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List of NFL players by games played

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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. 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, 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 played in 4 decades from the 1940s to the 1970s. Blanda played 26 seasons and was 48 years old when he retired.

All-time most appearances

Regular season only: (includes NFL, AFL, and AAFC games)

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*

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	*	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	****	TE ^	2006–present	290
18		QB	2001–2020	287
19		P	2000–2017	286
20		P	1985–2005	284
	K	2000–2018
22		DE ^	1960–1979	282
23		LS ^, TE, LB	1983–2002	281
24	*	DE	1985–2003	279
25		LB ^	1978–1996	278
****	DE	2008–present
27	****	LS	2009–present	277
28		K	1982–1999	273
29	****	P	2009–present	272
30		TE	2003–2020	271
31	*	TE	1997–2013	270
32	****	K	2007–present	269
33	*	OT, K	1946–1967	268
*	LB	1990–2009
35	*	QB	1998–2015	266
*	DE, LB	2002–2018
	K	2005–2022
38	****	QB	2005–present	264
39	*	K	1967–1985	263
	OT ^	1985–2002
	K	1993–2009
	WR	2004–2020
43		G ^	1986–2005	262
44		K	2007–2023	261
****	LS	2010–present
46		K	1978–1996	260
	LS	2004–2020
48	*	OT	1976–1995	259
	P	1985–2002
50	****	K	2007–present	258
51		LS	1994–2010	256
	LB	1998–2013
	P	2006–2022₵
54		QB	1956–1976	255
	WR	1984–2000
*	WR	1988–2004
	P	2005–2021
58	*	S ^	1998–2015	254
59		LS	2005–2020	253
60		OT	1978–1994	251
61		K	1974–1991	250
	K	1980–2000
	S	1985–2000
****	LS	2010–present
65		QB	2004–2021	249
66		K	1984–2000	248
	OT	2004–2023
68		QB	2004–2020, 2025	247
69	*	QB	1961–1978	246
	C ^	1969–1986
	C ^	1978–1994
72	*	C	1974–1990	245
	LS	1998–2013
74		C	1980–1996	244
	WR	1990–2006
	P	1991–2006
	P	1995–2011
	LB	2003–2019
79		LB	1988–2003	243
****	DE	2011–present
81	*	QB	1983–1999	242
82		G	1969–1985	241
	P	1994–2009
*	C	1994–2009
*	CB	1997–2012
	K	2002–2019
	RB ^	2005–2020
88		DE	1961–1978	240
*	C	1962–1978
	K	1997–2012
91	*	WR	1969–1986	239
	C	1989–2004
	P	1989–2004
	FB ^	1993–2008
	OT, G	2006–2021
	WR	2008–2023
****	QB	2009–present
98		P	1983–1998	238
*	CB, KR, PR, S	1987–2003
	P	1990–2005
	P	1997–2011
102		K	1998–2013	237
103		DE	1986–2000	236
	NT ^	1991–2007
	LS, C	1995–2010
*	TE	2003–2018
	QB	2004–2019
108		K	1979–1995	235
	TE	1982–1997
	K	1997–2012
	LS	2000–2015
112		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
121	*	WR	1978–1993	233
	P	1982–1997
	QB	1987–2007
*	DE, LB	1997–2011
125	*	DE	1985–1999	232
*	DE	1985–2000
****	LB	2011–present
128		C	1987–2002	231
129		LB	1997–2011	230
	WR	1997–2011
131		K	1990–2004	229
	NT	1991–2007
****	P	2012–present
134		K	1964–1979	228
	WR	1983–1998
	C	1984–1999
*	LB	1985–1999
*	LB	1996–2012
	S	2004–2019
****	DT	2011–present
141	*	LB	1981–1995	227
	DE	1983–1997
	OL	1985–2000
	C	1997–2011
****	LB	2012–present
****	P	2012–present
147	*	S	1964–1979	226
*	RB	1990–2004
	P	2004–2018
150	*	DE	1964–1979	225
	CB	1983–1998
	LB	1987–2002
	LB	1998–2012
	DE	2010–2024
155		QB	1962–1977	224
	DE	1974–1989
	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
167		G	1979–1994	223
	KR^, PR	1990–2003
*	WR	1994–2009
	P	2008–2022
171	*	RB	1982–1997	222
*	G	1988–2001
173		DE	2001–2014	221
	CB	2003–2017
175		P, QB	1988–2004	220
	TE, LS	1992–2006
	OT	1992–2006
	OT	2008–2023
179	*	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
****	LB	2012–present
188	*	QB	1957–1974	218
*	DT	1967–1981
	OL	1980–1995
	NT, DT	1982–1996
	LS	1985–1999
*	WR	1998–2012
*	DE	2002–2017
195		P	1963–1978	217
*	G	1967–1981
	OL	1973–1987
	S	1983–1997
*	CB	1988–2001
	WR	1998–2011
201		DT	1973–1988	216
	CB	1975–1989
	LB	1983–1996
	KR, WR	1987–2000
*	DE	1993–2007
	P	2009–2022
	K	2009–2022
208	*	LB	1969–1983	215
	LB	1979–1994
	P	1984–1998
*	CB	1999–2013
****	LB	2012–present
****	DE	2010–present
****	LS	2012–present
215		CB	1989–2002	214
	DE	1998–2012
	NT	2006–2019
****	G	2012–present
219	*	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
****	LS	2012–present
228		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
	K	2012–2024
237	*	QB	1956–1973	211
*	QB	1957–1975
	WR	1979–1993
	RB	1984–1997
	TE	1984–1997
	C	1985–1999
	DE	1989–2003
*	CB, S	1991–2004
	C	1999–2012
	K	2001–2014
	WR	2001–2014
	CB	2006–2020
249	*	C	1960–1974	210
	K	1963–1977
*	TE	1963–1978
*	DE	1968–1983
	K	1976–1989
	C	1998–2012

References

"Average playing career length in the National Football League".
"What Is The Average Length of an NFL Career, By Position?".
"George Blanda game logs".
"Most NFL games played". Pro football reference.com.

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