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College football is inherently a young man’s game, and while there are some exceptions, virtually every player who takes the field is either a teenager or in their early 20s. However, there are some who’ve defied the odds by suiting up at an age where many people worry about throwing out their back because they sneezed too hard.
These are the oldest college football players who’ve played at least one snap
College football players have to endure a grind that requires them to subject their bodies to a fair amount of abuse on a regular basis, and it can take quite a toll on people who have the benefits of youth on their side.
However, there are some guys who’ve willingly decided to take on that challenge at an age where they seemingly had no business stepping onto the gridiron, including those who can count themselves among the oldest players to ever see action in a college football game.
8. Matt Ganyard: 34 Years Old
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We’ll kick things off with the most recent addition to this list: Matt Ganyard, who tried out for the football team at the University of Virginia when he first enrolled in 2008 but failed to make the cut.
The kicker (who played club soccer at UVA) headed back to Charlottesville to get his MBA after spending a decade as a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps. He was able to make the team as a walk-on and recorded three tackles during the 58 kickoffs he was tasked with taking in the 12 games he played in during the 2023 season.
7. Tim Frisby: 40 Years Old
Ganyard is just one of two guys on this list who had what it takes to make an FBS roster, and Tim Frisby firmly holds the distinction of being the oldest one.
The Pennsylvania native was also a veteran who spent 20 years as an Army Ranger and wrapped up his time in the armed forces at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, which is located around a 20-minute drive from the University of South Carolina campus.
Frisby, who had an offer to play basketball at Tennessee State out of high school, started practicing with the team in 2004 before the NCAA officially gave him approval to play in a game. However, the man known as “Pops” had to wait until the following season to get the nine-yard reception that marked the lone catch of his college career.
6. Bob Schembre: 52 years Old
We’re taking a big leap for our next entry, as Bob Schembre was in his early 50s when he decided to see if he had what it took to make the football team at Westminster College in Missouri.
The linebacker had played in high school before enlisting in the Navy, and his two sons had previously played at the school he turned his attention to after seeing a new story about Mike Flynt (another guy on this list we’ll get to in a moment). He ended up making the team and made his debut at the age of 52 in 2008.
5. Joe Thomas Sr.: 55 years Old
Joe Thomas Jr. played linebacker at South Carolina State before signing with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2014 to kick off an NFL career where he played for five different teams over the course of eight seasons.
His father had initially enrolled at the same university in the hopes he might be able to play alongside his son. That plan was derailed thanks to a car accident that prevented him from suiting up before his namesake graduated, but in 2016, he became the oldest person to take a snap at the Division I level (albeit with an FCS team) when he had a three-yard run while putting the “senior” in the team’s Senior Day.
4. Tom Cillo: 58 Years Old
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Tom Cillo technically has not taken a snap in an NCAA game as of this writing, but I’m including the man who will presumably check that box when he suits up to play linebacker for Lycoming College, a DIII school in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, once the 2025 season officially gets underway.
3. Mike Flynt: 59 Years Old
Mike Flynt played football at the high school that was at the center of Friday Night Lights, and the linebacker took his talents to Sul Ross State after graduating. He was on the verge of receiving his degree in 1971 when he was kicked off the team and expelled from the school after getting into a fight with a teammate, and 36 years later, he decided to mount a comeback.
Flynt ended up suiting back up for Sul Ross State in 2007, and his story eventually got the Hollywood treatment when Michael Chiklis was tapped to portray him in The Senior, which is slated to come out in 2025.
2. Tom Thompson: 61 Years Old
Tom Thompson hung up his cleats after wrapping up his time as a high school kicker, and eventually got a job coaching that position at Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
He landed that gig in 2010, and the following season, he decided to suit up himself and ended up kicking an extra point in a game against Trinity to become the second-oldest person to play in a college football game—right behind the man who set the record that same year.
1. Alan Moore: 61 Years Old
Alan Moore was born a couple of months before Thompson, and he’d briefly played at Jones College in Mississippi before he embarked on a new path after being deployed to fight in Vietnam at the end of 1968.
The veteran turned his attention to the construction business after returning from the war. He retired after losing his job in 2009 before deciding to end his football retirement after enrolling at Holmes Community College in 2010 at the age of 60.
The kicker played there for a season before heading to Faulkner University in Alabama the following year, and the man with five grandchildren at the time set the record that’s yet to be topped when he successfully converted an extra point against Ave Maria.