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The Spectacle Blog

Has the Old Quarterback Era Come to An End?

By W. James Antle, III on 10.8.09 @ 1:10PM

Brett Favre's triumph in leading the Minnesota Vikings to victory over his old team, the Green Bay Packers, has obscured the fact that the older quarterbacks are generally not doing as well this NFL season. Last year was the season of the old quarterback. Not only did Favre lead the New York Jets, a previously 4-12 team, to 8-3 before tearing his bicep down the stretch, but Kerry Collins and Kurt Warner came in and sidelined promising young quarterbacks. The result? The Collins-led Tennesse Titans went 13-3, the best record in the NFL, and Warner's Arizona Cardinals went all the way to the Super Bowl.

This year, things have been a little different. Warner has thrown four touchdowns to four interceptions as the Cardinals have sunk to 1-2 (they are coming off their bye week). Collins has thrown five touchdowns to six interceptions for a quarterback rating of 68.9. His Titans are 0-4 heading into a match with the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.

Do you bench Collins and Warner at this point, declaring it a rebuilding season? Or are Vince Young and Matt Leinart even bigger gambles given troubled NFL track records? That's the question these teams are facing. But with the exception of Favre, we are hearing more about the young guns like Drew Brees than we are the graybeards. Whether the quarterbacks are old or not, however, the season is still young.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

WJ| 10.8.09 @ 1:38PM

Drew Brees as a "young gun"?? Seriously?? Brees is 30 and in his 9th year. That is a QB in his prime, not a "young gun".

Young gun would be Flacco, Ryan, Sanchez.

You are really stretching it to try and make your point. Just off the top of my head someof the QB's over 30 in the NFL are Manning, Garrard, McNabb, and Brady.

W. James Antle III| 10.8.09 @ 4:05PM

Fair point re: Brees, though I wouldn't put Sanchez in the same category as Flacco or Ryan yet.

But there is a big difference between a quarterback over 30, like Brady, Manning, or McNabb, and one over 35 like Collins, Favre or Warner.

Ryan Harris| 10.8.09 @ 4:24PM

I like a little football talk here at TAS. Good points made in the post. The QB in Pittsburgh is still pretty young and good, and Carson Palmer's Bengals are 3-1.

S.L. Toddard| 10.8.09 @ 7:40PM

BRA-DY!
BRA-DY!
BRA-DY!
BRA-DY!

Richard Baker| 10.8.09 @ 8:29PM

Ultimately, the age thing was settled with Earl Morrall and George Blanda. The "older" players today are carrying forward with what these two stars of yesteryear started. Hail to the Redskins, Hail to Victory!

JohnD| 10.8.09 @ 9:02PM

Brady is a sissy, a crybaby, and not much of a man, the way he whined about being barely hit in the game against Baltimore (that Baltimore should have won, if not for abominable one-sided officiating). Had the referees not bascially put 17 points on the board for him, they would have been routed by a vastly superior (and tougher) Baltimore team.

Joe Flacco is awesome, rocket arm, lethally accurate, and tough as nails. He was the first QB to win two playoff games as a rookie. He got hit late 6 times in that game (one roughing call) and you didn't see Joe cry to the refs. If he were playing in New York, Flacco would be the talk of the NFL, but.

Brady is over. He is clearly afraid to play the game.