EAGAN, Minn. – When Harrison Smith and Stephon Gilmore take the field for Minnesota's defense Sunday, they'll bring 24 combined seasons of NFL experience.
They collectively have 341 career games (333 starts), 11 Pro Bowls, three First-Team All-Pro honors and an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award entering the 2024 season.
Oh, and get this … (stick with me here) …
According to Stats Perform, this will mark just the third instance since 1920 where a pair of defensive back teammates enter the season each having five-plus Pro Bowls and at least 165 career games to their name.
Smith and Gilmore exchanged surprised glances with one another after learning the niche stat.
"How do you even find a stat like that?" Smith laughed, sitting beside Gilmore following the Vikings Wednesday afternoon practice.
"Oh – one of the others was Darrell Green and Deion, right?"
Leave it to Smith to nail that.
Until this year, the only other instances occurred in back-to-back seasons: Deion Sanders and Green for Washington in 2000, and then Carnell Lake and Rod Woodson for Baltimore in 2001.
"It's historic," Vikings safety Joshua Metellus said.
"Crazy. That's the only word I have to describe it," cornerback Akayleb Evans added.
And safety Theo Jackson?
"I don't even know what to say," Jackson chuckled after an initial jaw-drop reaction. "That's crazy. I'm just glad they're on our team."
Gilmore will turn 34 on Sept. 19; Smith celebrated his 35th birthday in February. Drafted 10th and 29th overall, respectively, in 2012, they each are entering their 13th NFL seasons.
Asked if he ever expected to still be playing, Gilmore thought for a moment.
"You always say 10. And then once you get 10, you're like, 'Dang, I can play 11.' And then 12. Then last year I'm like, 'I can still do it,' " reflected Gilmore, who signed with Minnesota Aug. 18. "You just gotta be patient and take it a year at a time once you get up there."
Smith nodded along with Gilmore.
The two have known each other since being draft classmates but have shared a locker room for less than a month.
In a way, it feels like much longer.
"Playing with – I mean, he's a Defensive Player of the Year – elite company, a guy who knows the game and has a coolness about him, a calmness about him, that I've always admired watching when he plays," Smith said of Gilmore. "Just the way he covers – he looks very unstressed, in control. Just being around that is nice. It's, like, calming – not just me, but for everybody, knowing he's out there. He's easy to communicate with."
("It sounds like you're also describing yourself?" This Vikings reporter asks. Smith laughs and responds, "I suppose a little bit, yeah.")
"I know we kind of joke about how old we are," Smith added, "but I'm eager to get out there and still make plays and establish that these old dudes—"
"— that we've still got it," Gilmore interjected, finishing his sentence.
"And that we're still a problem," Smith emphasized.
They certainly continue to be respected by opposing offenses. Both started all 17 regular-season games for their respective teams last season, totaling 161 tackles between the two of them. Smith had a single-season, career-best 3.0 sacks and three forced fumbles, and Gilmore nabbed two interceptions and racked up 13 passes defensed for Dallas.
Not only have they maintained their impact, but Smith and Gilmore are among a handful from the 2012 draft class to still be playing.
They are two of three remaining first-round picks from 2012 still in the league, joining Lions guard Kevin Zeitler.
And of the 50 defensive backs drafted 12 years ago? Smith and Gilmore are the only two entering the 2024 season on an active roster.
"It's crazy because I would say corner, safety, just playing the DB position, it's one of the hardest positions in the NFL, let alone to be good at – and be good at for a long time," said Vikings fullback C.J. Ham, who at 31 is the team's fifth-oldest player behind long snapper Andrew DePaola (37), Smith, tackle David Quessenberry (34) and Gilmore.
"Obviously you'd think that as you get older in age, you might slow down and not be able to keep up with the younger guys – and both [Gilmore and Smith] have stood the test of time, finding ways every single year to still be top players in the league at their position," Ham said. "I believe Harry's a future Hall of Famer, so it's cool I've been able to be with him for so long and see how he goes about everything."
Gilmore is also thankful to call Harry the Hitman a teammate more than a decade after the two entered the league.
"He's been on one team his whole career … always been makin' plays for the Vikings," Gilmore said. "You never know how life [will play out], what kinds of situations you'll be in, so I'm just happy to be on this team.
"We've made a lot of plays over the years, and hopefully we can make some more this year," he added.
Young players in Minnesota's defensive backs room have been looking up to Smith for years. When Gilmore signed, they wasted no time trying to glean all they could from him, as well.
The veteran corner said he received plenty of questions within a day or two of arriving in the Twin Cities.
"You know, I've been playing for a while, so some of these guys have seen me play in college, in high school," Gilmore pointed out. "They're eager to learn, and I just try to teach them as much as I can, because you can be very athletic and fast, but if you don't really know how to play the game, you don't know how to study the game, you'll never put yourself in position to make plays. So I try to teach them that."
Evans is entering his third season with the Vikings and has tried to be a sponge around Gilmore, from asking to watch film together to learning what vitamins and bodywork the elder DB implements into his daily routine.
"I'm trying to pay attention to everything," Evans said. "I'm just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can."
Smith isn't surprised Gilmore has already asserted himself as a leader, while working to learn a new defensive system.
"His presence alone does something," Smith said. "But the way he's gonna put himself in a certain position or play something a specific way is always good for young guys to see, because sometimes the game can be fast – so if you can simplify it and see an example of how it's done, that goes a long way. Plus, any questions guys have, he's seen it all."
Players throughout the Vikings defense will tell you Smith and Gilmore don't say a ton … but when they speak, teammates around them know to listen. And they're always paying attention to the veterans' actions on and off the field.
"Honestly, it's like having two coaches on the field with us," Jackson said.
Justin Jefferson believes he can become an even more phenomenal receiver by practicing against and learning from defensive backs of Gilmore and Smith's caliber.
"That's fire," Jefferson said of the duo's combined stats and longevity. "It helps a lot just, for one, creating turnovers and being a factor on defense. But not only that, helping the young guys in the room become what they have become.
"I think it's fantastic to have Gilmore on the outside, especially being a fan of his [from afar], but now going up against him and seeing what type of player he really is up close," Jefferson continued. "It's gonna be fire to see them out there on that field competing. I mean, defense wins championships. That's what we need the most, and it's gonna be crazy seeing those guys out there with each other."
How much longer will Gilmore and Smith play?
As Gilmore said, they take each season at a time. As it stands now, they're simply proud to be among the few who have reached the benchmarks they have.
"It's one thing to be a good player and have a couple years of high success. That's great in its own right," Smith said. "But to be able to sustain through a decade or more, be available in that many games – like, if you're playing that many games, you're playing some of them hurt. It's just the reality of it. So there's a toughness there that I think, looking back on it, I appreciate that I was able to personally do that."
The only numbers he and Gilmore will care about Sunday is whether or not the Vikings defeat the Giants. And while they're not spotlight seekers, it's hard to deny just how rare their accomplishments have been in the NFL – and the opportunity for them to continue together.
"You can feel it with those two. The experience, the body of work they've put in just, like, oozes through the room," Metellus said. "I've definitely been picking up on it, and I'm sure we'll pick up on it even more on Sunday, getting to play actual football with those two. That was a great addition, bringing Gilly on with 2-2. Those two guys in the same room? It's only gonna elevate the [whole secondary]."
