NFL
By: Greg Rector
“Records are made to be broken.” That’s an often-used line that many involved in sports have uttered over the years. My problem with the fascination over “records” is the goalposts are constantly being moved and watch any broadcast or highlight show and there’s always a new record that’s been broken. Things like “that’s the most offensive rebounds over three games for a player in (insert franchise name) history. or (insert player here) has set a new record for most snaps without allowing a sack. You can turn pretty much any statistic into a new form at the drop of a hat. Personally, I treat most of them for what they are, filler for broadcasts and a way to keep a segment of folks employed. There are some records though that stand out for me. Most of them for me anyways tend to be of the longevity variety. Here are a couple of records set in 2022 that stood out for me and one that will happen early in 2023..
Tom Brady
Of course, for quite some time every play adds to numerous records for Brady. In 2022 Brady became the only quarterback to throw for over 100,000 yards in football history regular season and playoffs combined. That’s 56.8 miles of passes folks. It’s a number that will require another generational player one heck of an effort to break. While we sit here believing it might be an unbreakable record of course. Just remember that Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak was deemed unbreakable for decades and along came Cal Ripken Jr. Same goes for Brady’s 644 and counting TD passes and on and on when it comes to the NFL quarterbacking record book. Love him or hate him Thomas Edward Brady’s name will be synonymous with football for a very long time to come. Pretty sure he has also set the record for most Microsoft Surface devices broken, that one might be an unbreakable record as the NFL (No Fun League) started fining players for breaking them.
Ronaldo and Messi
The recent World Cup of Soccer saw both of the game’s biggest names set new records. Ronaldo became the first player to ever score a goal in 5 World Cups. Messi became the first to assist on goals in five World Cups as well. Messi added the youngest player to score a World Cup goal (18 years 357 days) and the oldest (35 years 155 days) to not only score a World Cup goal but to also have an assist in the same game. Both players’ longevity and ability to shine at the sport’s grandest stage is an amazing feat for both.
LeBron James
Here’s one that I never thought would be broken. Growing up a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers when Kareem Abdul-Jabar was rewriting the record books, 38,387 career points seemed to be a record no one would ever reach. Sometime in March 2023 at his current pace, Lebron James will become the all-time leading points scorer in NBA history. At least he will also be wearing a Lakers uniform when it happens. No matter if you are a fan or a detractor of James, for the first time since 1984 there will be a new leader for the most points scored in an NBA career. You can’t say but Lebron played in an era with more regular season games (the NBA 82-game season has been around for both player’s careers), you can say Lebron played in the three-point era and that helped him get over 2000 points, but he didn’t bring the three-point shot into the game. It will be a remarkable moment when the record is broken.
When these types of records are broken I always sit back and take a moment to reflect upon as a sports fan how incredible it is to say I witnessed those moments. In baseball, I have seen not once but twice a new home run king (Hank Aaron & Barry Bonds), in hockey I have witnessed Wayne Gretzky rewrite the NHL record books and could possibly witness his untouchable career goals scored record fall to Alexander Ovechkin (If he stays healthy), something that hockey fans thought completely impossible. We have seen Steph Curry set the standard for three-point shooting. In football besides Brady’s records, seeing both Walter Payton”s and Emmit Smith’s career rushing record happen, and so many other receiving marks that in this pass-happy era seems to change every season. Those moments are what make sports for me so enjoyable.
