In the age of the transfer portal and COVID-19 years, college football has seen some older-than-usual athletes in the last part of the decade. But this year, a 58-year-old freshman defensive lineman at Division III Lycoming College is making national headlines.
Let’s take a look at the oldest player currently playing college football, plus break down the oldest players in NCAA football history.
Who Is This Season’s Oldest College Football Player?
Tom Cillo is 58 years old and playing for the Division III school in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. He is a former powerlifting champion who has admitted that drugs and alcohol derailed his football plans as a teenager.
“It’s time to put regret, not even in the rearview mirror, but time to put it out of sight,” Cillo told the New York Post. “Rearview mirror means you can still see it. I wanted it out of the picture altogether. It was time. It was now or never.”
“He’s taken some lumps, but he keeps coming back,” added coach Mike Clark said. “He keeps learning, keeps working. It’s all part of the process.”
Cillo recently became the oldest college football player to ink an NIL deal thanks to his agreement with Aspercreme.
As for Division I college football players, 30-year-old Monte Harrison is the oldest in 2025. Harrison’s journey is more interesting than that of the typical oldest college football player.
A decade after signing with Nebraska out of Lee’s Summit West High School in Missouri, Harrison is set to embark on his long-awaited college football journey. As a 29-year-old true freshman last season, Harrison suited up for the Arkansas Razorbacks, catching two passes for 29 yards and returning one kickoff for 20 yards.
Harrison’s path to the gridiron was anything but conventional. A standout football prospect in the Class of 2014, he was drafted 50th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 MLB Draft.
Instead of pursuing a dual-sport career at Nebraska, where he had committed, Harrison chose to go straight into professional baseball. Over the next 10 years, he played in the Brewers, Miami Marlins, and Los Angeles Angels organizations. Though he reached the major leagues, Harrison appeared in just 50 games across three seasons, posting a .176 batting average with two home runs, six RBIs, and seven stolen bases.
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When Harrison’s second stint with the Brewers ended in September, he turned the page on his baseball career and revisited his football aspirations. Despite his extensive experience in baseball, Harrison retained all four years of college football eligibility since he had never enrolled in college.
Arkansas brought him in as a walk-on receiver in May. While Harrison is the oldest college football player in 2025, who are the oldest college football players of all time?
A Look at the Oldest College Football Players Ever
3) Mike Flynt
- Age While Playing: 59 years old
- College: Sul Ross State University (Texas)
- Year(s) Played: 2007
- Position: Linebacker
At the time, Mike Flynt was known as the oldest NCAA collegiate football player in history. At 59, Flynt made the extraordinary decision to re-enroll at his alma mater, Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, to play one final football season. Years earlier, Flynt had been removed from the team before his senior year due to multiple campus altercations — a decision that left him with lingering regret.
The turning point came during a class reunion with his former teammates, where the conversation shifted to Flynt’s biggest regret: getting kicked off the team. When a friend challenged him to make amends, Flynt accepted the dare.
Unlike many older athletes making comebacks, Flynt was in outstanding physical condition. His strength and conditioning coach career at universities like Nebraska, Oregon, and Texas A&M kept him in peak shape.
He relocated his family from Franklin, Tenn., back to Alpine, Texas, with a renewed sense of purpose. With the backing of his former coach, Jerry Larned, Flynt convinced Lobos head coach Steve Wright that he still had what it took to compete despite being nearly 40 years older than his teammates and even 10 years older than his coach.
On October 13, 2007, Flynt returned to the gridiron, joining the Lobos at 59 in a thrilling triple-overtime showdown against Texas Lutheran.
2) Tom Thompson
- Age While Playing: 61 years old
- College: Austin College (Texas)
- Year(s) Played: 2009
- Position: Kicker
In 2009, at 61, Tom Thompson made history as the oldest player to participate in an NCAA football game while attending Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
Thompson played just one game that season but left his mark by successfully kicking an extra point. This achievement made him the first college football player over 60 to score in an NCAA game.
Thompson’s return to football came nearly five decades after he last played organized football in high school. As a second-year graduate student, Thompson faced the challenge of convincing Austin College head coach Ronnie Gage that his intention to join the team was serious and not just a publicity stunt.
His persistence paid off, and he secured a spot on the team. Thompson later documented his incredible journey and the obstacles he overcame in his autobiography, offering insight into his pursuit of a lifelong dream.
1) Alan Moore
- Age While Playing: 61 years old
- College: Faulkner University (Alabama)
- Year(s) Played: 2011
- Position: Kicker
On Sept. 10, 2011, Alan Moore made history as he stepped onto the field for the Faulkner Eagles and drilled the team’s first extra point. While a routine play like this might typically fly under the radar in college football, it was anything but ordinary in Moore’s case. At 61, Moore was a grandfather of five, returning to the gridiron after last suiting up in 1968.
Hailing from Mt. Olive, Miss., Moore began his football journey as a freshman for the Jones College Bobcats. However, his playing days were cut short when he left college to serve in Vietnam. After his military service, Moore settled into a career in construction, but the dream of playing football never left him.
Years later, while visiting his grandchildren, Moore was inspired to return to the field after revisiting his old college. Determined to make a comeback, he built a goalpost in his daughter’s yard and dedicated countless hours to practice.
Although he didn’t make the Jones College roster at 59, Moore’s perseverance paid off when he secured a spot with the Holmes Community College Bulldogs the following year. His journey eventually brought him to Faulkner University, where he made history with that memorable kick.
