Jacksonville Jaguars punter Matt Turk is history -- in a good way.
The 43-year-old is the last active National Football League player born in the decade of 1960s.
With the retirement of Brett Favre and the inability of kicker John Carney to hook on with a team this preseason, Turk got the title. He's only five years younger than Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio, and he's older than a few of the team's assistants.
Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Michael Irvin, John Elway, Deion Sanders, Junior Seau, Reggie White and Favre are the biggest stars born in the 60s, but none is still collecting game checks.
How old is Turk? He was born the same year as the Big Mac, which went on sale at McDonald's in 1968 for 49 cents. Back then, a gallon of gasoline cost 34 cents and movie tickets sold for $1.50. The Beatles recorded "Hey Jude" as the first single on the newly created Apple Records label in Turk's birth year.
Entering his 16th season in the league, Turk made three Pro Bowl rosters back in the 1990s. He spent the past four seasons with Houston and also also punted for Washington, Miami, the New York Jets and St. Louis Rams. Turk has been around long enough to have attended training camp with the old Los Angeles version of the Rams in 1994, but he was released after three preseason games.
Despite his vagabond status, only three of Turk's 1,100 career punts have been blocked. He's averaged 42.4 yards (37.4 net) during his career with only 38.9 percent (428) of those 1,100 punts having been returned. Pretty good for a guy who was undrafted out of tiny Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Turk is part of another footnote in pigskin history with the Redskins: His brother, Dan Turk, snapped to him during the 1997, making them the first brother-to-brother, long snapper-to-punter combination in NFL history. Dan passed away from cancer in December of 2000.
Del Rio affirmed to Jaguars.com that Turk is the Jags punter entering the regular season. "Matt's our punter," he told the team site.
Rookie QB Blaine Gabbert, the youngest player on the Jaguars at 21, told reporters of Turk, "He's like my dad's age."
The NFL's graybeard is married with four daughters and a son. Don't expect to see Turk retire anytime soon, though. He told the Florida Times-Union earlier this month that if it's up to him, he'll play until he's 50. "I think I could," Turk said. "I would love to. I've often thought of George Blanda. I think he played until 48. If the Lord blesses me with my health the way he has, it definitely can be done."
