Sunday, in the fifth quarter of a grind-it-out game against the Chicago Bears, the oldest player on the Buffalo Bills’ roster did this…
Actually, Fred Jackson is the oldest running back in the NFL, period. Studies have shown that players at that position begin to decline at around 27, and most are out of the league not long after turning 30. Some of the best haven’t even been able to hang around that long.
But as a 32-year-old last year, Jackson had 890 yards while averaging a solid 4.3 yards per carry. He also caught 47 passes for 387 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.
Historical context: Since the turn of the century, only three backs — Ricky Williams, Emmitt Smith and Mike Anderson — have hit the 1,000-yard mark at or beyond the age of 32. Jackson came extremely close last year and is off to one hell of a start to 2014 after rushing for 61 yards on only seven carries Sunday in Chicago.
The key for Jackson is that he’s never really been a bell cow. In seven seasons, he’s had over 200 carries just three times and he wasn’t taking NFL-caliber beatings until he was 26. It’s not as though he wasn’t roughed up during his time before that in arena football and NFL Europe, but those seasons aren’t as taxing.
Despite the fact he’s 33, 14 active NFL running backs have more career carries than Jackson, including 26-year-old LeSean McCoy, and 28-year-olds Arian Foster, Matt Forte, and Chris Johnson.
Still, 33 is 33. And it’s amazing that Jackson is still productive despite having multiple years on ironmen like Steven Jackson and Frank Gore.
And to think, he’ll be 34 in February.
