Who Was the Oldest NFL Player of All Time?
Answer: George Blanda
Position: Quarterback, Kicker
Active years: 1949-58, 1960-75
Age before retirement: 48
Age is only a number, and George Blanda is the proof. He played in the NFL for 26 seasons until he hit age 48 and 109 days — an age at which most of us are complaining about lower back pain and running to Dollar Tree for another pair of reading glasses.
He started playing seriously at the University of Kentucky. There, led by coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, Blanda became the school’s star quarterback and an excellent kicker. After joining the NFL, George Blanda played for the Chicago Bears, Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders. He also played briefly for the Baltimore Colts.
He went on to play for 26 NFL seasons, the most seasons played by a single player in NFL history. During that time, he broke numerous other records as well. He held the record of most pass attempts in a single game, 68, until Drew Bledsoe broke his record in 1994 with 70 attempts.
Blanda also was the first player to score more than 2,000 points, and he’s one of only two players to play in four different decades. Blanda played during the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, while John Carney played during the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, and 2010s.
George Blanda died in 2010 at age 83, but he’s still known as an NFL legend today, and as the oldest NFL player in history. Tom Brady, currently age 43, has broken a number of George Blanda’s records. Blanda held the record for the most total points accounted for until he was passed up by Brady and Drew Brees. Brady is also now the oldest quarterback to start a title game.
To break George Blanda’s age record, Brady would have to play for at least another five years. To break Blanda’s record of 26 seasons, Brady will have to play at least another seven seasons. By then, he would be 50 years old.
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