Matthew Stafford is on an absolute tear to begin the 2025 season.
Through 11 games, the Rams' quarterback has completed 66.5% of his passes for 2,830 yards and a league-leading 30 touchdowns. He also leads the NFL in passer rating, hasn't thrown an interception since Week 3, and has Los Angeles at 9–2—holding onto the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
All the while, Stafford sits as the odds-on favorite to win the NFL MVP award and, at 37 years old, is on track to become one of the oldest players in league history to earn the honor.
Among the then-22-year-old Lamar Jacksons and then-23-year-old Patrick Mahomeses who have won the honor recently, there have also been plenty of aging veterans who have claimed the MVP award deep into their careers.
Here's a look:
Oldest Players to Win MVP, NFL History
Here's a list of the 14 oldest players in NFL history to have won MVP, along with their age, the team, and the season in which they won it.
Should Stafford win the NFL's MVP award at age 37, he would join the top five oldest players in league history to ean the honor. Here's a closer look at each:
Five Oldest Players to Win NFL MVP
5. Y.A. Tittle, New York Giants, 37 years old
Season stats: 3,145 yards, 36 TD, 14 INT, 60.2% completion percentage
Tittle led the Giants to an 11–2 regular season record in 1963, and in the process won the MVP award, becoming the oldest to do so at that time.
Unfortunately, after qualifying for the playoffs, New York was eliminated in the first round after Tittle completed just 37.9% of his passes and threw five interceptions in a loss to the Chicago Bears.
4. Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders, 37 years old
Season stats: 4,689 yards, 26 TD, 10 INT, 67.6% completion percentage
A career journeyman, Gannon found a home with the Raiders in 1999 and spent his six seasons in Oakland. His best year came in 2002 when he won the NFL's MVP award, led the Raiders to an 11–5 record, and won the AFC title before losing Super Bowl XXXVII to the Buccaneers.
3. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos, 37 years old
Season stats: 5,477 yards, 55 TD, 10 INT, 67.3% completion percentage
Manning was released by the Colts following his injury-riddled 2011 season and found a home with the Broncos for the backend of his career. After a solid showing in his first year in Denver, Manning lit it up in 2013, throwing for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns—both still NFL records—and winning MVP at age 37.
2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, 37 and 38 years old
Season stats: 4,299 yards, 48 TD, 5 INT, 70.7% completion percentage (2020), 4,115 yards, 37 TD, 4 INT('21)
Following a handful of up-and-down seasons in Green Bay, Rodgers had himself quite the career resurgence in 2020 and '21. Over the course of two seasons, he led the Packers to back-to-back 13–3 records and threw 85 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. In turn, Rodgers also won back-to-back MVPs at age 37 and 38.
1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots, 40 years old
Season stats: 4,577 yards, 32 TD, 8 INT, 66.3% completion percentage
GOATs do GOAT things.
Amid the back half of his second dynastic run in New England, Brady earned his third and final NFL MVP award—at age 40—in 2017. He led the NFL in passing yards with 4,577 while leading the Patriots to a 13–3 regular season record before eventually losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
Brady remains the oldest player in NFL history to win MVP.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Oldest NFL MVP Winners in League History.
