This College Football Player Is 32 Years Old—and Still Has Another Season

Some people peak in high school. Some people peak in college. We all know those people—the folks who would have loved to have continued living the college life into their 30s. Sadly, that’s just not how it works.

Well, unless you’re Luke Larsen at East Carolina. Now 32 years old, Larsen just wrapped up his fifth season of college football but is STILL eligible for another year, meaning he’ll still be on campus at 33. He’s the oldest player in college football. Duh. He just entered the transfer portal, which is basically like the college version of free agency, meaning he’ll be playing his last year somewhere else.

32-Year-Old College Football Star Still Playing in 2025

He has a very unique backstory of how he got to this point. Clearly, he didn’t take to football until later in life. He’s from Australia and didn’t pick up a football until he was 28. He became a punter and enrolled at ECU in 2020 where he has remained ever since. He’s now a grad student finishing out his MBA.

Since the pandemic, there have been a lot of quirky situations like this between old guys playing the sport still at a college level or guys playing six to seven years in college. Miami’s Cam McCormick is 26 (still old for college), for example, but has played nine (!) seasons at the collegiate level because of some funky eligibility rules from the COVID season along with new transfer protocols.  

While I joked about peaking in college at the top, Larsen’s story is a cool one. He’s picked up two degrees in five years and has carved out a decorated college football career despite his late start. During ECU’s appearance in the Go Bowling Military Bowl, he was one of four players named to the STEM Scholar-Athletes team for his work in Industrial Distribution and Logistics.

So, yeah, it’s pretty inspiring seeing this guy become a well-respected player at his position while knocking it out of the park in the world of academia.