Professional football is among the most physically demanding career paths a person can take in today's day and age. From grueling practices to two-a-days and late-night gym sessions, restricted diets, and games where they're bodies are being used to their absolute potential, NFL athletes do whatever it takes to optimize their combine numbers and pique the interest of recruiters and fans.
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Very few people manage to break into the league before the age of 22, in fact, the average age of an NFL player is 26 years old. These are the youngest and oldest players to ever grace the league.
9 Oldest: Tom Brady - 45 years old
What more needs to be said? Tom Brady has been dominating the league for well over 20 years now, and continues to play at an extremely high level.
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The winningest quarterback in NFL history is 45 years old, and while he mulled retirement for a few weeks, his love for the game ultimately brought him back.
8 Youngest: Juju Smith-Schuster - 20 years old
Juju Smith-Schuster is known widely for his social media presence and his viral twitter rejection to Mia Khalifa. However, he has also set many age-related records in the NFL, including being the youngest player to reach 2,500 career receiving yards and the first player to have two offensive touchdowns of at least 97 yards.
He also already holds several Steelers franchise records, at 23 years old. Drafted in 2017, Schuster has already compiled a considerable NFL resume including 18 TDs and nearly 3,000 receiving yards at 23 years old.
7 Oldest: John Carney - 46 years old
Carney was a placekicker who played 22 years between 1987 and 2010. As most kickers bounce around teams, Carney was no exception as a Buccaneer, Charger, Saint, Ram, Jaguar, Chief, and Giant throughout his extensive career.
He's third on the all-time scoring list in NFL history with a total of 2044 points accrued across his time with seven NFL teams. Carney retired in 2010 with the Saints at the age of 46, and was the last remaining player from the 1980s at the time of his retirement.
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6 Youngest: Tremaine Edmunds - 20 years old
Edmunds was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2018 draft at the age of 19. He started his first game in a Bills uniform against the Ravens in the Bills' home opener and recorded seven combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career sack during their 47–3 loss.
Playing this game made him the second-youngest NFL player to ever play. At age 20, he became the youngest NFL player ever to record an interception, in his week 14 start against the Jets.
5 Oldest: Morten Andersen - 47 years old
"The Great Dane," the placekicker who managed to continue playing at the elite level up to age 47. Andersen has two age-related records including 14 points in a game (47 years), and oldest player to kick 5 field goals in a game (46 years). The Great Dane played 23 seasons between 1982-2007 mostly for the Saints and Falcons.
Andersen was the second exclusive placekicker to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. In 2008, he did not receive a contract offer from any other team and had he, he would have become the oldest player to ever play.
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4 Youngest: Danielle Hunter - 19 years old
Hunter, the Jamaican-American defensive end was drafted at 19, and started playing at the same year for the Vikings. As a rookie in 2015, Danielle Hunter was the youngest player in the NFL, and somehow quickly managed to earn a rotational role on defense and finished second among all NFL rookies and second in the team in sacks with 6.
Hunter started his freshman season at LSU at only 17, which is why he managed to break into the league at such a young age. Hunter continues to maintain dominance on defense in Minnesota with 14.5 sacks in the last two seasons.
3 Oldest: Adam Vinatieri - 47 years old
Currently the oldest active NFL player, Adam Vinatieri has a chance to become the oldest NFL player in history, should he play through the upcoming 2020 season. Unfortunately, he is currently a free agent.
The longtime Indianapolis placekicker has scored more points than any other NFL player, 2,673, and more field goals than anyone else, 599. Vinatieri has converted several of the most crucial field goals in NFL history, including the game-winning kicks in the final seconds of Super Bowls: XXXVI and XXXVIII.
2 Youngest: Amobi Okoye - 19 years old
Amobi Okaye has already had quite a unique journey. Okaye emigrated from Nigeria to Alabama, and tested into school two years above his age. Because of this, he graduated high school at 16 and turned down Harvard to attend the University of Louisville so he could play football.
He left graduate college in three years and joined the NFL. Playing college football at 16 made him the youngest player in NCAA history and playing in the NFL at a remarkably young 19 years old made him the youngest player in NFL history, too.
1 Oldest: George Blanda - 48 years old
George Blanda is the oldest player in the history of the NFL to suit up and play a game. At 48 years of age, the quarterback (and placekicker) played his last game in an Oakland Raiders uniform. Blanda started his career in 1949 with the Chicago Bears and managed to play all the way until 1975, an insane 26 years later, longer than anyone else, ever.
Blanda was a Bear, Raider, and Houston Oiler, and also scored at least 1 point in all of his 26 seasons which in itself is another NFL record.
