QBs and Age - An NFL Post

Our long national nightmare is over. Brett Favre has finally been traded. The Pack is probably my second favorite NFL team, courtesy of some friends I made in GB at a previous job.

Courtesy of some research I cobbled together today fromPro-Football-Reference.com here's some info about the top 25 passers in the NFL, based upon pass completions, who played beyond the age of 35, they are classic names like Fouts, Montana, Unitas, Hart, Marino:

Win % by Age:

21-20%

22-27%

23-52%

24-53%

25-50%

26-52%

27-57%

28-59%

29-59%

30-51%

31-62%

32-62%

33-59%

34-56%

35-58%

36-58%

37-61%

38-59%

39-49%

40-37%

41-41%

42-36%

43-0%

44-29%

QBs 39 and over don't have winning records.

5 Qbs started at the age of 38 and didn't return for the season when they turned 39: Elway, Marino, Montana, Tarkenton and Steve Young. Of the QBs that continued, Jim Hart and Phil Simms are the only QBs to have more wins as a starter at the age of 39 than the age of 38; Hart went from 0 wins to 1 (with 2 losses) and Simms returned from an injury to lead the Giants to an 11-5 record. Warren Moon was the only other 39 year old to start the entire season, going 8-8 after a 9-7 campaign. Moon, Testaverde and Unitas are the only QBs to start games into their 40s, and none of them posted a winning record with these three legends - I mean two legends and one long suffering reject - at the helm.

Odds are not in the Jets favor here.