New York Jets Superstar Quarterback Hit Career Passing Yardage Milestone

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is now part of a rare club of NFL quarterbacks that have achieved this milestone.

East Rutherford, NJ -- September 29 -- Aaron Rodgers of the Jets in the first half as the Denver Broncos edged the New York Jets 10-9 at MetLife Stadium. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers had to go all the way to London to join one of the NFL’s most exclusive clubs.

During Sunday’s game with the Minnesota Vikings, he became the ninth quarterback in league history to reach 60,000 career passing yards, a club occupied by three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and five others that will get consideration when eligible.

The record was likely cold comfort for Rodgers, who wasn’t at his best against the Vikings. He finished the game 29-of-54 for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, the last of which effectively ended the Jets’ comeback as they lost, 23-17.

He had 59,904 yards entering the contest. He started racking up the 96 yards needed to reach the milestone early.

He had 95 of those yards during a frustrating first half in which he threw two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six returned by Minnesota’s Andrew Van Ginkel.

Rodgers headed to the locker room one yard short but with his first touchdown pass of the game, a 14-yarder to Allen Lazard.

After the Vikings’ first drive of the second half, the Jets got the ball back and Rodgers passed the milestone with a 7-yard pass to tight end Tyler Conklin, which led to a three-and-out.

Tom Brady tops the list of eight passers with at least 60,000 career passing yards. He wrapped up his long career with 89,214 yards.

After him is Drew Brees, who is the only other quarterback with 80,000 or more passing yards with 80,358.

Neither is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame yet because they have not been retired long enough to be eligible.

Two quarterbacks finished their careers with at least 70,000 yards passing. Peyton Manning had 71,940 and Brett Favre — Rodgers’ predecessor in Green Bay — had 71,838. Both are in the Hall of Fame.

The remaining quarterbacks in the club are Ben Roethlisberger (64,088), Phillip Rivers (63,440), Matt Ryan (62,792) and Dan Marino (61,361).

Roethlisberger, Rivers and Ryan are not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Marino, who was the first quarterback to pass 60,000 yards passing for his career, is in the Hall of Fame.

Rodgers was the Packers’ first-round pick (No. 24 overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Cal. He dropped in that draft but ended up as Favre’s understudy before taking over as a full-time starter in 2008 when the Packers traded Favre to, ironically, the Jets.

With Green Bay he led the Packers to the Super Bowl XLV title, where he was also named the MVP. The four-time NFL MVP is a 10-time Pro Bowl selection and a four-time All-Pro pick. He was named to the Hall of Fame’s All-2010s Team and won the 2011 Bert Bell Award.