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When Tom Brady broke another record with his 600th touchdown pass, it got us wondering about his longevity. He already holds the record for most games in the NFL as a quarterback and has the most games of all active players in the NFL at the moment.
We look at others who can keep Tom Brady company in the top five. Note that the game statistics below only take into account the regular season.
Who else joins Tom Brady in the Top 5 list of long-playing active players?
#5 - Andrew Whitworth, OT and Mason Crosby, K, 231 games
Andrew Whitworth
Andrew Whitworth keeps doing what he does best on the NFL field at the age of 39. Playing as an offensive tackle requires strength and balance and not many people can claim to have it at an advanced age. In the current NFL, no one can come close to him in the offensive tackle position. He is the 'Tom Brady' of offensive tackles.
He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006 and played with them until 2016. He has since played for the Los Angeles Rams. Whitworth has been selected to the Pro Bowl 4 times, and has made the All-Pro team thrice: twice as a first-teamer and once as a second-teamer.
Mason Crosby
Tied with Andrew Whitworth is kicker Mason Crosby. Drafted in 2007, Crosby has played his entire career for the Green Bay Packers and went to Super Bowl XLV with them. He seems to have gotten better with time. In 2020, he converted all 16 of his field goal attempts for the first time in his career. He has topped the scoring chart once in his career: in his rookie year in 2007 with 141 points.
#4 - Ben Roethlisberger, QB, 239 games
Ben Roethlisberger has been playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers since being drafted in 2004 and would have been the highest-ranked quarterback on this list, were it not for Tom Brady.
In his rookie season, he was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and since then has only gotten better. Roethlisberger has won the Super Bowl twice and lost it once. He has been named to the Pro Bowl six times. In 2014 and 2018, he was the passing yards leader. While this season has seen his output drop from his previous standards, he has inarguably been one of the best quarterbacks of this generation.
Rounding up the top 3 including Tom Brady
#3 - Sam Koch, P, 246 games
Joining Tom Brady in the top three is Sam Koch, who was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2006 and has played his entire career with them since. He was part of their Super Bowl XLVII team and memorably took a safety to wind down the clock. Personally, though, he had his most productive year in 2015 when he was named to the Pro-Bowl and selected to the All-Pro team as a second-teamer.
But more than his success in numbers, he is well known for being a revolutionary in the skill of punting. Many variations, such as knuckleball, boomerang and hook were his brainchildren.
#2 - Andy Lee, P, 271 games
Another punter, Andy Lee, has been an epitome of consistency in the NFL ever since he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2004 NFL Draft. He played with them until 2014 before spending a season each with the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers. Since 2017, he has been with the Arizona Cardinals.
He has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times, been a first-team All-Pro three times, a second-team All-Pro once, and has been the punting yards leader in three seasons.
#1 - Tom Brady, QB, 308 games
Finally, sitting atop the list, as he does with most other lists pertaining to NFL records, is Tom Brady. Words cannot do justice to the greatness of Tom Brady, but we must still try.
He is a seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP. He has been the league MVP three times and has been named to 14 Pro Bowls. He holds the NFL record for most career touchdown passes, most career passing yards, most career passing attempts, the lowest touchdown-to-interception ratio in a season (28:2) and, of course, the most career wins.
Unlike other players, he has only gotten better with age, with four of his Super Bowl wins coming after turning 35, and three since 2017, when he turned 40.
In the current season too, Tom Brady is playing as well as he ever has and leads the league after Week 7 in both passing yards (2,275) and touchdown passes (21). With him claiming to be in the best health he has been in for years after knee surgery in the offseason, he will continue to extend his record in this category for the foreseeable future.
