If he did start a game at the age of 45, Tom Brady would set (another) NFL record

The idea of Tom Brady saying (again) he wants to play until the age of 45 sent us down a Pro Football Reference rabbit hole to try and provide some sort of historical context on just how unique that would be.


First, we're not entirely sure if Brady wants to play until the age of 45, or including the season he turns 45. For the record, he turns 41 on Aug. 3. If he did play the year he turned 45, that would be the 2022 season, and it would be a new NFL record: No quarterback age 45 or older has ever started a single game in the NFL.

The three quarterbacks to start at least one game age 44 and older were Vinny Testaverde (2007), Steve DeBerg (1998) and Warren Moon (2000).

DeBerg was the oldest — the final start of his career came on Oct. 25, 1998 for the Falcons against the Dolphins. He was 44 years, 279 days old, and finished 9-for-20 for 117 yards and a pick. It’s worth noting that he played the rest of that season in a backup role, and threw his last pass on Dec. 27, 1998 in a win over the Dolphins. On that date, he was 44 years, 342 days old. It’s also interesting that DeBerg would end up being the oldest player ever included on a Super Bowl roster — he was 45 years, 12 days when the Falcons lost to the Broncos, 34-19, in Super Bowl XXXIII.

(DeBerg had a truly remarkable career. He was in San Francisco when the Niners drafted Joe Montana, with Denver when the Broncos drafted John Elway and in Tampa Bay when the Bucs landed Steve Young. Each time, those acquisitions left him on the street. He initially retired following the 1993 season at the age of 39, but was called back at the age of 44 five seasons later as the backup for the Falcons.)

As for Testaverde, his last start came when he was 44 years and 47 days old, on Dec. 9, 2007, against the Jaguars. A 37-6 loss, he went 13-for-28 for 84 yards and a pick. That season — his last in the NFL — Testaverde went 2-4 as a starter and ended up 94-for-172 (55 percent) with 952 passing yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Moon’s only start as a 44-year-old quarterback came on Nov. 26, 2000, with the Chiefs against the Chargers. At the age of 44 years and eight days, he went 12-for-31 for 130 yards and an interception. That season as a backup, he ended up 15-for-34 for 208 yards, with one touchdown and one pick.

Here’s a look, via PFR, at the complete list of quarterbacks who started at least one game in the NFL between the ages of 42 and 48 and had a passer rating of 50 or better in that stretch.



One other note that’s important in the context of this conversation — George Blanda played in the NFL into his mid-40s, but the final start as a quarterback came in 1968 at the age of 41 years and 54 days. He went 14-for-26 with 295 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in a 43-7 win over the Broncos. Between the ages of 42 and 48, he worked primarily as a kicker, but also saw sporadic action as a backup quarterback, going 74-for-148 for 1,028 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in that stretch. His last appearance under center came at the age of 48 years, 95 days, when he went 1-for-3 for 11 yards as a backup in Oakland’s 28-20 win over the Chiefs on Dec. 21, 1975.