There is no age requirement for the NFL though a player must be three years out of high school in order to enter the league.
There are actually two criteria that a player must satisfy in order to be entered into the NFL. First the player must have satisfied the aforementioned three years out of high school rule.
This rule will ensure that players are not able to go straight from high school football to the NFL.
Regardless of whether or not you played football a total of three years must pass after graduating high school. This is more or less an age requirement for the league as almost all students graduate high school at the same age.
That being said some athletes may choose to finish high school early. This gives them an opportunity to join the NFL at a younger age than the rest of their draft class.
In order to enter the draft, a player must also accept that he is giving up his NCAA eligibility. Once you enter the draft you are no longer able to play college football.
This results in many players waiting more than three years after high school to enter the NFL. The reasoning is that playing another year or two in college will help advance their playing ability.
This extra playing time in college often helps solidify their NFL career.
Who Is the Youngest Player Drafted?
The youngest player ever drafted in the NFL was Amobi Okoye. At the time he was drafted he was 19 years old, 10 months 18 days.
Okoye grew up in Nigeria and moved to the United States when he was twelve years old.
Upon attending middle school teachers quickly found out the Amobi Okoye was gifted. After only two weeks in middle school he was sent to the ninth grade based on his test scores.
After high school, Okoye had many different options on where to attend college based on his grades. He chose the University of Louisville over Harvard and started attending College at sixteen years old.
He was the youngest player in the NCAA in his true freshman season. Okoye played all four years in college before declaring for the draft. Meaning he could have been drafted a year earlier if he was ready.
There is only one other NFL player to be drafted at the age of 19 and that is Tremaine Edmunds, a middle linebacker of the Buffalo Bills.
Is There A Maximum Age To Be Drafted In The NFL
No, just like there is no minimum age to be drafted being too old is not going to affect your eligibility. In order to get drafted, you must simply pass the same criteria we mentioned above.
You need to be three years out of high school and you need to give up your college eligibility. Though it is quite uncommon sometimes you do see older players getting drafted in the NFL.
One great example is Brandon Weeden. Weeden was a quarterback selected in the first round by the Cleveland Browns he was twenty-nine years old on the day of the draft.
Weeden had been an excellent baseball and football player. After college, he decided to pursue his professional baseball career. Several years into pro baseball he changed his mind and declared for the NFL draft.
Weeden still holds the record for the oldest player taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
That’s all on if their is an age requirement for the NFL to learn more checkout whether football players must share hotel rooms or learn if the NFL is actually rigged.
