List of NFL players by games played explained

Playing in the NFL is one of the most physically demanding sports. The players are exposed to many hard hits and are often injured. This plus given the fact the NFL is highly competitive, and there is a large group of talented players wanting to take the place of those who are injured or no longer able to perform at a high level, most careers are not long. The average length of a player's career in the National Football League is relatively short compared to other sports. One study shows the average career lasts around 3.3 years.^[1] Kickers and punters careers average 4.87 seasons. On the other end, the shortest average careers are the running backs, only 2.57 seasons. According to data compiled by another study,^[2] quarterbacks and offensive linemen are next on the list with average career spans of 4.44 and 3.63 seasons, respectively. Defensive linemen usually have longer careers than linebackers and cornerbacks. Wide receivers careers average just above running backs at 2.81 seasons

Some players avoid injury and maintain their high skill level. The following list has the top 250 players who have the most regular season game appearances. All have played at least a dozen seasons in the league. One player, George Blanda^[3] played in 4 decades from the 1940s to the 1970s. Blanda played 26 seasons and was 48 years when he retired.

All-time most appearances

Regular season only:^[4] (includes NFL and AFL games)

Positions played

C	Center !	G	Guard !	NT	Nose Tackle !	QB	Quarterback
CB	Cornerback !	K	Placekicker!	OL	Off. Lineman !	RB	Running Back
DE	Defensive End !	KR	Kick Returner !	OT	Off. Tackle !	S	Safety
DT	Defensive Tackle !	LB	Linebacker !	P	Punter !	TE	Tight End
FB	Fullback !	LS	Long Snapper !	PR	Punt Returner!	WR	Wide Receiver

If more than one position is listed for a player, the BOLD listing is his primary position. This list is sorted by 1) games played, 2) first year played, 3) last year played

