The NFL is the most difficult, physically demanding sports league in the world to carve out a lengthy career. After all, there’s a reason they say that NFL stands for “Not For Long.”
According to a study by Statista, the average NFL career is just 3.3 years long. That number is heavily influenced by both punters and kickers, who have a whopping 4.87 average; meanwhile, the average running back lasts just 2.57 yards.
Which is all to say, if you’re able to carve out a lengthy career in the league, regardless of how big a name you are, you’ve already beaten the odds.
These 10 players, however, are the ultimate odds beaters, playing more NFL games than everyone else in the league’s storied history.
Top 10 NFL Players In Terms Of Games Played
As it stands, no currently active player is on the list. The top active player is Arizona Cardinals star Calais Campbell, who at age 39 is still one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive linemen.
Campbell checks in at No. 31 on the list with 266 games played, well outside of the top 10.
Of note, the list does not include playoff games, although unsurprisingly, the players atop the list have also played in their fair share of postseason football.
T10) Brett Favre and John Carney – 302 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3vF9v8us-Y
With all do respect to former veteran kicker John Carney, who won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints and twice made the Pro Bowl (14 years apart!), the big name on No. 10 on our list is Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.
Favre, for all his off-field missteps, was a one-of-a-kind gunslinger who made his name as perhaps the league’s best player in the late 1990s.
A three-time NFL MVP from 1995-97, Favre threw for a whopping 71,838 yards, 508 touchdowns, and holds the league record for most consecutive starts at 297.
9) Jerry Rice – 303 Games
Jerry Rice’s inclusion on this list of nothing short of incredible. But we’d expect nothing less from a player who is not only the greatest wide receiver of all time, but perhaps the greatest player in league history, depending on who you ask.
Rice is the lone non-quarterback skill player on this list, and his longevity is surpassed only by his ridiculous resume.
The San Francisco 49ers legend holds the NFL record for career receptions (1,459), receiving yards (22,895), and receiving touchdowns (197). He is a 13-time Pro Bowler, 10-time first-team All-Pro selection, and a three-time Super Bowl champ.
Simply put, Rice is the GOAT receiver, and his incredible longevity and durability only rubberstamps that fact.
8) Phil Dawson – 305 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GzI-q1CjVk
To nobody’s surprise, this list is littered with kickers and punters, who avoid the typical violence associated with playing in the NFL.
No. 8 on our list is veteran kicker Phil Dawson, who spent the majority of his career with the Cleveland Browns before stints with San Francisco and Arizona.
Dawson, a two-time second-team All-Pro, made 441 of an attempted 526 field goals, giving him an impressive 83.8 career field goal percentage over a nearly two-decade-long run in the league. Not bad for an undrafted free agent!
7) Jason Hanson – 327 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR5BNpQCSeE
While Dawson carved out a lengthy career after going undrafted, the next name on our list has a far different story.
The Detroit Lions used the No. 56 overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft on kicker Jason Hanson out of Washington State. And while it’s hard to justify using a second-round pick on a kicker, it’s hard to argue the Lions didn’t extract the most possible value out of Hanson.
Hanson went on to play a jaw-dropping 21 NFL seasons, all with Detroit, before retiring in 2012. He made a pair of Pro Bowl appearances in that stretch and made 495 of his 601 field goal attempts, good for 82.4 percent. In total, he recorded a jaw-dropping 2,150 points scored, which ranks fourth all-time.
6) Tom Brady – 335 Games
Love him or hate him, Tom Brady is undeniably. By now, you know all the accolades. Seven Super Bowl rings. Five Super Bowl MVP trophies. Three NFL MVP awards.
We could do this all day. Brady, the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft, went on to become what many consider the greatest player to ever play in the NFL.
Not only did Brady play at a remarkably high level, but he did so for a jaw-dropping 23 seasons, which becomes even remarkable when you consider he also played in a record 48 playoff games, 19 more than Rice in second place.
5) George Blanda – 340 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68H9hd2ZaMM
You don’t get the nickname “The Ageless Wonder” without doing something completely remarkable, and that’s the case for Oilers and Raiders legend George Blanda.
Blanda, a three-time AFL champion and the 1961 league MVP, played professional football across FOUR DECADES after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1949 and retiring with the Raiders in 1975.
Not only does he hold the NFL record for seasons played at 26, but he also boasts the distinction of holding both a quarterback record (most touchdown passes in a game) and a kicking record (most career extra points).
Blanda was truly one of a kind and will always hold a spot in NFL history.
4) Jeff Feagles – 352 Games
We have officially reached the specialist-only portion of this list. But it begins with a bang.
Sure, veteran punter Jeff Feagles might not seem exciting. But somehow, Feagles is the only punter to make this list! After beginning his career with the Patriots in 1988 as an undrafted free agent, Feagles played 22 seasons in the NFL, breaking a number of records along the way.
The University of Miami product holds the NFL records for: Most consecutive games played (352), most career punts (1,713), most career punt yards (71,211), and most career punts inside the 20 (554).
In the words of Pat McAfee, punters are people too, and Feagles is a legend of the punt game.
3) Gary Anderson – 353 Games
From being born in Dutch-ruled South Africa to playing 23 NFL seasons, Gary Anderson’s path to football fame was anything but conventional.
Anderson, a member of both the 1980s and 1990s NFL All-Decade teams, made four Pro Bowls and played for six different franchises, most notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1982 to 1994.
On the other end of the spectrum, Vikings fans will remember Anderson for a crucial 38-yard missed field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game that would have sent Minnesota to the Super Bowl.
2) Adam Vinatieri – 365 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfURAI9USk4
If there were no Adam Vinatieri, would there be no Tom Brady as well?
Sure, Brady probably finds a way to break out anyway. But Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, certainly played a major role! The legendary kicker went from an undrafted free agent to perhaps the most famous and important kicker in league history.
He played 24 NFL seasons, won four Super Bowls, made three Pro Bowls, and is responsible for multiple of the most consequential kicks in league history. Vinatieri’s list of league records is extensive, and while he’s not yet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it feels as if it’s only a matter of time.
1) Morten Anderson – 382 Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS6EebiYklE
382 games. 26 seasons. 565 field goals made.
Morten Andersen’s extensive NFL career was certainly not a fluke. The Denmark native wasn’t just in the league for 26 years; he was one of the best in the league at his position for 26 years.
Andersen made seven Pro Bowl appearances and was a four-time first-team All-Pro. He made both the 80s and 90s All-Decade teams and is in both the Indiana and Louisiana sports hall of fame as well as the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.
In addition to having played 382 games in the NFL, Andersen recorded a point in a record 360 games in a row, a mark that will almost assuredly never be broken.
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The 10 Players Who Have Played The Most Games In NFL History
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