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Thanks to Brett Favre's extravagant performance on Monday night football a few weeks ago in his final game in his 30s, this NFL season already has been marked by graceful aging.
Favre looked as sharp as ever that night quarterbacking his new team, Minnesota, over his former team, Green Bay.
Today, Carolina kicker John Kasay, another oldie-but-goodie from the NFL draft class of 1991, will play his final game as a 39-year-old before venturing into the exclusive fraternity of players who've lasted into their 40s.
Unlike the grizzled Favre, whose hair and beard are heavily sprinkled with gray, Kasay still has the appearance of a much younger man, though he no longer sports the schoolboy looks of 14 years ago, when he arrived in Charlotte as the Panthers' first unrestricted free agent signee.
Tuesday, he turns 40.
Barring something unforeseen, he'll become the seventh active NFL player in the 40-and-over age group, only the 51st all-time and the 10th full-time placekicker.
"To still be able to generate that kind of (kicking) power without pulling muscles in places where you don't know you have muscles, and to be able to do it as long as he's done it at a high level, in my opinion, is remarkable," said Panthers coach John Fox.
Kasay benefits from no longer having to kick off. Carolina commits a roster spot for Rhys Lloyd to fill that role.
But Kasay's distance and accuracy on field goal attempts are still top-of-the-line. He made a career high 90.3 percent of his field goal tries last season and is 4-of-5 so far this year. His lone miss was blocked last week by Tampa Bay.
He already has hit a 50-yarder, raising to 16 the number of seasons he's made at least one field goal from that distance or beyond, including the past seven years in a row.
Kasay declined requests to be interviewed for this story, keeping with his reluctance to talk about himself or his accomplishments.
On the occasion of a monumental birthday for one of the most beloved players in Panthers' history, it's important to recognize that Kasay's impact on the Carolina organization cannot be measured merely by feats performed with his prolific left foot or his longevity.
He's The Original Panther, the lone remaining active player from the 1995 inaugural team, whose consistency of character over the years has given him a trusted leadership role far beyond what most kickers approach in pro football locker rooms.
Kasay wears a "C" on the front of his jersey, recognizing his elected position as the special teams captain.
But to his head coach, that initial stands for confidante.
For teammates such as punter Jason Baker, it stands for counselor.
For wide receiver Steve Smith, it stands for closest friend.
In the beginning
It's almost as if Kasay was destined to be a Panther.
He was born on Oct. 27, a day off what would become the Panthers' birthday - Oct. 26, 1993, when NFL owners unanimously awarded Jerry Richardson a franchise.
Richardson remembers first meeting Kasay in February 1995 on the Winthrop campus in Rock Hill, where the Panthers practiced while their uptown stadium facility was being built in Charlotte.
Kasay, who'd played his first four seasons with Seattle, and former New York Giants defensive end Mike Fox were introduced at a news conference as the first two unrestricted free agent signees in team history.
"I remember how excited we were to have an outstanding young kicker joining our organization," Richardson told the Observer this week via e-mail. "He has turned out to be everything we could have hoped for."
Kasay had set a Seahawks' team record by making 78.1 percent of his field goal attempts from 1991-94. He arrived in Seattle in '91 as a fourth-round draft pick unwelcomed by many of the Seahawks' veteran players, who didn't appreciate the fact that management was booting out veteran kicker Norm Johnson.
Panthers radio color commentator Eugene Robinson, then a Seattle safety, said he was the only Seahawks player who'd eat lunch with Kasay during training camp and that veterans rooted for Kasay to miss field goals during on-field competitions with Johnson.
So even though Kasay was only 25 when he joined the Panthers, he'd already proven he could weather adversity.
As general manager of the Panthers, Bill Polian was the man responsible for bringing Kasay to Carolina.
"I have always believed if you're going to be a championship team, of all the specialists, the kicker is the most important guy because he wins games and championships for you," said Polian, now president of the Indianapolis Colts.
"John was then what he is now - an exceptionally high character, exceptionally professional, exceptionally motivated, exceptionally courageous kicker.
