Tom Brady recently retired after 22 NFL seasons, only to announce later on that he will come out of retirement and return to the gridiron as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.
George Blanda, another NFL quarterback, holds the record for being the oldest player to compete in the NFL. After being drafted 12th out of 119 in the NFL Draft in 1949, Blanda competed for 26 consecutive seasons and last strapped on his helmet to compete in an NFL game at “the ripe old age” of 48.
Not only was Blanda a quarterback, but he was a placekicker too and field goal kicker. He only missed 16 extra point conversions out of his 959 attempts by booting the ball between the uprights 943 times.
In fact, Blanda, a triple scoring threat, became the first NFL player in history to score more than 2,000 points. He threw 236 TD passes during his career and completed 1,911 passes out of 4,007 for 26,920 total yards while throwing 277 interceptions.
Should Brady return as he has announced, he will be performing in his 23rd season at 44, and while attempting to win his 8th Super Bowl ring, he has already surpassed Blanda’s statistics in many aspects.
Brady has thrown for 84,520 yards, more than doubling Blanda’s career yards, and his 624 TD passes has more than doubled Blanda’s TD passes as well.
At the age of 41, Brady became the oldest quarterback to lead his team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to a Super Bowl win.
As for efficiency as a passer, Brady has completed 7,263 passes out of 11,317 attempts for a 64.2% mark.
While Brady has yet to throw seven TD passes in a single game, Blanda and seven other NFL quarterbacks have achieved the feat.
Sid Luckman became the first to do so on Nov. 14, 1943, for the Chicago Bears in a 56-7 win over the New York Giants.
On Oct.17, 1954, Adrian Burk matched Luckman’s total while leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 49-21 victory over the Washington Redskins.
Blanda matched the number on Nov. 19, 1961, for the Houston Oilers in a 49-13 thrashing of the New York Titans.
On Oct. 28, 1962, Y.A. Tittle accomplished the feat for the New York Giants in his team’s 49-34 defeat of the Washington Redskins.
Joe Kapp tossed seven TD passes for the Minnesota Vikings against the Baltimore Colts in a 52-14 romp to victory on Sept. 28, 1968.
Peyton Manning became the last NFL quarterback to throw for seven TD passes in a single game as he led the Denver Broncos to a 49-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5, 2013.
Oddly enough, in five of the eight games during which an NFL quarterback threw seven touchdown passes, the winning team scored 49 points.
Brady has surpassed Blanda in many statistical categories, but it remains to be seen if he will break Blanda’s record of being the oldest player to strap on a helmet and compete at 49 or throw seven TD passes in a single game to tie the eight NFL quarterbacks who share the record.
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