This past Sunday, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s NFL record for most passing TDs with a total of 509 (then, later in the game, 510) touchdowns. The ball that scored the record-breaking touchdown was later transported to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This made me wonder: When a record like that is broken, what happens to the previous record-breaking ball? Brett Favre’s 508th touchdown football is no longer the record holder, so it’s…well, it’s just a ball.
I imagine the Hall of Fame director getting an intern to make an awkward phone call to Favre:
INTERN: “Uh, hi, Mr. Favre, this is Cecelia–you can call me Cece, if you want–over at the the Hall of Fame. We, well, as you know, Mr. Manning passed for a few touchdowns last night, and…I guess what I’m saying is that we no longer need your football, and I just wanted to let you know that we’ll hold onto it for 1 week. After that we’ll put it in the bargain bin.”
FAVRE: “Uh…okay.”
INTERN: “And, well, it looks like Mr. Manning will soon break your career pass completion record to, so while you’re here you could pick up that ball too. Just to save you a trip.”
FAVRE: “Thanks.”
This isn’t to pick on Favre at all. I really enjoyed him in There’s Something About Mary. I just think it might be amusing if the Hall of Fame did something like this with the previous record-breaking balls.