Tom Brady Not The Oldest, But Could Be When He Is Done

Published on March 14th, 2022 5:17 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Earlier this week, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced that he was exiting retirement to rejoin the team.

When Brady takes the field in September, he will be 45 years of age.

The question: will Brady be the oldest player ever in the NFL when he suits up again?

Brady is moving up the list, though he is still a few years off from heading the list.

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The oldest player to ever suit up for a NFL game was George Blanda, who was 48 years, three months and 18 days old when he played for the Oakland Raiders in the 1976 AFC Championship.

Blanda was unique in that he played both quarterback and placekicker over the course of his career.

Like Tom Brady, Blanda came out of retirement in 1960, and would end up playing an astonishing 16 more seasons after that.

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Morten Andersen is second on the list, as he played until he was 47 years, four months and 11 days old.

Andersen, a Pro Football Hall of Fame placekicker, likely could have broken Blanda's record, though he decided to retire in December of 2008 instead.

Andersen posted some strong numbers in the last year of his career, as he made 25 of 28 field goals, and likely could have found a team to sign him, which would have broken Blanda's record.

Instead, Andersen was more than happy with his career as of that point, and elected to hang things up.

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In order to break the record for longevity, Tom Brady would have to play four more seasons.