broke Peyton Manning‘s mark of 49 touchdowns in 2004. And I think most of us know that prior to Manning, Dan Marino had set the NFL record with 48 touchdowns in 1984.
Marino’s touchdown record stood for 20 years, but do you know who held the record before Marino? Believe it or not, the previous record stood for even longer. Before we get to the hints, here are two freebies.
The quarterback still holds his franchise’s record for passing touchdowns in a season. And he is the last quarterback to set the single-season passing touchdowns record twice in his career.
The quarterback in question threw 36 touchdowns. It’s worth pointing out that George Blanda threw 36 touchdowns in 1961 in the AFL, but I am excluding him for the purposes of this trivia question.
In 1963 Y.A. Tittle threw 36 touchdown passes, breaking the NFL record of 33 set by… Tittle in 1962. Prior to that, Sonny Jurgensen (32, 1961) and Johnny Unitas (32) had been the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns in a season (and only Unitas did it before the NFL expanded to a 14-game schedule.)
