When Aaron Rodgers throws his first pass in the 2024 season, he will become the 10th quarterback to join that special club.
If Rodgers gets to 50 attempts (and the Jets’ season hinges on him returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon to well over that number), the club’s membership will be reduced to seven under the enhanced criteria.
According to Pro Football Reference, only nine quarterbacks in the 1966 Super Bowl era threw a pass in their age-41 season, compared to 22 in their age-40 seasons, including Rodgers.
With the exception of the incomparable Tom Brady, who won his sixth Super Bowl ring at age 41 in 2018, the results have been mixed, showing just how risky it is to bet so much on the arm of Rodgers, who has thrown 7,661 career pitches.
But Rogers’ confidence and wit are as great as any player’s.
“I always thought I could play for anybody in the league if I was healthy,” Hall of Famer Warren Moon told the Post. “That’s the thing in football people’s minds. When you get to a certain age — in my day it was 34 or 35 — your career takes a back seat, except for Tom Brady.
“It’s a young man’s game, but I felt like I was in really good shape and able to perform. Am I as athletic as I was when I first came into the league? No, but I made up for it with my defensive knowledge and anticipation. I’ve gotten better with age.”
Rogers made similar adjustments.
But no quarterback has ever come back from a season-ending injury at age 40. Drew Brees (torn thumb ligament) and Moon (high ankle sprain) both returned to the field before the end of the year, but at age 41, they were playing at a high level.
Rodgers, who turns 41 ahead of a Week 14 game against the Dolphins on Dec. 3, said he’s always motivated by the opportunity to make history and “never wants to go out there and be a fool.”
“At this age, you have to find something to motivate you and put a chip on your shoulder to stay competitive,” said Moon, who won MVP honors in the 1997 Pro Bowl at age 41.
“Aaron is a four-time MVP, so in his mind, he’s like, ‘I’ve done it all. What do I have to prove?’ But right now, with this injury, people are starting to doubt him a little bit. So it’s about motivating him and saying, ‘I’m going to go out there and show these guys that I can still make those MVP plays.'”
Talking and saying things are two different things.
Putting it into practice is another matter.
“We’re all in on Aaron in New York,” Moon said. “It’s unfortunate that he got hurt, but from all the tape I’ve seen, he seems to be moving really well. He has the talent to do that. He’s familiar with the offensive coordinator. [Nathaniel Hackett] It helps. Everything is there for him. What matters is how healthy he is and how healthy he stays. We’ll see what happens.”
Here’s a list sorted by pass attempts in their Age 41 season.
Tom Brady (2018, 570 attempts)
Brady ranked outside the top seven in most major passing categories during the season, to the point where he admitted he barely spoke to head coach Bill Belichick.
But he won the Super Bowl in his second-to-last season with the Patriots, beating first-year starter Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.
Hard to believe, Brady won another Super Bowl at age 43, led the NFL in yards (5,316) and touchdowns (43) at age 44, and led the NFL in completions and attempts at ages 44 and 45.
Rodgers is no Brady, even if he wants to be compared to Brady.
Warren Moon (1997, 528)
Moon made eight straight Pro Bowls (from ages 32 to 39), but the Vikings gave him the starting job in 1997 to Brad Johnson and released Moon. Moon didn’t want to take a pay cut to become a backup.
He refutes years of reports that he broke his collarbone in 1996 at age 40, only to have it misdiagnosed as a sprained ankle.
One thing Moon did make clear during his first year with the Seahawks was that he replaced John Freese as the starter after one game and returned to the Pro Bowl. He had more touchdowns (25) than any other player in a season except for one since his debut in 1990 at age 34.
In a time when the AFC was struggling, Seattle’s 8-8 record was a huge success.
Moon played three more seasons, but made only 11 starts, and his 41-year-old season was his last true performance as a legend.
Vinny Testabird (2004, 495)
Old loyalties don’t fade easily.
In his second year as head coach of the Cowboys, Bill Parcells hired Testabard, who nearly led the Jets to the 1998 Super Bowl.
Testabard inherited the starting job when the Cowboys surprisingly released playoff hopeful Quincy Carter after failing a drug test.
Testabard showed his age by throwing 20 interceptions, the most in the NFL.
He was overworked. His 495 attempts were the third-highest in his 21-year career, and he returned to the Jets as a backup in 2005 after going 5-10 behind backup Drew Henson (a former Yankees prospect) and underrepresented second-year prospect Tony Romo.
Drew Brees (2020, 390)
Brees’ record (9-3, 24 touchdowns, 6 interceptions) is good.
But the decline was evident long before the Saints lost to the Brady-led Buccaneers in the playoffs.
Brees missed four games with a fractured rib, but suffered an injury to his right shoulder early in his career that left him with no arm strength after more than 10,000 passes.
His yards per attempt (7.5) in 2020 was his second-lowest since 2007.
Brees retired after the season.
Brett Favre (2010, 358)
Favre’s end came quickly. He twice refused to retire and in 2009 he led the Vikings to a Super Bowl berth while posting a career-best and NFL-best 1.3% interception rate.
But Favre had a miserable 2010 season with the Vikings, going 4-7, throwing just 10 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, and his NFL-record 297 consecutive starts ended with a shoulder sprain.
He returned after missing one game, then suffered a concussion on the final snap of his career, with two games remaining.
Doug Flutie (2003, 167)
Brees, who was the NFL’s all-time leader in completions, attempts and completion percentage, sat on the bench for the 41-year-old Flutie long before he retired as the Chargers got off to a 1-7 start.
Flutie completed 54.5 percent of his passes (nearly the same as his career average) and threw 11 passing and rushing touchdowns to four interceptions, going 2-3 before handing the ball off to Brees.
He stayed on as a backup for two more years.
George Blanda (1968, 49)
At this point, Blanda, who led the NFL in completions and attempts from 1963-65, was primarily a kicker. He started one game at quarterback in his final nine seasons (retiring in 1975 at age 48), throwing four touchdown passes in a 43-7 win over the Broncos.
Earl Moral (1975, 43)
The 1968 NFL MVP and best known as the backup to Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Bob Grise, completed 26 passes in five games in his penultimate season.
With his 102nd start for the Dolphins on December 1, 1975, he became the oldest quarterback to start an NFL game in nearly 30 years.
Mark Brunel (2011, 3)
What Jets fan can forget the three passes he threw in relief of Mark Sanchez in a 19-45 loss to the Eagles in the final year of Brunell’s career, or his entire season?
Brunel only started one game for Saints at the age of 37.