Bold denotes an active player

Most games for that position^

Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame*

Regular Season Games Played!Rank !!Name !!Position!!Period!!Games

1		K ^	1982–2007	382
2		K	1996–2019	365
3		K	1982–2004	353
4		P ^	1988–2009	352
5		data-sort-value="K"	K, QB	1949–1975	340
6		QB ^	2000–2022	335
7		K	1992–2012	327
8		K	1999–2018	305
9		WR ^	1985–2004	303
10		K	1988–2010	302
		QB	1991–2010
12		K	1991–2011	301
13		K	1991–2009	297
		P	2004–2022
15		OL ^	1983–2001	296
16		CB ^	1983–2002	295
17		QB	2001–2020	287
18		P	2000–2017	286
19		P	1985–2005	284
		K	2000–2018
21		DE ^	1960–1979	282
22		LS ^, TE, LB	1983–2002	281
23		TE ^	2006–present	280
24		DE	1985–2003	279
25		LB ^	1978–1996	278
26		K	1982–1999	273
27		TE	2003–2020	271
28		TE	1997–2013	270
29		LB	1990–2009	268
30		QB	1998–2015	266
		data-sort-value="DE"	DE, LB		2002–2018
		K	2005–2022
33		K	1967–1985	263
		OT ^	1985–2002
		K	1993–2009
		WR	2004–2020
37		G ^	1986–2005	262
38		K	2007–2023	261
39		K	1978–1996	260
		LS	2004–2020
41		OT	1976–1995	259
		P	1985–2002
43		LS	1994–2010	256
		LB	1998–2013
		P	2006–2022
		DE	2008–present
47		QB	1956–1976	255
		WR	1984–2000
		WR	1988–2004
		P	2005–2021
		LS	2009–present
52		S ^	1998–2015	254
		K	2007–present
54		LS	2005–2020	253
55		OT	1978–1994	251
56		K	1974–1991	250
		K	1980–2000
		S	1985–2000
		P	2009–present
60		QB	2004–2021	249
61		K	1984–2000	248
		OT	2004–2023
63		QB	1961–1978	246
		C ^	1969–1986
		C ^	1978–1994
66		C	1974–1990	245
		LS	1998–2013
68		C	1980–1996	244
		WR	1990–2006
		P	1991–2006
		P	1995–2011
		LB	2003–2019
		QB	2004–2020
74		LB	1988–2003	243
		QB	2005–present
76		QB	1983–1999	242
77		G	1969–1985	241
		P	1994–2009
		C	1994–2009
		CB	1997–2012
		K	2002–2019
		RB ^	2005–2020
83		DE	1961–1978	240
		C	1962–1978
		K	1997–2012
		K	2007–present
		LS	2010–present
88		WR	1969–1986	239
		C	1989–2004
		P	1989–2004
		FB ^	1993–2008
		data-sort-value="OT"	OT, G		2006–2021
		WR	2008–2023
94		P	1983–1998	238
		data-sort-value="CB"	CB, KR, PR, S		1987–2003
		P	1990–2005
		P	1997–2011
98		K	1998–2013	237
99		DE	1986–2000	236
		NT ^	1991–2007
		data-sort-value="LS"	LS, C		1995–2010
		TE	2003–2018
		QB	2004–2019
104		K	1979–1995	235
		TE	1982–1997
		K	1997–2012
		LS	2000–2015
108		K	1962–1978	234
		OT	1980–1995
		QB	1983–1998
		WR	1985–2000
		WR	1987–2002
		LS	1992–2006
		FB	1995–2010
		S	1996–2010
		QB	2008–2022
117		WR	1978–1993	233
		P	1982–1997
		QB	1987–2007
		data-sort-value="DE"	DE, LB		1997–2011
121		DE	1985–1999	232
		DE	1985–2000
123		C	1987–2002	231
124		LB	1997–2011	230
		WR	1997–2011
126		K	1990–2004	229
		NT	1991–2007
128		K	1964–1979	228
		WR	1983–1998
		C	1984–1999
		LB	1985–1999
		LB	1996–2012
		S	2004–2019
		LS	2010–present
135		LB	1981–1995	227
		DE	1983–1997
		OL	1985–2000
		C	1997–2011
139		S	1964–1979	226
		RB	1990–2004
		P	2004–2018
142		DE	1964–1979	225
		CB	1983–1998
		LB	1987–2002
		LB	1998–2012
146		QB	1962–1977	224
		DE	1974–1989
		data-sort-value="DE"	DE, DT		1976–1990
		WR	1980–1995
		P	1987–2003
		P	1990–2003
		G	1993–2006
		S	1993–2007
		LB	1995–2008
		DE	1995–2008
		S	1996–2011
		LS	2005–2018
		DE	2010–present
159		G	1979–1994	223
		KR^, PR	1990–2003
		WR	1994–2009
		P	2008–2022
163		RB	1982–1997	222
		G	1988–2001
165		DE	2001–2014	221
		CB	2003–2017
		DE	2011–present
168		data-sort-value="P"	P, QB	1988–2004	220
		data-sort-value="TE"	TE, LS	1992–2006
		OT	1992–2006
		OT	2008–2023
172		DT ^	1990–2003	219
		DT ^	1993–2009
		OT	1994–2008
		WR	1996–2010
		LB	1998–2012
		C	2001–2014
		WR	2001–2016
		K	2006–2020
180		QB	1957–1974	218
		DT	1967–1981
		OL	1980–1995
		data-sort-value="NT"	NT, DT		1982–1996
		LS	1985–1999
		WR	1998–2012
		DE	2002–2017
		QB	2009–present
188		P	1963–1978	217
		G	1967–1981
		OL	1973–1987
		S	1983–1997
		CB	1988–2001
		WR	1998–2011
194		data-sort-value="K"	K, OT	1950–1967	216
		DT	1973–1988
		CB	1975–1989
		LB	1983–1996
		data-sort-value="KR"	KR, WR	1987–2000
		DE	1993–2007
		P	2009–2022
		K	2009–2022
202		LB	1969–1983	215
		LB	1979–1994
		P	1984–1998
		CB	1999–2013
206		CB	1989–2002	214
		DE	1998–2012
		NT	2006–2019
209		CB	1961–1976	213
		CB	1961–1977
		K	1970–1986
		DT	1980–1994
		QB	1980–1998
		G	1987–2000
		DT	1987–2000
		OL	1994–2007
217		P	1981–1996	212
		TE	1982–1995
		P	1984–1999
		OT	1987–2000
		LB	1991–2005
		LB	1994–2008
		K	2000–2013
		LB	2004–2017
		LB	2011–present
226		QB	1956–1973	211
		QB	1957–1975
		WR	1979–1993
		RB	1984–1997
		TE	1984–1997
		C	1985–1999
		DE	1989–2003
		data-sort-value="CB"	CB, S		1991–2004
		C	1999–2012
		K	2001–2014
		WR	2001–2014
		CB	2006–2020
238		C	1960–1974	210
		K	1963–1977
		TE	1963–1978
		DE	1968–1983
		K	1976–1989
		C	1998–2012
244		DT	1975–1988	209
		LB	1987–2000
		CB	1992–2005
		WR	1992–2007
		QB	1999–2015
		C	2000–2013
		S	2006–2019
Rank	Name	Position	Period	Games

See also

• List of most consecutive starts and games played by National Football League players

Notes and References

1. Web site: Average playing career length in the National Football League . 2024-10-14.
2. Web site: What Is The Average Length of an NFL Career, By Position? . 2024-10-14.
3. Web site: George Blanda game logs . 2024-10-14.
4. Web site: Most NFL games played . Pro football reference.com . April 10, 2016.