When Tom Brady was celebrating his first Super Bowl win on Feb. 3, 2002, future Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was probably in bed. It was a school night after all, and he was in first grade.
Sixteen years later, these two could well meet in the AFC Championship game to determine who plays in Super Bowl LIII. Mahomes is 23, Brady 41. This year, such a spread, young guns versus old hands, is the rule, not the exception. Nipping at Brady’s heels for the second seed in the AFC were the Houston Texans, led by Deshaun Watson, age 23.
It’s a similar picture in the NFC, where New Orleans and Los Angeles snagged the top seeds. The Saints are led by 39-year-old Drew Brees; the Rams by 24-year-old Jared Goff. Third-seed Chicago Bears, meanwhile, have 24-year-old quarterback Mitch Trubisky under center.
Much as we love a good upset, especially when that involves someone beating the New England Patriots, history suggests the kids are finally due for their “welcome to the NFL” moment.
Over the last ten seasons, no quarterback under the age of 26 led their team to a Super Bowl victory. Ben Roethlisberger was a month from his 27th birthday in Super Bowl XLIII when the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed over the Arizona Cardinals. Russell Wilson had just turned 26 when he led the Seattle Seahawks to their first title in Super Bowl XLVIII. Otherwise, the starting quarterback on the winning team was at least 28, and five (Brady twice) were 31 or older.
That should come as no surprise.
Players like to claim they approach the Super Bowl as “just another game,” but don’t believe it. They certainly don’t. The Super Bowl is the biggest single-game sporting event of the year. Players have been thinking about it for two weeks straight. They face a ferocious press corps. More than 100 million people will watch on TV. That can be enough to throw anyone off their game.
Some might be bailed out by their team. Ben Roethlisberger was 23 when the Steelers defeated the Seahawks at Super Bowl XL in 2006. Most people won’t remember that Roethlisberger put up ugly numbers, going 9-21 with 123 passing yards and two interceptions.
But that won’t keep the kids out of the spotlight. There’s no other major sport in which the center of attention is on one position player, save maybe baseball’s focus on the pitcher. What makes this season so interesting is the emerging dynamic of teams, particularly the top seeds, led by veteran quarterbacks against those who still have to pay extra fees to rent a car since they’re under 25.
This year’s crop of young quarterbacks aren’t riding the coattails of dominant defenses, either. They’re leading the charge. Mahones put up monster numbers in addition to ranking tops in ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating. Right behind Mahones is veteran and Super Bowl champion/MVP Drew Brees. Despite having what people are saying is an “off” year, Tom Brady sits among the top ten rated signal callers.
Brady and Brees aren’t the only vets vying for glory; 37-year-old Philip Rivers has the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs as well. And while they might not be putting up superstar numbers, the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, 25, and the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, 21, shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Football is unpredictable — any given Sunday and all that. For all we know, it won’t be a young gun or grizzled veteran hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy on Feb. 3 in Atlanta. It could be Andrew Luck (29) of the Indianapolis Colts, or Russell Wilson (30) of the Seahawks standing tall in the blizzard of confetti. Fortune favors the bold, not necessarily the old.
