40 Athletes Who Played Well Into Their 40s

Jerry Rice turned 40 in 2002 and continued playing in the NFL until 2006. With 303 games under his belt, Rice played more than any other non-placekicker or punter in NFL history.

During his 20 seasons in the NBA with the Bucks and the Lakers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a record 19-time NBA All-Star. In fact, the Lakers went on to win the playoffs twice with him at the helm soon after his 40th birthday. He retired in 1989 at the age of 42.

The same year Barry Bonds turned 40, he won his 7th National League MVP award. During his final season with the MLB two years later, he was an All-Star for the San Francisco Giants. While his accomplishments are no doubt impressive, he later admitted he used steroids, which may have contributed to the longevity of his career.

After turning 41, Pete Rose went on to make the NL All-Star team for the second year in a row. In 1985, at the age of 44, he broke Ty Cobb's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit during a game against the Padres.

At 41, Dara Torres took home three silver medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics: one for the 50-meter freestyle, another for the 4×100-meter medley relay, and one for the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. She also volunteered to take part in an enhanced drug-testing program, saying, "I want people to know that I'm 41, and I'm doing this right. I'm clean."

Since turning 40 in 2010, Phil Mickelson has claimed victory at the US Open and the British Open and been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Though he had two surgeries in 2016 which forced him to take a short break, he recovered and continued to compete. Now 49, he's still active as ever, having recently won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

At age 45, George Foreman reclaimed the heavyweight title by winning a fight against Michael Morrer. This also made him the oldest fighter ever to win the World Heavyweight Championship title. One of the likely reasons he was able to have an impressive career well into his fourth decade is that he retired for 10 years between 1977 and 1987.

At age 44, Martina Navratilova returned to the court, primarily playing doubles. She went on to win 12 more doubles titles and an additional three mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, all before turning 50. She temporarily retired from the sport for about five years, which might be part of the reason she was able to continue playing for so long.

The year Jack Nicklaus turned 40, he won his fourth U.S. Open and his fifth PGA championship. Six years later, at age 46, Nicklaus won his sixth Masters. In 2011, he told Golf Digest, "By 1986 I was not the player I was 15 years earlier. And I've always felt the Masters was a young man's tournament because of the speed of the greens, the firmness of the course and the demands it puts on your nerves... I might have been 46, but my nerves were still good. And I did not want to leave the game playing poorly."

Satchel Paige officially got his start in the major leagues at the age of 42. Previously, he had played for the Negro Leagues before professional baseball was desegregated. Paige was signed to the Indians in 1948 and he went on to become the first African American pitcher to play in the World Series, when the Indians beat the Braves.

The year Hank Aaron turned 40 (1974), he hit his 715th home run in a game against the Dodgers, making him the home run champion of the time, edging out Babe Ruth. Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully noted why the moment was particularly impactful, given the racial tensions in the country at the time: "What a marvelous moment for baseball; what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia; what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol."

The two-time Super Bowl winner set a record at the age of 42 in 2002 as the oldest NFL defensive back. Shortly before this, he also set a record as the oldest player with an interception, at the age of 41.

In 1999, Harold Baines was 40, but still playing like a young man. He managed 103 runs while batting .312 for the season. This same year he was named to the All-Star team for the 6th time.

The left fielder for the Boston Red Sox spent 19 years playing baseball. However, his career was briefly interrupted by mandatory military service during World War II and the Korean War. At 41, Williams retired from baseball, hitting a home run in his final time at-bat on September 28, 1960.

The eight-time All-Star was famous for wagging his finger after every blocked shot. After turning 40 in 2006, he became the oldest player in NBA history to record more than 20 rebounds in a game, with 22 rebounds. A year later, he managed five blocked shots and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in total career blocked shots.

At age 43, Robert Parish played his final NBA season with the Chicago Bulls. He won his fourth NBA title during this season between 1996 and 1997.

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an athlete and excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. In 1951, the year she turned 40, she won nine events on the LPGA tour. Three years later, she earned her sixth AP Female Athlete of the Year honor after winning the U.S. Women's Open, shortly after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

After turning 40 in 2003, David Wells went on to sign a deal with the Boston Red Sox and took the uniform number 3, in honor of Babe Ruth. In 2006, the left-handed pitcher went back to the San Diego Padres for a second time, and then moved to the Dodgers for his final season in 2007.