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The NFL's 'Bad Grandpa' quarterbacks
MTV Films' "Bad Grandpa" hits theaters this weekend, where Johnny Knoxville dupes everyday people into thinking he is the world's worst grandpa. Coincidentally, this is the same week in which Brett Favre fielded a call from the St. Louis Rams to play quarterback for them (mostly a joke), and Jeff Garcia fielded a call to the Cleveland Browns to offer his services as a quarterback (less of a joke). In honor of these not so spring chickens making splashes in the media, we thought it'd be fitting to take a look at the oldest quarterbacks to ever throw a pass in an NFL game. Hold onto your rockers, folks.
Ferguson is the baby of the list, barely registering at 40 and a half years old when he attempted his last pass in an NFL game. It came against the Miami Dolphins, when he was presumably filling in for Jeff George while George was taunting fans for throwing a tirade on the sideline. Ferguson completed only two of his eight passes on the day, and would retire from football after the 1990 season.
Evans was Ferguson's senior by a whopping five days when he threw his final pass. Evans actually had a pretty solid day, completing nine of his 11 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Heck, he even had an 11-yard scramble on the afternoon. At 40! Not too shabby, Mr. Evans.
Of course the NFL's ultimate iron man makes an appearance on this list. After all, at the tender age of 40, Favre was one errant should-have-never-made-the-throw-in-the first-place interception away from leading the Vikings to the Super Bowl. Favre, however, returned for one last shot at glory, and at 41 the endless amount of hits and punishment finally caught up with him. Favre ceded the starting job to Joe Webb (yes, that Joe Webb) as his injuries mounted and the Vikings were out of playoff contention. It was sad to see the old gunslinger hang up the belt, but it was his time.
Ironic that one of Favre's understudies outlasted him on the quarterback grandpa list, no? After emerging from Favre's shadow in Green Bay, Brunell had several successful stops across the NFL before landing in New York to backup the Sanchize. Brunell threw a whopping 16 passes in his two years with the Jets, his final three coming in garbage-time relief of Mark Sanchez in 2011.
Morrall was a crucial part of the Dolphins' perfect season in 1972, as he filled in for an injured Bob Griese to win nine straight games -- of their 14 regular season wins. Griese eventually took back the reigns for Super Bowl VII, and that was that. A testament to his skill and quarterbacking ability, Morrall's final pass came once again in relief of Griese, when Morrall threw for 148 yards and a touchdown. Granted, he also threw an interception, and the Dolphins lost, but at least Morrall went out slinging it.
Much of Flutie's NFL career was spectacular. Who didn't love watching the diminuitive quarterback scamper around the field and make plays out of seemingly nothing? While Flutie remains the second oldest quarterback to start and win an NFL game, his final pass attempt came in rather unspectacular fashion. He filled in for Tom Brady in garbage time for the Patriots in 2005 in a blowout win over the Jets, and completed his final pass attempt to Patrick Pass for two yards. Flutie then fumbled the fourth down snap, turning the ball over to the Jets.
That's right. In case you forgot, Warren Moon played for the Kansas City Chiefs as well during his Hall of Fame career. Moon's last pass attempt came while starting for an injured Elvis Grbac in a loss to the San Diego Chargers. Moon completed just 12 of his 31 attempts, with no touchdowns and one interception. It was a far cry from Moon's gunslinging glory days, but then again, he was probably too preoccupied about the kids that were playing football on his lawn the day before to focus on the game.
In addition to Testaverde being the oldest quarterback to start in and win an NFL game, he also holds the record for the biggest age gap between a quarterback and a receiver to connect for a touchdown with Dante Rosario, as they were 20 years, 346 days apart in age. Not surprisingly, Testaverde always seemed to pop up when a team needed him, making weekend warriors pause and wonder, "He's still in the league?" I'm sure it's only a matter of time before one of the quarterback deficient teams gives old Testaverde a ring thinking he's waiting in the wings for one last shot.
What's funny about Steve DeBerg is that five years before he made his final pass attempt in the NFL, was when he officially "retired." DeBerg retired after the 1993 season, only to pull a Brett Favre and unretire at the age of 44 to serve as the backup for the Falcons. Logical, no? DeBerg only started one game for injured starter Chris Chandler, and threw a grand total of 59 passes on the season between that start and garbage time. DeBerg holds the distinction of being the oldest player to be included on a Super Bowl roster, when the Falcons were demolished by the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII, but he didn't play in the game.
I mean, come on, could anyone else really have topped this list? Granted, Blanda was primarily a kicker at this point in his career, but numbers never lie. Blanda attempted three passes in the final game of the 1975 regular season for the Oakland Raiders, completing one pass for 11 yards, and completing one pass to the other team. Yes, true to his form, Blanda exited the NFL just like he came in: throwing the ball to the other team (five of Blanda's 21 pass attempts in his first season were interceptions). He did after all hold the record for most interceptions in NFL history, until a young whippersnapper by the name of Brett Favre took the title from him.
