Tom Brady turned 39 on Wednesday, and following the retirements of Peyton Manning and Matt Hasselbeck, the New England Patriots quarterback is the oldest passer in the NFL.
Tom Brady is 39 now, but he hasn’t showed signs of slowing down
Brady is the oldest quarterback in the NFL now.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
In fact, the only players older than Brady are a few kickers and punters. But in his 16-year NFL career, Brady has shown no signs of declining and there hasn’t been much reason to believe he won’t be at the top of his game when he returns from a four-game suspension.
Everyone slows down eventually, but just because Brady is just shy of 40 now doesn’t mean he’s done. A few quarterbacks have found success in the last year of their 30s, although it’s a small group.
Last season, Manning became the seventh player to start at least eight games in a season at age 39. But even though it ended with a Super Bowl ring, it was the worst season statistically for the future Hall of Famer, who retired in March.
Only Warren Moon, in 1995 with the Minnesota Vikings, really put up elite stats at 39:
Brady is coming off a season where he threw a league-leading 36 touchdowns and posted a passer rating over 100 for the fourth time in his career. He has never completed less than 60 percent of his passes in a season, with the exception of his rookie year when he threw just three passes.
Is Brady, who said he might play for another 10 years, siphoning the talent of younger backup quarterbacks as some sort of youthful blood magic? Your guess is as good as mine.
But with an array of receiving targets that includes Rob Gronkowski at tight end, it's hard to imagine Brady regressing much this season. He should finish pretty high on the list of quarterbacks at age 39, even if his suspension means his numbers will fall a bit from last year.
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