Who Is The Oldest Player In Super Bowl LIII?
If you’re wondering who the oldest player set to take the field at Super Bowl LIII is, you won’t need to look much further than the man who has won five Super Bowls — among numerous other accolades — since entering the NFL as the 199th pick in the league’s 2000 draft. At 41 years and 184-days-old, per Pro Football Reference, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is over four years older than the Los Angeles Rams’ oldest player, 37-year-old offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. And once he suits up for the Patriots on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, he will also become the oldest non-kicker to ever play in the “Big Game,” as noted by Yardbarker.
Born on August 3, 1977, Brady was originally a third-string quarterback for the Drew Bledsoe-led Patriots of the early 2000s, just like most people typically expect from a sixth-round draft pick. However, Brady would (surprisingly) be thrust into the spotlight early on in the 2001 season, as recalled by the NFL‘s official website, when Bledsoe suffered a concussion after taking a hit from New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis. This set things in motion for Brady’s distinguished career as the Patriots’ starting quarterback, and even at the age of 41, he continues to put up solid numbers and deliver when New England needs him the most.
Although much younger quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and fellow Super Bowl LIII starter Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams finished the 2018 regular season with better statistics, Brady still threw for 4,355 yards, with 29 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions, and a QB rating of 97.7, per ESPN.
As far as his ability to come through in the clutch is concerned, CBS Sports noted that Brady played a key role in the Patriots’ AFC championship game against the Chiefs last month, leading a 75-yard drive in overtime that helped New England beat Kansas City, 37-31.
Tom Brady’s oldest former teammates share insights https://t.co/gSrW8mewhN
— chaz2b (@chaz2b) January 29, 2019
While Tom Brady had previously suggested that he plans to play for a few more seasons despite his advanced age, he had recently opened up on the topic of retirement in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in June 2018. As quoted by CNBC, Brady admitted that he thinks about retirement “more now than [he] used to” and believes that there’s “definitely an end coming,” though he did bring up the possibility of playing until he’s in his mid-40s as long as he still loves the game. Still, he also stressed the increasing importance of being present in the lives of his three children.
“I do have kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there driving my kids to their games. I think my kids have brought a great perspective in my life, because kids just want the attention. You better be there and be available to them, or else they’re going to look back on their life and go, ‘Dad didn’t really care that much,'” Brady said.
