Oldest Vikings — seven in their 30s — see NFL in wiser ways

Thirty is the new 20.

A common phrase 30-year-olds might say to ease their acceptance of growing old is far from the truth, and there aren't many that know the reality better than a player in the NFL, where 30 is almost ancient.

Seven Vikings players in their 30s spent one of their final seasons on a rebuilding team during Mike Zimmer's first season as coach but say they are content with their roles, and their futures, heading into the season finale against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Defensive end Brian Robison, linebacker Chad Greenway, wide receiver Greg Jennings, defensive tackle Tom Johnson, offensive linemen Charlie Johnson and Joe Berger and long snapper Cullen Loeffler are the plus-30 fraternity with the Vikings.

Robison, 31, went from one of the youngest players to the oldest on the defensive line as the Vikings replenished their roster with youth. Entering Week 1, the Vikings had the fifth-youngest roster, averaging 25.58 years old.

Inexperience likely has been a cause of many of the team's issues this season. And it's another year Robison won't get back in his quest to win a Super Bowl. Players typically begin to deteriorate after hitting 30, causing NFL teams to seek available younger and cheaper options.

"Do I want a Super Bowl? Heck yeah," Robison said. "If you don't want a Super Bowl, you're not playing for the right reasons. The best way I can explain is football is a part of my life, but it doesn't make me who I am. It's something I love, it's a big part of my family's life and allowed us to meet people we never would've met otherwise. It's allowed us to be financially stable, all these great things, but I don't let football define who I am."

"That's been part of the evolution of what you go through in the NFL," Robison said.

Tom Johnson, 30, bounced around from three other leagues before accumulating four seasons in the NFL. He has recorded a career-high 6½ sacks in his only season with the Vikings, which should boost Johnson's profile once he dips into the free-agency pool again this offseason.

The rookie version of Johnson might have been overwhelmed by the situation, knowing he likely has, at most, three seasons left in the tank. Now he sits back and observes some of the younger players in the locker room who haven't faced the obstacles he has overcome.

"You've got guys here in their first, second year that still don't know really the ins and outs," Johnson said. "They just go to work, get paid. … Right now, I know how it works. I know how the game is played on and off the field. I don't stress out.

"You're just trying to make an imprint someway, somehow [as a rookie]. As an older guy, nah. You know how it is and what it is."

Jennings' production is similar to his first two years in the league as a result, though he is exiting his prime. But he has served as a necessary mentor in a growing season offensively.

"It's really bringing what I bring to the table, which is experience, knowledge, understanding of the game and helping and nurturing the guys to bring them up where we need to be as an organization," Jennings said.

Most of the team's veterans likely won't see the fruits of their labor, nurturing a young roster into what Zimmer hopes to be a Super Bowl-contending franchise down the road, but the idea of life after football hasn't hit them yet.

Still, if Sunday marks the last time some step on a field, they will accept that the end has arrived.

"You're going to grow yourself out of every situation in life eventually," Jennings said. "It's a matter of time, but while I'm here I'm going to enjoy it. I'm not going to think about what's to come when I'm in the present."