NFL’s oldest quarterback was chain smoking MVP four years older than Phillip Rivers when he set all-time record

Daniel Jones’ season-ending injury has 44-year-old Philip Rivers in line to start for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

After a sensational start to the season, head coach Shane Steichen has lost three on the bounce to slip to 8-5.

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With No. 2 Anthony Richardson also out and Riley Leonard suffering an injury after replacing Jones in a defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars that puts his status in question, the Colts have hit the panic button.

Rivers, who retired in 2021 after spending one season in Indy, answered the call and Steichen hinted that he may be thrown straight into the lineup in a clash against the Seattle Seahawks.

“We’re going to go through this week of practice, see how it goes and then we’ll make a decision at the end of the week, probably,” he said. “His passion and his obsession for the game is unmatched.

“For him to come back and want to do this at 44 years old I think is incredible.

“We’re excited for his opportunity. He’s one of the most passionate players I’ve ever been around. The obsession for the game is off the charts. I know he’s fired up to be back in this building.”

Rivers’ return would make him one of the oldest quarterbacks ever to take to the field in the NFL after he turned 44 on December 8.

Tom Brady was 45 when he played in the 2022 NFC Wild Card, but even the FOX Sports analyst doesn’t top the standings.

Who is the oldest quarterback in NFL history?

That honor falls to George Blanda, who credits his longevity to steak, potatoes, smoking and drinking.

Blanda was selected out of Kentucky by the Chicago Bears in the 12th round of the 1949 draft.

He was signed as a backup QB and kicker with a $6,000 contract.

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It took him five seasons in the league, including a brief stint with the then-Baltimore Colts, to win the job as a starting passer and he led the NFL in completions in 1953.

Owner George Halas made Ed Brown the starter a year later after Blanda suffered an injury.

The former wildcat was limited to kicking duties for four seasons.

“He was too cheap to even buy me a kicking shoe,” Blanda later said of his employer.

After retiring in frustration in 1958, the QB returned with the Houston Oilers when the AFC was founded in 1960 and emerged as a superstar.

He led the league in yards in 1961 and 1963 and in completions from 1963-65.

His form helped the Oilers win the first two AFL titles and secured him the MVP award for 1961 but six years later he was cut as the team felt he was too old at 37.

Al Davis’ Oakland Raiders swooped and made him Daryle Lamonica’s backup — a decision that was immediately rewarded with a league-high 116 points from the kicker en route to a championship.

In 1970, Blanda went on a magical run,

After an injury to Lamonica, he threw for three touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers before hitting a 48-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to earn a 17-17 tie with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Coming off the bench again, the veteran threw for a touchdown to tie the Cleveland Browns and kicked a 53-yard field goal to seal a 23-20 win.

“George Blanda has just been elected King of the World,” declared Raiders radio announcer Bill King.

Blanda then threw and kicked for decisive scores in wins over the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers before becoming the oldest QB ever to play in a championship game against the Colts at 43.

Again replacing Lamonica, he completed 17 of 32 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the AFC Championship but threw two late picks in the fourth quarter of a narrow loss.

His efforts as one of the NFL’s last straight kickers and throwback passer saw him crowned AP Male Athlete of the Year.

“Personally, I think it’s a shame, all the star football players who retired in the prime of life,” he wrote in Sports Illustrated. “Lou Groza, washed up at 43. Ben Agajanian, prematurely retired at 45. Y. A. Tittle, gone when he was 38 and Bob Waterfield at 33.

“Norm Van Brocklin hung them up at 35 as did Otto Graham, the finest quarterback I’ve ever seen. Why, that’s a tragedy.

“Does anybody really think Otto Graham couldn’t have played six or eight more seasons? Of course he could. Even now, at 49, Otto handles himself better than most of the young bucks right out of college. But like all the others, he fell victim to one of pro football’s many unreasoning prejudices: that you’re no longer capable of playing when you reach 30 or 35. Baloney!”

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Blanda kept going for five more seasons and attempted three passes in the final game of the 1975 season before retiring at 48 with an all-time record 26 campaigns in pro football.

“After last year people came up to me and said, ‘George, how do you do it? What’s your secret?'” Blanda wrote for SI. “Word got out that I had a special diet, that I didn’t drink or smoke.

“One ‘insider’ said that I was taking hormones, and that was why I was able to play so many games at my ripe old age.

“Well, there is no secret. My special diet consists of the same things I’ve been eating ever since I grew up: steak and potatoes and green vegetables. I smoke and I drink.

“The worst five years of my 21 as a pro were the five when I didn’t smoke at all. Now I’ve gone back to cigarettes, a pack or two a day, although I don’t inhale them.

“As for alcohol, I enjoy bourbon — it’s part of my University of Kentucky background — but I don’t guzzle it down like water. I sip it, and I limit myself to two or three drinks. You may see old George Blanda acting stupid, but you won’t see him acting drunk!”

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Brady, of course, advocated for pretty much the opposite lifestyle in his own age-defying career.

Not sure who to listen to. Well Blanda played longer, but has four fewer rings.

Turning 49 in August, Brady could decide to dust off the cleats and take the record, although combining duties as an analyst, minority owner and player might be too much even for the GOAT.

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