Ben Watson, and Career Games at Older Ages

by Chase Stuart on October 19, 2015

Ben Watson has played 153 regular season games, and 11 more in the postseason. Yet it was in his most recent game that he set his career high with 127 receiving yards. It was just the third 100-yard game of his career, and topped his previous career high by 20 yards. That just doesn’t happen to a player who was 34 years, 301 days old at kickoff…. right?

I looked at all players to enter the NFL since 1960 who have at least 500 career receiving yards and played in 100 career regular season games. Among that group, here were the three players who, prior to 2015, set their career-high in receiving yards at nearly 35 years old or older.

In week 2 of the 2000 season, Cris Carter set a career high with 168 receiving yards, gaining one more yards than he did in a game in Arizona six years earlier. Carter was 34 years, 290 days old that day, so Watson narrowly edges him here and is the new #3 on this list.

In 1984, while playing for the Packers, James Lofton had the first 200-yard game of his career. Seven years later, as a member of the Bills, Lofton caught 8 passes for 220 yards in a win against the Bengals, which included 48- and 74-yard touchdowns. That went down as the greatest game in Lofton’s career, as measured by receiving yards, and it came at the age of 35 years and 108 days.

In December 2000, Tony Gonzalez gained 147 receiving yards. That stood as his career high for nearly 13 years, until he gained 149 yards in a 2013 game against the Patriots. Gonzalez was 37 years, 214 days old that day, when he put up an incredible 12-149-2 stat line.

The table below shows the 33 players who meet the above criteria and who set their career high in receiving yards at age 32 or older: ^[1]Note that this list is through 2014, although I obviously manually added Watson. Off the top of my head, though, I don’t think anyone else from 2015 qualifies.

Rk	Player	Year	Tm	Opp	Wk	Boxscore	Rec Yd	Age
1	Tony Gonzalez	2013	ATL	NWE	4	Boxscore	149	37.6
2	James Lofton	1991	BUF	CIN	8	Boxscore	220	35.3
3	Ben Watson	2015	NOR	ATL	6	Boxscore	127	34.8
4	Cris Carter	2000	MIN	MIA	2	Boxscore	168	34.8
5	Steve Tasker	1996	BUF	NYJ	13	Boxscore	160	34.6
6	Rod Smith	2004	DEN	ATL	8	Boxscore	208	34.5
7	Shannon Sharpe	2002	DEN	KAN	7	Boxscore	214	34.3
8	Mike Sellers	2009	WAS	ATL	9	Boxscore	56	34.3
9	Joey Galloway	2005	TAM	DET	4	Boxscore	166	33.9
10	Billy Johnson	1985	ATL	NOR	7	Boxscore	153	33.7
11	Karl Williams	2004	ARI	ATL	3	Boxscore	90	33.5
12	David Patten	2007	NOR	ATL	14	Boxscore	122	33.3
13	Tim Brown	1999	OAK	NYJ	7	Boxscore	190	33.3
14	Jerry Rice	1995	SFO	MIN	16	Boxscore	289	33.2
15	Brian Mitchell	2001	PHI	ARI	4	Boxscore	82	33.1
16	Bob Christian	2001	ATL	IND	14	Boxscore	66	33.1
17	Steve Largent	1987	SEA	DET	5	Boxscore	261	33.1
18	Charle Young	1983	SEA	SDG	6	Boxscore	140	32.7
19	Bob Chandler	1981	OAK	SDG	16	Boxscore	128	32.7
20	Chris Warren	2000	DAL	WAS	3	Boxscore	86	32.7
21	Mosi Tatupu	1987	NWE	PHI	11	Boxscore	41	32.6
22	Jerame Tuman	2008	ARI	CAR	8	Boxscore	41	32.6
23	Bob Klein	1979	SDG	DEN	16	Boxscore	69	32.4
24	Frank Lewis	1979	BUF	DET	9	Boxscore	190	32.3
25	Pete Metzelaars	1992	BUF	SFO	2	Boxscore	113	32.3
26	Ed McCaffrey	2000	DEN	SDG	12	Boxscore	148	32.3
27	Mack Strong	2003	SEA	CLE	13	Boxscore	56	32.2
28	Reggie Rucker	1979	CLE	MIA	12	Boxscore	177	32.2
29	John Stallworth	1984	PIT	KAN	1	Boxscore	167	32.1
30	Mickey Shuler	1988	NYJ	KAN	5	Boxscore	152	32.1
31	Daimon Shelton	2004	BUF	BAL	7	Boxscore	26	32.1
32	Chris Walsh	2000	MIN	GNB	16	Boxscore	44	32.0
33	Maurice Morris	2011	DET	GNB	12	Boxscore	81	32.0

