"Let's face it, Boston sports fans: You're overstuffed from all these trips you've been making to the championship buffet table over the past 10 years. And no, sorry, walking behind the Duck Boats during the rolling rallies isn't enough to burn off the extra pounds.

But when we start adding the many individual achievements earned by our pro athletes — Dustin Pedroia and his MVP, Tim Thomas and his Vezinas, Paul Pierce and his NBA Finals MVP — it's like asking for two desserts after a five-course meal.

The latest exercise in our sports community's ever-overindulgence was delivered yesterday by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady [stats], who is getting to the point in his career when he breaks a record or two just about every time he bites into his morning cornflakes.

In the Patriots' regular-season closeout yesterday at Gillette Stadium, a 49-21 victory over the Buffalo Bills, Brady completed 23-of-35 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns. In doing so, he became the third NFL quarterback to surpass 5,000 passing yards in a season.

A week ago, Drew Brees reached 5,000 passing yards in a season for the second time in his career, topping his 2008 total of 5,069 yards then eclipsing Dan Marino's NFL record 5,084 yards for the 1984 Miami Dolphins [team stats]. Brees finished this season with the new NFL standard of 5,476 yards and the next best is now Brady at 5,235. The betting here is that, within 10 years, Marino's total won't even be in the top 10, the game being what it now is.

But that's a story for later. The story today is that, yes, quarterbacks really do enjoy setting these records, even if they are loathe to say so. In addition to moving into the 5,000 Passing Club, Brady also:

• Settled into second place for most passing yards per game in a season (332.8), trailing only Brees (342.2).

• Won his 124th regular-season game, tying Fran Tarkenton for fifth place all-time.

• Threw his 300th career touchdown pass, tying him with John Elway for fifth all-time.

• Finished the season with 39 touchdown passes, joining Marino as only the second player in history with two seasons with 39 or more TD passes in a season."