As we conclude (read part 1) this glimpse into the uncertain fate of a well established player such as Tom Brady, the last time we had the oldest retired kickers in the NFL, now, let’s move closer to what should be a more parallel position with the amount of grind the quarterbacks handle for years.
There are some retired players who played in riskier positions much closer to the full contact and that at an advanced age is already dangerous itself, in fact the more ‘veteran’ quarterbacks we’ve seen are Warren Moon, Steve Deberg and Vinny Testaverde, the three played up to about 44 years old, but none as a starter, none as the key piece inside the team.
Age is not only the problem for Tom Brady, will there still be a place for him in the NFL, not when he’s 48 or 47 years old, but at a closer age, few years from now, will the Patriots continue to put in Brady, their money, their team and their future, year after year? Maybe not, possibly New England decides not to re-sign Tom Brady when his current contract ends, but as we know the NFL has many teams in urgent need of a quarterback who wins and he might even land in one of these franchises, but for how much longer?
Matt Hasselbeck is currently the oldest quarterback who is relevant in the NFL, his 42 years old, he already helmed as starter this season as Andrew Luck’s replacement and let’s be honest, he managed quite well, but now, 48 years old really seems unreal for any athlete and especially in this league, where every year the players are stronger, faster, and simply better than the last generation.
An incredibly difficult task, not only for Brady specifically but any NFL player, to continue to be a brand and maintain such large positions after a certain age, not taking kickers into account. The truth is Tom Brady already has a place in the Hall of Fame, perhaps even two, imagine if he would play for another decade the number of records he would have? Actually probably all of them, yards, touchdowns, games played, started, thrown passes. Not much room for the future Hall of Famers.
