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With the 2024-25 NFL season rapidly approaching, the storylines are beginning to heat up, and so are projections for the upcoming year. Of course, that includes who will be the best player on the field and earn the MVP award, which makes it a perfect time to analyze past winners. In this article, we’ve broken down the top five oldest NFL MVPs.
It’s only fitting that atop the list of top five oldest NFL MVPs of all time is who many consider to be the greatest in all sports, not just football. In addition to his NFL-record seven Super Bowl rings and five Super Bowl MVPs, Tom Brady also won the regular season MVP three times in his storied career.
It was one of his final seasons with the New England Patriots before also becoming the oldest player to win a Super Bowl (43) and to be selected to the Pro Bowl (44). In his 2017 MVP season, Tom Brady led the NFL with 4,577 yards while throwing 32 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. As you’d expect, the Patriots won the Super Bowl that season against the Atlanta Falcons thanks to the famous 28-3 comeback.
If there is any NFL player more polarizing than Tom Brady, it’s Aaron Rodgers. He’s the next two spots on the list of the top five oldest NFL MVPs, but we’ve grouped them for you. Most recently, fans remember him going to the New York Jets and playing just four plays before a season-ending Achilles injury, but he had 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers before that.
Aaron Rodgers is the only player in NFL history with four MVP awards, trailing only Peyton Manning with five. In his 2020 MVP season, Rodgers had one of the best touchdown-to-interception ratios in NFL history, with 48 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He was just as impressive in 2021, with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions, and in both seasons, he threw for over 4,100 yards.
There was some foreshadowing above with Peyton Manning, and like the first two on the list of the top five oldest NFL MVPs of all time, he went to a new team after being with one franchise for over a decade. Peyton Manning spent 13 seasons before going to the Denver Broncos, where he also won his second Super Bowl.
This 2013 MVP season was also his second season with the Broncos, and his numbers were nothing short of staggering. His 5,477 passing yards with over 300 more yards than the next-closest player, and his 55 passing touchdowns are still the current NFL record. His 115.1 passer rating also led the league by a significant margin that season.
Another quarterback who spent his time in the AFC West was Rich Gannon, playing for the then-Oakland Raiders. He was the full-time starter for the first four of them, and this was the last of those. This 2002 season saw Gannon throw for 4,689 yards and lead the Raiders to the Super Bowl.
While he deserved the regular season MVP, it’s safe to say that it did not culminate in the storybook ending that Gannon and the Raiders would have hoped. He threw five interceptions in the Super Bowl, three of which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers returned for touchdowns in their 48-21 victory.
The final player on our list of the top five oldest NFL MVPs of all time is the only one that dates back to before the start of this century with Y.A. Tittle. Although it was not nearly as recent as the previous four winners, Tittle is still a player that is recognizable among many football fans.
Like the four players above him, Tittle had a long career in the NFL, playing for 17 seasons.
After 10 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, he finished his career with the New York Giants, and this MVP season was the penultimate year of his career. His 36 touchdown passes were eight more than any other player, and his 104.8 passer rating was nearly 15 points higher than Frank Ryan behind him.
Mark has been a lifelong fan of all sports, and five years ago turned it into a profession, specializing in the NFL, NHL and MLB. He is a diehard Baltimore Ravens fan and has had his work published in sites such as Sports Illustrated, Pickswise and other top outlets.