Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel will return for a 13th season in 2014, but you might be surprised to know that the soon-to-be 36-year-old is still not in the top-four oldest defensive players still in the league.
Oakland Raiders safety Charles Woodson currently gets the honor of being the oldest defensive player in the league in 2014 and he will turn 38 in October. Woodson is followed by Arizona Cardinals linebacker John Abraham, who turned 36 in May.
You still have would have to go through New Orleans Saints cornerback Champ Bailey (36) and Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Terence Newman (35) before getting to Keisel on the oldest defensive player list for 2014.
James Farrior was the last Steelers defensive player to play a season in Pittsburgh at age 36. In 2011, the longtime inside linebacker played in 14 games and recorded 78 total tackles and two sacks.
Keisel didn’t play Thursday night in the third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but he hopes to get some snaps in during the exhibition finale this coming Thursday night at Heinz Field against the Carolina Panthers.
“I feel like I need to get the pads on and get out there and get going,” Keisel told steelers.com. “I want to get some practices in me. Just getting out there and playing, the stop and go, the change of direction, stuff like that. There are certain things you can train in, but really until you play the game you’re not going to be in the type of shape that you need to be in to be a good, consistent player. So I have a week or so to get there and I look forward to doing that.
“I would like to get some game snaps and see what happens. Everything is up to Coach (Mike) Tomlin. We’ll see what he wants to do and see how I do in practice this week and go from there.”
The Steelers are reportedly off on Sunday and will resume practicing again on Monday.
