The Oldest NFL Players in History

The oldest player in NFL history is George Blanda, who played until he was 48 years old, finally retiring in 1976 after 26 professional seasons. As both a quarterback and a placekicker, Blanda outlasted every peer and set a longevity mark that has stood for nearly half a century.

Football is a brutal sport, and most careers end well before a player’s mid-30s. Yet a small group stretched their playing days into their 40s, almost all of them kickers and punters whose positions spare them the worst of the contact. Here is the full leaderboard of the oldest players in NFL history, the reasons some positions last longer, and the modern stars who defied the aging curve. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: George Blanda at 48

George Blanda’s career is one of the most remarkable in sports history. He debuted in 1949 and did not retire until 1976, spanning an astonishing four decades of professional football. In his later years with the Oakland Raiders he was a folk hero, kicking clutch field goals and stepping in at quarterback when needed, most famously during a five-week 1970 stretch of comebacks. He scored 2,002 career points and remains the oldest man ever to play in an NFL game.

The full leaderboard of the oldest NFL players

The table below ranks the oldest players in NFL history by their age during their final season. Position is noted, since specialists dominate the list.

Rank	Age	Player	Position	Final season
1	48	George Blanda	QB / Kicker	1975
2	47	Morten Andersen	Kicker	2007
3	46	Adam Vinatieri	Kicker	2019
4	46	John Carney	Kicker	2010
5	45	Gary Anderson	Kicker	2004
6	45	Tom Brady	Quarterback	2022
7	44	Steve DeBerg	Quarterback	1998
8	44	Vinny Testaverde	Quarterback	2007
9	44	Warren Moon	Quarterback	2000
10	43	Jeff Feagles	Punter	2009

Ages reflect how old each player was during his final NFL campaign. The list is heavily weighted toward kickers and punters, whose positions allow careers to stretch far longer than the league average of just a few seasons.

Why kickers last the longest

Six of the top players on the list are pure specialists. Kicking a football is a craft built on technique and leg strength rather than the explosive speed and collision durability that fade fastest with age. Morten Andersen, the NFL’s second-oldest player and one of its greatest kickers, played 25 seasons; Adam Vinatieri, the league’s all-time leading scorer, played into his mid-40s and won four Super Bowls. The scoring feats of these long-serving kickers also feed records like the longest field goal in NFL history.

Tom Brady and the ageless quarterbacks

Among players who take regular hits, Tom Brady stands apart. He played until 45, winning a Super Bowl at 43 and posting elite numbers deep into his 40s, an unprecedented run for a quarterback. Earlier quarterbacks like Steve DeBerg, Vinny Testaverde and Warren Moon also played to 44, but none combined Brady’s longevity with his level of success. His durability sits alongside career-volume records such as the most rushing yards of all time and the most Super Bowl MVPs, which Brady leads.

Longevity is a theme across sports; basketball’s version is charted in our leaderboard of the oldest NBA players in history.

Why the record matters

Playing into your 40s in the NFL requires a rare mix of conditioning, position and luck. George Blanda’s career, stretching across four decades, remains the ultimate example, and the fact that kickers fill most of the list underlines how much a position dictates a player’s shelf life. These late-career runs are reminders that, occasionally, an athlete can outlast the clock.

The short version: George Blanda is the oldest player in NFL history, competing until age 48. Morten Andersen (47) and Adam Vinatieri (46) lead the kickers behind him, while Tom Brady (45) is the oldest quarterback, all as of the 2025 season.