"Pressure didn't bother him. Game situations didn't bother him. Conditions didn't bother him. He just did his job day in and day out, and you can't ask for anything more than that."
Over the years, Kasay has made 10 game-winning field goals for the Panthers. Collectively, Richardson considers those kicks his favorite on-field Kasay moments.
"I cannot select just one," he said.
One of Kasay's most glaring mistakes was his out-of-bounds kickoff near the end of Super Bowl XXXVIII, which came with Carolina leading New England, but gave the Patriots the ball at their 40-yard line and put quarterback Tom Brady in position for the game-winning drive.
There have been times when Kasay's Carolina career was seriously threatened by injury, especially when he suffered a fractured kneecap during the 2000 training camp, eight months after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.
Kasay battled back to play again in 2001, then overcame a sports hernia that sidelined him for the final 14 games of the '02 season.
Today's home game against Buffalo will be his 79th in a row as Carolina's kicker, including postseason games.
Secrets to success
So how has Kasay lasted so long?
Teammates say he works extremely hard to stay in shape and to maintain a nutritionally sound diet.
He's part of a group of kickers who've spent nearly two decades in the NFL together, improving their accuracy and performance to keep up with a continual uptick in field goal percentages over the years.
Kasay, Atlanta's Jason Elam (39), Detroit's Jason Hanson (39), Indianapolis' Matt Stover (41) and New Orleans' John Carney (45) collectively have set a standard for excellence and endurance for kickers.
Richardson said he believes there's nothing complicated about why Kasay has lasted so long.
"His self-discipline," said Richardson, "is beyond reproach."
Almost quietly, Kasay has become one of game's best kickers ever.
Though he hasn't made a championship kick, like the Colts' Adam Viniatieri did while playing with the Patriots, Kasay ranks 11th all-time in scoring (1,655 points) and seventh in field goals made (390).
"I think he will certainly take his place among the great kickers in the game," said Polian. "Once you're in the top 10 in field goals, you've cemented yourself into a pretty good place in history.
"You've also got to take into consideration he hasn't played with real high-powered offenses. Those are exceptionally good statistics."
Sounding board for many
Kasay has a locker, not an office, at Bank of America Stadium, but his influence stretches throughout the building.
"Rarely do I make a personal decision or a professional decision without bouncing it off of him," said punter Jason Baker.
"I think if you go to the top of the tree in this organization, everyone has leaned on him at some point."
That includes Richardson, who underwent heart transplant surgery last February.
"John and I have had many meaningful personal conversations and I have received advice from him that has been helpful," said Richardson.
Fox is often seen conferring with Kasay.
"I look at him not just as a player," said Fox. "I don't want to say (it's) necessarily as a peer, but as a confidante. I have great respect for him."
Kasay also has won the trust of Smith, the Panthers' ultra-talented but sometimes controversial receiver. Though they might seem like a bit of an odd couple - Smith grew up on the streets of Los Angeles and Kasay on the University of Georgia campus as a coach's son - they and their families are close.
Kasay is extremely protective of their friendship and Smith's privacy, but Smith shed some light on their relationship this week.
"Without revealing too much, I think John is a very good friend and John is important in my life more than he probably realizes (and) more than I probably realize," said Smith.
When Smith appeared to be injured last week at Tampa Bay, Kasay stood with him while he was being examined by trainers. There have been similar scenes over the past few years.
"It is pretty special," said Smith.
Near the other end of the locker room, rookie cornerback Captain Munnerlyn recalled the time last summer when Kasay stopped by for a conversation in the weight room.
"He kind of gave me a word of encouragement about what to do on and off the field, how to carry myself, how to never talk back to a coach," said Munnerlyn.
"He's been in the business a long time, so I'm definitely going to listen to him."
At 21, Munnerlyn is the Panthers' youngest player. He was 3 when Kasay was drafted.
"It's a blessing to be able to play that long," said Munnerlyn. "I hope one day I can be like that."
