Testaverde Joining Some Old-Time QB Company By Nick Gholson Wichita Falls Times Record News 9/8/04 So just how old is this Methuselah of a quarterback the Dallas Cowboys will send out onto the field to start their season-opener in Minnesota? Well, put it this way, Vinny Testaverde is three years younger than the team he now plays for. The Cowboys, who have won 410 football games in their 44-year history, had only won 11 the day Vinny was born. Roger Staubach was winning a Heisman Trophy at Navy, and Don Meredith was eight games into his first season as the staring quarterback for the Cowboys when Mrs. Testaverde gave birth to her bouncing baby boy on Nov. 13, 1963. Twenty-four years later, Testaverde would be a starting quarterback in the NFL. Tampa Bay made the Heisman Trophy quarterback from Miami the first overall selection in the 1987 draft. Twelve picks later, the Cowboys took defensive tackle Danny Noonan. Noonan retired 12 years ago. Vinny is still around. Testaverde threw his first NFL pass on Sept. 20, 1987, against Chicago. At the time, Troy Aikman was a junior at UCLA. (Yep, Vinny is three years older than Troy.) Keyshawn Johnson was in the eighth grade. Tony Romo and Drew Henson were both 7 years old. Since that time, Testaverde has passed for 40,943 yards - seventh best in NFL history and ahead of No. 8 Joe Montana and No. 9 Johnny Unitas. Four more touchdown passes will put him ahead of Dan Fouts and in the NFL's top 10 in that category. And that could happen real soon. Now at 40 - and just a couple of months away from 41 - Testaverde is less than a week away from his 18th NFL season and first as the Cowboys' starting quarterback. When you consider the fact that Tex Schramm was only 39 when he was hired to be the first general manger of the Cowboys and Tom Landry was just 36 when he became the team's head coach, a 40-year-old starting quarterback does seem old. But 41-year-old Warren Moon made the Pro Bowl as the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback in 1997, throwing for 3,678 yards and 25 touchdowns. George Blanda - who played until he was 48 - was 43 when he stepped in for Daryl Lamonica as the Raiders' starter and led Oakland to four wins and a tie in a five-game stretch midway through the 1970 season. Steve DeBerg was the oldest quarterback to start an NFL game when - at 44 years, nine months and six days - he started in place of injured Chris Chandler for the Falcons in 1998. Moon was 44 years and nine days old when he started for Kansas City against San Diego two years later. Parting shot: Although he has played 17 seasons in the NFL, Testaverde has only played in five playoff games. He is 2-3. He has only played against the Cowboys four times. He lost twice with the Bucs in 1990, won as the Browns starter (19-14) in 1994 and lost with the Jets last year.