The retirement of Alex Smith this week means that there's now only one active player remaining from the first-round of the 2005 NFL Draft and that unique distinction belongs to none other than Aaron Rodgers. It took 16 seasons, but he has now officially outlasted every other first-rounder from that draft.
When the 2020 season started, there were three active players from the first round of the draft still going strong -- Rodgers, Smith and Thomas Davis -- but over the past two months, Rodgers became the last man standing after Davis and Smith both decided to retire. Davis, who was selected by the Panthers with the 14th overall pick, announced his retirement in March. As for Smith, he was taken with the first overall pick and now that he's retired, Matthew Stafford holds the honor of being the first overall pick with the longest active career.
Although Rodgers is the last remaining first-rounder from 2005, he's one of six players from the draft who's still active. Besides Rodgers, there's also Washington quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and Raiders offensive lineman Richie Incognito. The other three players who are still considered to be active are all free agents (Frank Gore, Mike Nugent and Dustin Colquitt).
On Rodgers' end, it doesn't seem like he plans on retiring anytime soon and if he sticks around until the end of his current contract, which runs through the 2023 season, there's a good chance he'll be the only player left from the 2005 draft.
The fact that Rodgers now holds the distinction as the final remaining player from the first round of that draft isn't that surprising and that's because he was arguably the only superstar taken in the first round that year. As a matter of fact, only six of the draft's 32 first-rounders played past the 2015 season. (Rodgers, Smith, Davis, Adam Jones, Demarcus Ware, Derrick Johnson).
The 2005 draft wasn't a pretty one for teams as there ended up being multiple players taken in the first round who played four or fewer seasons in the league, including Cincinnati's David Pollack, Indianapolis' Marlin Jackson and TWO Vikings picks (Troy Williamson and Erasmus James).
With Rodgers one of six guys still standing from the 2005 draft -- and the only first-rounder -- here's a look at the only players left in the NFL from the 2000 thru 2004 drafts. What you're going to learn below is that Tom Brady might actually outlast everyone.
Draft Year | Players still active |
2000 | Tom Brady |
2001 | NONE (Drew Brees was the last man standing, but retired in March). |
2002 | Josh McCown (Played for Houston in 2020, but likely to retire) |
2003 | NONE (Jason Witten was the last man standing, but retired in January) |
2004 | Ben Roethlisberger, Andy Lee, Larry Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald could end up retiring this offseason) |
