6 degrees of separation between Brandon Weeden and the oldest baseball players you know

Brandon Weeden started his NFL career a little later than most, because before playing college football he was drafted by the New York Yankees. That’s right, back in 2002 Weeden was taken in the second round of the MLB Draft. His time in New York was not long though, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the following season in the deal that sent Kevin Brown to the Yankees. You might remember Kevin Brown as being 50 years old.

The point here is that Brandon Weeden is, uh, way older than most fourth-year NFL quarterbacks.

One way of quantifying how old an athlete is, is playing Six Degrees of Separation between them and other famous athletes. If you’re not sure how this works, it’s a chain of players who were on the same team (or traded for each other) at some point in their career. Baseball-Reference has an awesome tool for doing this, and the moral of the story is that Brandon Weeden is old.

Lou Gehrig > Minnie Minoso > Thad Bosley > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Lou Gehrig was twice named MVP of the American League, in 1927 and 1936.

Roger Maris > Ralph Terry > Nolan Ryan > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Roger Maris broke the single-season home run record in 1961.

Willie Mays > Jack Hiatt > Nolan Ryan > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Willie Mays won the 1954 World Series.

Ty Cobb > Syl Johnson > Danny Litwhiler > Roy McMillan > Nolan Ryan > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Ty Cobb was born in the 1800s.

Joe DiMaggio > Joe Gordon > Minnie Minoso > Guy Hoffman > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Joe DiMaggio once hit in 56 consecutive games in 1941.

Ted Williams > Joe Dobson > Minnie Minoso > Guy Hoffman > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Ted Williams fought in World War II.

Babe Ruth > Tony Lazzeri > Phil Caverretta > Minnie Minoso > Harold Baines > Kevin Brown > Brandon Weeden

Babe Ruth died in 1948.

Brandon Weeden is playing quarterback in the NFL this week.