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You probably know that Jerry Rice gained 1,139 receiving yards at age 39 with the Raiders in 2001, easily the most of any player at age 39. Only two other wide receivers (Charlie Joiner, 440 yards; Joey Galloway, 173 yards) gained any yards at all at age 39.

You probably know that the next year was Rice’s most remarkable feat. Nobody in NFL history other than Rice gained any yards at age 40 or later, but that year, Rice gained 1,211 yards in Oakland in 2002.

You probably also know that Rice didn’t stop there: he gained 869 yards in 2003 at the age of 41.

And you know that Rice also played at age 42, where he gained 429 yards.  By way of reference, Larry Fitzgerald will be 42 in 2025, by which point in time he may already have been in Canton for a year.

So yes, Rice gained more receiving yards at age 39, 40, 41, and 42 than anyone else in NFL history.  But you probably already knew that.  But did you know that three other times Rice gained more yards than anyone else at any age in NFL history?

Rice gained 1,499 yards in 1994 at age 32, the most in NFL history.  In fact, 1499 yards remains the most by by any player not named Rice at age 32 or older.

Rice then gained a whopping 1,848 receiving yards in 1995, at 33 years old, at the time an NFL record and still the most yards by any player older than 27 years of age.

Oh, and at 36, Rice picked up 1,157 receiving yards, the most of any player at that age, too.

So the single-season record holders in receiving yards at age 32, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, and 42 are all Rice.

Only two other players hold the record for most receiving yards at age X for two different ages (no other player has done it for three).  Can you name them?  While you think about that, the graph below shows the receiving yards leaders by age:

Okay, time’s up. The table below shows the player with the most receiving yards at each age.

AgeReceiverYearTeamYards
21Randy Moss1998min1313
22Josh Gordon2013cle1646
23Isaac Bruce1995ram1781
24Torry Holt2000ram1635
25Lance Alworth1965sdg1602
26Julio Jones2015atl1871
27Calvin Johnson2012det1964
28Andre Johnson2009htx1569
29Michael Irvin1995dal1603
30Marvin Harrison2002clt1722
31Andre Johnson2012htx1598
32Jerry Rice1994sfo1499
33Jerry Rice1995sfo1848
34Marvin Harrison2006clt1366
35Irving Fryar1997phi1316
36Jerry Rice1998sfo1157
37Terrell Owens2010cin983
38Charlie Joiner1985sdg932
39Jerry Rice2001rai1139
40Jerry Rice2002rai1211
41Jerry Rice2003rai869
42Jerry Rice20042TM429

What stands out to you?

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