On Monday night, former UCF wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith caught his first career touchdown pass.

However, his first career NFL touchdown catch isn't the reason the football he caught will be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

The pass came from Saints quarterback Drew Brees and it made history.

The quarterback officially claimed the National Football League’s all-time record for career passing yardage, surpassing the former mark set by Peyton Manning three years ago.

At the 2:46 mark of the second quarter, Brees connected with Smith for a 62-yard touchdown pass which gave the quarterback 71,968 career pass yards, breaking the all-time record on the play.

No. 9 just became No. 1 all-time ?? pic.twitter.com/fbk9uxaOFa — New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 9, 2018

Drew Brees entered the 2018 season with 70,445 career passing yards, just 1,496 yards behind Manning’s 71,940 yards, and entered Week 5 just 201 yards behind the record, making it a virtual certainty that he will take full possession of the record himself.

After completing the historic pass, the National Football League stopped game action, took the ball from the field, and presented it to Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker, who will take it to Canton to be displayed for the future.

Shortly afterward, a video tribute to Brees was presented by Peyton Manning, and the outside of the Superdome turned black and gold for nine minutes, for Brees’ No. 9 jersey.

The rookie wide receiver earned his first start of the season for the Saints and was in line for an increased role against Washington after starting receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was ruled out for the game with a knee injury.

"My name and number are being called at the moment," Smith told The Times-Picayune before Monday night. "My only job is to take up the role and do it to the best of my ability. I know my teammates are counting and my teammates believe in me."

The third round draft pick did just that. And now the former Knight is engraved in NFL history.

Later in the third quarter, Smith caught his second touchdown of the night. Brees connected with Smith for a 35-yard touchdown pass giving the Saints a 33-13 lead over the Washington Redskins.

Tre'Quan Smith grabs his second touchdown of the game! ?? #WASvsNO pic.twitter.com/FRY166v8G7 — New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 9, 2018

Over the years, a total of 35 wide receivers, 26 tight ends, 25 running backs, 12 fullbacks, and two quarterbacks have caught passes from Brees. On five occasions, he has completed passes to himself.

Marques Colston leads all receivers in catches and yards from Brees, with 706 receptions for 9,709 yards. Tight end Jimmy Graham follows with 383 catches for 4,725 yards. Current wide receiver Michael Thomas already ranks fifth among them all with 238 receptions entering Week 5 with 2,827 yards.

The passing yardage mark is one of a handful of league and Saints franchise records that Brees has established. Others include: most games with more than 300 passing yards, with 400 passing yards, most touchdown passes in a single game, most consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass, most seasons with more than 5,000 passing yards, the highest completion percentage ever, most seasons leading the league in passing yardage, most attempts and completions in a playoff game without an interception, most consecutive seasons with 4,000 passing yards, with 5,000 passing yards, with 20-plus and 30-plus touchdown passes.

It also took Brees fewer games than Manning to pass for 71,740 yards -- Brees achieved the feat in 253 games compared to Manning's 266. He also has a higher career completion percentage (67.1) than Manning (65.3) and Brett Favre (62.0). He surpassed Favre earlier this season to become the NFL's all-time completion leader.