10 NFL players with the longest careers

It’s impressive to stay in any job for more than two decades — let alone one with the pressure, intensity, and competitiveness that comes with being a professional football player.

With a new season around the corner, let's tip our cap to the 10 players with the longest careers in NFL history.

T9. Brett Favre

Position: Quarterback
Games played: 302 
Years active: 1991-2010
Teams: Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings

Hall of Famer Brett Favre is the only dedicated quarterback on our list.

The only player to be named MVP three years in a row, Favre led Green Bay to consecutive Super Bowls and won Super Bowl XXXI. Toward the end of his career, he spent with the Jets and then the Vikings and guided Minnesota to a division title.

T9. John Carney

Position: Kicker
Games played: 302
Years active: 1988-2010
Teams: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants

Carney played 23 seasons in the NFL, and he was the last remaining player from the 1980s to be active in the league. He is just one of two players to play in the NFL in four different decades (George Blanda is the other). Carney is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and ended his career with 2,062 points scored.

8. Jerry Rice

Position: Wide receiver
Games played: 303
Years active: 1985-2004
Teams: San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks

Jerry Rice racked up 20 seasons and is the greatest receiver in NFL history.

The three-time Super Bowl winner and Super Bowl XXIII MVP holds the NFL record for most receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895), and touchdowns (208).

The 49ers retired his number 80 jersey in 2010.

7. Phil Dawson

Position: Kicker
Games played: 305
Years active: 1999-2018
Teams: Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals

Dawson holds the Browns franchise record for most field goals made but is more famously known for the “Phil Dawson Rule,” which was introduced in 2008.

The rule states that a field goal or extra point attempt that hits the uprights or crossbar can be reviewed.

In 2007, Dawson’s 51-yard kick to tie a game with Baltimore hit the post, went through the uprights, but bounced off the stanchion and came back onto the field of play. The kick was initially ruled no good, but the refs changed the call, and the Browns went on to win.

6. Jason Hanson

Position: Kicker
Games played: 327
Years active: 1992-2012
Team: Detroit Lions

Jason Hanson s the only player to spend this kind of duration at with franchise.

The kicker had 21 seasons with the Lions, an NFL record for the most seasons played with a single team.

Hanson scored 2,150 NFL points and holds the record for most consecutive field goals of 40 yards or more (24). In his time with Detroit, he booted 17 game-winning field goals and is part of the Lions’ Ring of Honor.

5. George Blanda

Position: Kicker and quarterback
Games played: 340
Years active: 1949-1975
Teams: Chicago Bears, Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders

Blanda played 26 seasons in professional football, which is the most in NFL history. He is the oldest player to play in an NFL game, at 48 years and 109 days old.

As a quarterback, he holds the joint record of most touchdowns in a game (seven), and he was the first recorded fantasy football draft pick, when the game was created in 1962.

4. Jeff Feagles

Position: Punter
Games played: 352
Years active: 1988-2009
Teams: New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants

Jeff Feagles played 22 seasons in the NFL and played 352 regular-season games in succession — a league record that will stand for some time.

One of the league’s most durable players, he is a two-time Pro Bowler and won a Super Bowl with the Giants.

3. Gary Anderson

Position: Kicker
Games played: 353
Years active: 1982-2004
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans

Gary Anderson was not only the first South African to play in an NFL game, but he also was a four-time Pro Bowl selection. 

With the Vikings in 1998, he became the first NFL player not to miss a field goal or extra point in the entire regular season. No Pittsburgh Steelers player has racked up as many points as Anderson (1,343), and he was named to the Steelers All-Time Team in 2007.

2. Adam Vinatieri

Position: Kicker
Games played: 365
Years active: 1996-2019
Teams: New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts

Arguably the greatest kicker in NFL history, Adam Vinatieri played in 24 seasons and kicked two game-winning kicks in Super Bowls for the Patriots.

The four-time Super Bowl winner holds several NFL records, including most field goals converted (599), most postseason points (238), and most field goals made in overtime (12).

No player in NFL has as many points as Vinatieri (2,673).

1. Morten Andersen

Position: Kicker
Games played: 382
Years active: 1982-2007
Team: New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings

Known as "the Great Dane," Morten Andersen holds the record for the most regular-season games played.

He played professional football for 25 seasons and only became a kicker by chance, after he kicked a football on a whim at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, as an exchange student.

He was primarily a gymnast and long jumper but got a scholarship to Michigan State because of his natural kicking talent and went on to be a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.