Ray Lewis and 7 Veterans Who Can Still Hang with the NFL's Young Guns

Football is a young man’s game. With the wear and tear that a player’s body experiences during their time in the league, it is no surprise that the average age of an NFL player is around 26.

For some players, they go way past that, playing well into their 30's. While many will show a large drop in production, there are others that are able to remain competitive throughout their whole career.

Every NFL player hopes to have a long career full of success, playing until they say they are done—not until they are forced out by injuries or teams' lack of interest in their talents. Not many players achieve this.

These seven can however.

Ed Reed, Safety

Drafted in 2002, Ed Reed has been one of the most dominant safeties in the league since his arrival. Reed has accumulated 54 interceptions in his nine years in the league. In 2010, Reed recorded eight of those despite only playing 10 games due to a hip surgery.

If Reed is able to stay healthy, he could challenge the career interceptions record of 81. While time will tell on that, the fact remains that Reed is one of the league’s top safeties and clearly has no thought of turning the title over to a younger player anytime soon.

Tony Gonzalez, Tight End

Towards the tail end of his career, Tony Gonzalez has proven himself to be the best receiving tight end in history, holding career records in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns at the tight end position.

While Gonzalez‘s production has dropped off (1,172 yards in 2007 compared to 656 yards in 2010), he was still able to rank in the top half of tight ends in 2010 despite being 35.

Gonzalez was even elected to his 11th Pro Bowl at the end of the season. Gonzalez has proven that, even at his age, he can still produce as well as most of the tight ends in the league.

Ray Lewis, Linebacker

Ray Lewis has been one of the top linebackers in the NFL since his career began in 1996. While most linebackers would slow down towards the end of their careers, Lewis did just the opposite in 2010, recording the most tackles he has had in the last six seasons with two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

His tackle totals were good enough for fifth in the league and he was tied for fourth in interceptions for a linebacker.

While many linebackers have come and gone in Lewis’ time in the league, he has made it clear he is here for the long haul. With no slowdown in his production in sight, Lewis could still play several more years and the Baltimore Ravens would be very happy to have him.

Peyton Manning, Quarterback

Peyton Manning is not only one of the best quarterbacks of our era, but one of the best in history.

The 35-year-old quarterback is just as good as he was in 1999, setting a record for most completions in a season in 2010 as well as having a career high 4,700 passing yards—his 11th season with more than 4,000 yards.

Manning is, undoubtedly, the franchise quarterback that every franchise wishes they could have. With several years left in his career, Manning is not quite ready to hand the reigns over quite yet. He will continue to challenge Brett Favre’s records and continue to prove he is still a valuable player in the NFL.

Charles Woodson, Cornerback

With the average age of an NFL cornerback at just over 26, you would expect a player eight years over that to have trouble hanging in with the rest of the league. For Charles Woodson, that is not the case.

In 2010, Woodson tied for second in forced fumbles among defensive backs. At 34, Woodson has continued to be a dominate presence in the Green Bay Packers backfield, recording 92 tackles and deflecting 13 passes for the Packers.

Woodson has 47 career interceptions going into the 2010 season. He is sure to tack on a few more before he is done in the NFL.

Jeff Saturday, Center

Jeff Saturday has been the anchor of the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive line since 2000, having played in all but six games in that span.

At the age of 36, Saturday is still considered one of the best centers in the league, being selected to his fifth Pro Bowl in 2010.

With the average age of centers in the league being 29, Saturday is definitely in the older fraction of the group. Despite this, he was named to the NFL Network’s top 100 players of 2011. No doubt he will continue to turn heads until his career reaches an end.

Terrell Owens, Wide Receiver

The average age of the wide receivers in the top five of yardage in 2010 was 28.2. In fact, the oldest player in the top 15 was 31. The fact that Terrell Owens ranked 17th at the age of 37 shows his athletic prowess.

In his last season with the Cincinnati Bengals, Owens caught nine touchdown passes and totaled 983 receiving yards in only 14 games.

While he may not have equaled the 1,451 yards he put up in 2000, Owens is still a threat on offense and has proven his longevity. Even after undergoing offseason knee surgery, Owens is sure to be on a lot of teams watch lists, proving his value at 37.