The 16 Longest Careers in Professional Sports

Most professionals get ten good years. These ones kept turning up long after their peers took desk jobs.

1. 1
   Gordie Howe

   Played in five different decades and skated in the NHL at 52.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Gary Player

   Fifty-two Masters appearances, the last of them at 73.
   600pts
3. 3
   Nolan Ryan

   Twenty-seven MLB seasons and a no-hitter at 44.
   551pts
4. 4
   Jaromir Jagr

   Still playing professional hockey in Czechia more than thirty-five years after his first season.
   494pts
5. 5
   Tom Brady

   Twenty-three NFL seasons and a Super Bowl win at 43.
   428pts
6. 6
   The Undertaker

   Thirty years to the day between his WWE debut and his retirement, both at Survivor Series.
   428pts
7. 7
   Julio Franco

   Played top-level baseball into his late forties across four countries.
   428pts
8. 8
   Vince Carter

   Twenty-two NBA seasons, more than any other player.
   350pts
9. 9
   Martina Navratilova

   Turned professional in 1975 and played her last doubles match in 2006.
   350pts
10. 10
    Jack Nicklaus

    Won majors across three decades and kept teeing off at Augusta for forty-five years.
    350pts
11. 11
    Adam Vinatieri

    Twenty-four NFL seasons kicking field goals into his mid-forties.
    350pts
12. 12
    Ian Botham

    A first-class career spanning more than two decades of English cricket.
    257pts
13. 13
    Kazuyoshi Miura

    Still a registered professional footballer decades after his 1986 debut in Brazil.
    143pts
14. 14
    Ric Flair

    Wrestled across five decades and kept coming back after each retirement.
    143pts
15. 15
    George Foreman

    Ten years out of boxing, then a comeback that ended with a title at 45.
    143pts
16. 16
    Gianluigi Buffon

    Kept goal professionally from 1995 until 2023.
    143pts