Football is a young person’s sport, but there have been plenty of 49ers players over the years who have defied age and rank as the oldest NFL players ever to play the game.
The San Francisco 49ers may not lay claim to the oldest player in NFL history to ever suit up. That honor goes to the late great Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda, who retired at the youthful age of 48 years old after his 1975 campaign after a career that spanned 27 years.
Perhaps future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady ends up surpassing Blanda at some point, although that’s a discussion for another time. So is the thought medicine and modern physical practices can help extend players’ careers for a lot longer than ever before.
Records are made to be broken, right? Especially when age is a factor.
Regardless, the Niners have still had plenty of older players don the red and gold over the years, and these 10 stand at the very top for being the oldest to ever suit up for San Francisco.
Note: We’ll only list each player once, as a few would show up multiple times in different seasons.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 10: Wide Receiver Jerry Rice
38 Years Old in 2000
It’s weird to think the greatest NFL player of all time, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, actually doesn’t hold this lofty franchise record. But he is within the top 10, so there’s always that. And when one factors in Rice played until he was 42 years old anyway and could still likely suit up for teams today, that still says a lot.
At any rate, Rice was 38 years old with 71 days removed from his birthday when he suited up for the final time in a 49ers uniform, a road loss against the Denver Broncos in the final week of the season on Dec. 23.
Before that, though, it’s safe to say Rice had a pretty good career. The Niners received some decent production out of him.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 9: Cornerback Jimmy Johnson
38 Years Old in 1976
There are arguably two positions in football where age becomes a factor quicker than others: running back and cornerback. And it’s awfully rare to see corners continue playing deep into their 30s, especially when those defensive backs are getting close to 40 years old.
But San Francisco’s greatest cornerback of all time, Jimmy Johnson, certainly did that. And did it well late into his Hall of Fame career, earning the last of his five Pro Bowl nods in 1974 when he was 36 years old.
Johnson spent his entire NFL tenure with the 49ers, kicking off in 1961 and spanning through all the way until the end of 1976 with his last game being played when he was 38 years and 256 days old.
Like some of the other players on this list, younger fans may not remember Johnson. But they should.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 8: Long-Snapper Jon Condo
38 Years Old in 2019
Fans should remember Jimmy Johnson. It’s OK if they don’t quite recall the next player on this list, long-snapper Jon Condo, who makes it to No. 8 on the list of oldest Niners players to ever suit up for the team.
For just one game.
Condo was 38 years and 27 days old when San Francisco inked him to alleviate some long-snapping issues, and he saw action in the Week 3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers before deciding to retire shortly thereafter.
In terms of other notable 49ers all-time lists, Condo will certainly be left off. But he makes this one.
Hooray.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 7: Quarterback John Brodie
38 Years Old in 1973
He might not be anywhere close to other San Francisco quarterbacking legends in terms of accolades or recognition. But quarterback John Brodie should still go down as one of the best signal-callers in franchise history, if for no other reason than he spent his entire 17-year career with the 49ers and started a whopping 158 games during that span with two Pro Bowl nods and one first-team All-Pro selection.
In 1973, Brodie’s final year in the NFL, he went 5-9 and had clearly lost his luster, tossing only three touchdowns against 12 interceptions, the final two coming in a loss to the Steelers when he was 38 years and 123 days old.
Before that mark, however, Brodie had cemented himself among the Niners’ all-time leaders in passing, which is an accolade he still carries to this day.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 6: Kicker Gary Anderson
38 Years Old in 1998
It’s not too crazy to see specialists make it high up on teams’ lists of their oldest players ever to suit up, and you’re going to see a bit of a run here after already looking at Jon Condo.
Kicker Gary Anderson didn’t exactly retire after one game with San Francisco, but his 49ers tenure was nevertheless brief, brought aboard in 1997 after previous time with both the Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.
Anderson’s lone year with the red and gold wasn’t particularly notable, as he posted an 80.6 field-goal percentage that included him making his final kicks in the playoffs in early 1998 when he was 38 years and 179 days old.