And here are the players who had their career high in receiving yards at age 23 or younger (although note that Reggie Bush and Anquan Boldin are still active):

Rk	Player	Year	Tm	Opp	Wk	Boxscore	Rec Yd	Age
1	Edgerrin James	1999	IND	DAL	8	Boxscore	92	21.2
2	Rodney Hampton	1990	NYG	DAL	4	Boxscore	65	21.5
3	Emmitt Smith	1990	DAL	RAM	11	Boxscore	117	21.5
4	Michael Haddix	1983	PHI	WAS	2	Boxscore	54	21.7
5	Larry Csonka	1968	MIA	KAN	3	Boxscore	62	21.8
6	Jerome Bettis	1993	RAM	CHI	18	Boxscore	71	21.9
7	Reggie Bush	2006	NOR	CHI	20	Boxscore	132	21.9
8	Louis Lipps	1984	PIT	KAN	1	Boxscore	183	22.1
9	Mike Ditka	1961	CHI	GNB	9	Boxscore	190	22.1
10	Mark Carrier	1987	TAM	NOR	12	Boxscore	212	22.1
11	Ernest Givins	1986	HOU	PIT	11	Boxscore	156	22.2
12	John Mackey	1963	BAL	MIN	13	Boxscore	144	22.2
13	Barry Sanders	1990	DET	KAN	6	Boxscore	135	22.2
14	Cleo Miller	1974	KAN	MIN	14	Boxscore	66	22.3
15	Johnny Robinson	1960	DTX	BUF	14	Boxscore	130	22.3
16	Les Josephson	1964	RAM	CHI	10	Boxscore	82	22.3
17	Darnay Scott	1994	CIN	SEA	10	Boxscore	157	22.3
18	Josh Reed	2002	BUF	MIN	2	Boxscore	110	22.4
19	Mark Bavaro	1985	NYG	CIN	6	Boxscore	176	22.5
20	Curt Warner	1983	SEA	KAN	1	Boxscore	72	22.5
21	Mark Smolinski	1961	BAL	SFO	14	Boxscore	80	22.6
22	Bill Brooks	1986	IND	NYJ	11	Boxscore	177	22.6
23	Sammy White	1976	MIN	DET	9	Boxscore	210	22.6
24	Dan Reeves	1966	DAL	NYG	1	Boxscore	120	22.7
24	Charles White	1980	CLE	KAN	3	Boxscore	100	22.7
26	Stanley Pritchett	1996	MIA	NWE	1	Boxscore	77	22.7
27	Jim Obradovich	1975	NYG	SFO	14	Boxscore	55	22.7
28	Randy Moss	1999	MIN	CHI	10	Boxscore	204	22.7
29	Todd Heap	2002	BAL	PIT	17	Boxscore	146	22.8
30	Ronnie Bull	1962	CHI	DAL	10	Boxscore	90	22.8
31	Franco Harris	1972	PIT	OAK	15	Boxscore	96	22.8
32	Jason Dunn	1996	PHI	ATL	4	Boxscore	58	22.9
33	Mike Alstott	1996	TAM	NOR	13	Boxscore	91	22.9
33	Anquan Boldin	2003	ARI	DET	1	Boxscore	217	22.9
35	Jermaine Lewis	1997	BAL	TEN	4	Boxscore	124	22.9
36	Charles Johnson	1994	PIT	SDG	17	Boxscore	165	23.0
36	Gerry Ellis	1980	GNB	PIT	9	Boxscore	106	23.0

Finally, one other bit of trivia: Rick Upchurch, Louis Lipps, Curt Warner, Stanley Pritchett, and Boldin all set their career highs in receiving yards in their first game.

References[+]

References
↑1	Note that this list is through 2014, although I obviously manually added Watson. Off the top of my head, though, I don’t think anyone else from 2015 qualifies.

Tagged as: Ben Watson

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