Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: No one's ever done it like Old Man Favre

No one's ever done it like Old Man Favre
Cold, Hard Football Facts for November 22, 2007

By Jonathan Comey

Cold, Hard Football Facts 37-year-old

To great quarterbacks, the age of 38 is not a pretty number.

For many of the game’s all-time best QBs, 38 was the year that the game of football turned on them – hard – leaving them looking like rank rookies at the bitter end of their career..

Dan Marino. Never had a bad year … until the year he turned 38, and stunk up the joint in Miami. He was retired before he hit 39, leaving an offer to pilot the Minnesota Vikings on the table.

Joe Montana said goodbye after 38. Steve Young. Sammy Baugh. Fran Tarkenton, Y.A. Tittle. All of them hung it up after disastrous and/or injury-plagued seasons the year they turned 38.

But not Brett Favre. As turkey lovers everywhere saw yesterday, Favre still has it at 38 -- well past the time when most QBs watch their glorious NFL stagecoaches turn into rotting pumpkins.

Of all the great QBs to play the game, only John Elway even came close to the type of mastery Favre is showing at this ripe “old” age. We assembled a general list of the 25 greatest retired QBs of all time, Hall of Famers and Hall of Almost Famers, and Favre’s incredible season shines like a beacon of hope to aging passers everywhere.

Of the 25, 11 didn’t even make it to 38. And most of them wished they hadn’t. Only Elway turned in a full season in keeping with his career numbers, leading the Broncos to the Super Bowl in 1998 (and he missed three games with injury).

The list, including Favre’s projected 2007 numbers:

Favre: 423-618, 4,879 yards, 32 TD, 12 INT, 101.19 rating
Elway: 210-356, 2,806 yards, 22 TD, 10 INT, 92.98 rating
Jurgensen: 39-59, 633 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT, 84.92 rating
Montana: 299-493, 3,283 yards, 16 TD, 9 INT, 83.58 rating
Simms: 83-137, 912 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT, 83.35 rating
Moon: 371-601, 4,264 yards, 18 TD, 19 INT, 79.9 rating
Baugh: 20-33, 152 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 79.36 rating
L. Dawson: 66-101, 725 yards, 2 TD, 5 INT, 72.42 rating
Tarkenton: 345-572, 3,468 yards, 24 TD, 32 INT, 68.28 rating
Marino: 204-369, 2,448 yards, 12 TD, 17 INT, 67.44 rating
Stabler: 176-311, 1,988 yards, 9 TD, 18 INT, 61.41 rating
S. Young: 45-84, 446 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT, 60.91 rating
Blanda: 186-442, 3,287 yards, 17 TD, 27 INT, 55.51 rating
Unitas: 92-176, 942 yards, 3 TD, 9 INT, 52.32 rating
Tittle: 147-281, 1,798 yards 10 TD 22 INT, 51.58 rating
Fouts DNP
Kelly DNP
Hadl DNP
Aikman DNP
K. Anderson DNP
Bradshaw DNP
Graham DNP
Namath DNP
Starr DNP
Layne DNP
Van Brocklin DNP

Impressive stuff for Favre, and worthy of all the over-gushing that might have come his way over the years.

Not only is Favre having the greatest season ever by a 38-year-old QB, he’s having the greatest season ever by a 38-year-old at any position – and it’s not even close.

Earlier this year, we put together an “All-Old Team” of guys that had good seasons in their mid-30s and beyond, and nothing compares to what Favre is doing.

Of that team, the two best performances at 38 and over were by Jerry Rice (1,211 yards for the Super Bowl Raiders at 40) and Warren Moon (two excellent seasons, for Minnesota at 39 and Seattle at 41).

But Rice was the No. 2 option behind Tim Brown for the Raiders, and Moon’s teams were both 8-8 afterthoughts.

Favre, on the other hand, is hands down the NFC’s MVP, and in 9 out of 10 years would be the NFL’s MVP as well (thanks again, Patriots).

Truly a remarkable turnaround for the man we used to call “Old Yeller.”

Given the history of the NFL, can you blame us for thinking the guy was done?