The Niners moved on the following offseason, yet Anderson continued on, too, earning a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro nod with the Minnesota Vikings the following year, sticking with them until he joined the Tennessee Titans, ultimately playing until he was 45 years old.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 5: Kicker David Akers
38 Years Old in 2013
What a two-year stretch for the next player on this list of oldest San Francisco players.
Veteran kicker David Akers was outstanding when he first joined the 49ers in 2011, making 44 of 52 field-goal tries and every one of his extra-point attempts en route to his sixth Pro Bowl nod and second first-team All-Pro selection.
The following year, though, was a completely different story, and Akers’ struggles were a worry point during an otherwise exceptional 2012 campaign for the Niners.
At least Akers was perfect in the Super Bowl that season. Too bad the team’s overall efforts against the Baltimore Ravens weren’t.
That game, Akers was 38 years and 56 days old, and he’d spend one more year in the NFL in 2013 with the Detroit Lions before calling it a career.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 4: Defensive Tackle Leo Nomellini
39 Years Old in 1963
Yes, another Hall of Fame player finds his way onto this list of oldest players in San Francisco history. And while the younger generations may not remember him, defensive tackle Leo Nomellini is one of the franchise’s all-time original greats from the days of Kezar Stadium.
Nomellini’s career would be storybook today, him having achieved 10 Pro Bowl nods and six first-team All-Pro selections over a legendary 14-year career, all of which was with the 49ers, that began in 1950 and concluded in 1963 when he was 39 years old.
Truly, an all-time great.
As far as players who were so impactful and still spent an entire career with one team spanning into being in the late 30s, few others could come close to Nomellini.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 3: Kicker Robbie Gould
39 Years Old in 2021
Eventually, current 49ers kicker Robbie Gould will move up this list even further, turning 39 years old towards the end of the NFL’s 2021 campaign. And the fact he’s under contract with the Niners through 2022 means he’ll likely emerge as the No. 2 option on this list before too long, too.
As far as age goes, that’s impressive.
The Chicago Bears thought Gould’s career was winding down in 2015, electing to part ways with their long-time kicker, and he went on to see a short stint with the New York Giants before emerging as San Francisco’s go-to option in 2017.
Gould’s career with the 49ers has been up and down, including the high of leading the league with a 97.1 field-goal percentage in 2018 before dealing with injuries and inconsistency the following two years.
Nevertheless, he’ll finish his Niners career as one of its top elder players.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 2: Offensive Guard Ray Brown
39 Years Old in 2002
No, you don’t have to be a specialist to be towards the very top of oldest players in franchise history. And you can even be a high-profile starter who makes the Pro Bowl.
Such is the case with longtime offensive guard Ray Brown, who came over to San Francisco in 1996 when he was 33 years old, turning 34 years old in December of that year.
Brown spent six seasons with the 49ers, wrapping up during the 2001 season in what turned into a Pro Bowl campaign where he started all 16 games. In fact, Brown only missed one start, and that was back in 1997.
Brown’s final game took place when the Niners fell to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs in January of 2002 when he was 39 years old and 32 days.
49ers Oldest NFL Player No. 1: Kicker Phil Dawson
41 Years Old in 2017
And the No. 1 oldest NFL player to ever suit up for San Francisco?
None other than a fan favorite, kicker Phil Dawson, whose 49ers career spanned from the year he joined the team, 2013, until his final game with the franchise at the very end of the otherwise lowly 2016 season.
Dawson was 41 years old and had traversed an additional 344 days by the time his final performance with the Niners, a 25-23 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17 at the very beginning of the 2017 new year, yet the crazy part is he didn’t hang up his cleats after that game.
No, Dawson spent two more seasons in the NFL, playing with San Francisco’s other NFC West division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, before finally calling it quits after 2018.
Dawson owned an 86.1 field-goal percentage with the 49ers, his highest mark out of all the three teams for which he played over his lengthy career.