SAN JOSE — When Justin Buzzard got the news he’d be getting on the field Saturday afternoon at San Jose City College, he was elated.
He had reason to be. The 47-year-old, a first-year player with the Jaguars who has resuscitated his football career decades after most players hang up their cleats, dutifully jogged out to his spot at right defensive end and got into his stance.
That moment, consummated with five minutes left in SJCC’s 41-21 loss to College of the Redwoods, was the culmination of weeks of media hype, expectation and shock and amazement from those across the country who became aware of Buzzard’s story.
After Redwoods called timeout to talk things over, play resumed and Buzzard took off at the snap, working against Redwoods’ left tackle.
It was SJCC’s blitzing linebacker, Kyler Headley, who then sacked quarterback Landon McKee on the third-down play. But Buzzard helped set him up by winning his rep, hurrying McKee and helping open up a rush lane for Headley.
San Jose City College defensive lineman Justin Buzzard (48) tackles College of the Redwoods quarterback Landon
McKee (16) in the fourth quarter of their game at San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Buzzard, a 47-year-old father of three and pastor, is playing college football to fulfill a long-delayed dream. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Buzzard even gave McKee a good old-fashioned two-handed shove to make sure he was down after Headley brought him to the ground.
After standing on the sideline and roasting in the sun during a three-plus-hour blowout, Buzzard finally got the football moment he had waited 30 years for.
Buzzard’s enthusiasm was eclipsed only by that of his teammates, who gave him – and Headley – a hero’s welcome on the sideline. Then after the game while in the handshake line, some Redwoods players dapped him up, calling him “the man of the hour” and snapping photos with the man they called OG.
“It felt great,” Buzzard told the Bay Area News Group. “You prepare a lot in football to just play a little. It’s a game of so much preparation for just a little bit of time out on the field playing an actual game. So it was great to actually get a rep. It felt good. I’m hungry for more.”
It was that hunger that has fueled Buzzard to attempt something most men his age wouldn’t dream of doing. Once a high school football player at Capital Christian High in Sacramento, he matriculated at Whitworth College in Washington but never saw the field while battling injuries.
He gave up the game and transferred to Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Buzzard later moved to the Bay Area, where he met his wife, Taylor, and began a career as a pastor and a published author while raising three sons: Cru, Hudson and Gus.
All three played football at Lincoln High. Cru is now a hurdler at Westmont College, Hudson is a senior defensive end and tight end at Lincoln and Gus is a sophomore linebacker, with both starting this season.
San Jose City College defensive lineman Justin Buzzard (48) walks off the field after their game against College of the Redwoods at San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Buzzard, a 47-year-old father of three and pastor, is playing college football to fulfill a long-delayed dream. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Until this year, Buzzard’s football involvement was limited to being a vocal cheerleader and occasional personal trainer for his sons while supporting their high school athletic endeavors. But a chance Instagram sighting of a 60-year-old college football player on the East Coast got the gears spinning in his mind.
He shared the post with his sons, and Cru said he should get in on the act.
“I just thought that immediately sounded crazy,” Buzzard said during an interview at the family’s home in San Jose. “That idea had never occurred to me at all. It sounded crazy. But within about 30 seconds, I thought, ‘Maybe I should give this a shot.’ ”
San Jose City coach Jim Winkler told the Bay Area News Group he’s had a player in his early 30s before. But he was skeptical that a married father of three would make the commitment necessary to be a college football player.
He was proven wrong. Better yet, Buzzard proved himself right.
“When we started this, just like everything for all of our players, they come in, there’s certain standards and expectations,” Winkler said. “He has the same requirements that every other player has, whether they’re half his age or not. And so far, he’s met all those requirements.”
Buzzard checked every box along the way, from preseason conditioning to fall camp to making the team, while bringing things to the table no player typically would. He’s taken over team prayers, inspired his teammates with his relentlessness and dispensed wisdom that can only come from more than double the life experience of a teenager.
Especially one whose football itch was scratched at an age most fathers have settled comfortably into coaching roles and couch cushions.
“I’m the one who’s in his lifting group in the weight room,” said punter Preston Conrad. “It’s just me and him, and he motivates me. He makes sure I’m doing everything. He definitely doesn’t take anything off. All the behind-the-scenes stuff, he does it to his full ability and his full effort. He definitely earned it.”
San Jose City College defensive lineman Justin Buzzard (48) is congratulated by his wife Taylor Buzzard after their game against College of the Redwoods at San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Buzzard, a 47-year-old father of three and pastor, is playing college football to fulfill a long-delayed dream. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
What does Taylor think of all this?
She’s supportive of her husband following his dreams. She also wants him to be able to chase around his future grandkids when he’s done playing.
“I love my husband and I’m excited for the future,” Taylor said. “So I want him in great condition. He is always thinking outside the box and blazing his own trail. So I was excited, not surprised.”
That dichotomy between health and dreams is the underpinning beneath the novelty of Buzzard’s college football odyssey. Buzzard is in exceptional shape for his age, with teammate Max Thomas noticing his ability to keep up proficiently during team sprints.
He previously trained in the Israeli combat discipline Krav Maga, an aggressive fighting style which led to three broken ribs that healed just in time for football season.
Of course, there is a physiological reality to playing football while in your 40s. Buzzard, who will turn 48 on Sept. 14, had a heavy-duty syringe of blood drained from his knee in late July.
Overall, though, he says his body is doing well. Which is good news for Hudson and Gus, whose ambition for their father knows no bounds.
“I think he definitely has the potential, who knows, maybe even to start,” said Hudson, who starts for Lincoln on both sides of the ball. “Because players can get injured, and he’s up there on the depth chart. He’s already been making plays in practice and scrimmages, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a starting defensive end.”
His father poured some cold water on that aspiration, noting it was made somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
Taylor noted on Saturday that Justin blended in with the other players at 6-foot-3 and a stout 215 pounds. Get up close, though, and it’s clear this is no typical college football player.
Justin’s journey has inspired not only his sons but also their teammates at Lincoln. The Lions beat Pioneer 15-14 on Friday, with Hudson catching the game-winning two-point conversion, and Gus making a game-sealing interception after Hudson pressured the quarterback.
Lincoln coach Kevin Collins noted that since Justin has been around the team for years, the players know him well. Some of them have since enrolled at San Jose City, and some of Buzzard’s current SJCC teammates played against his sons in high school.
Collins wasn’t surprised when he heard Buzzard was getting back in the game.
“I would probably still do it if my body let me,” said Collins, who used up his college eligibility at Santa Clara and tried out twice with the 49ers. “If I would be able to run like I used to, yeah. Hell yeah.”
San Jose City College defensive lineman Justin Buzzard (48) raises his hands in celebration after a touchdown in the fourth quarter during their game against College of the Redwoods at San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Buzzard, a 47-year-old father of three and pastor, is playing college football to fulfill a long-delayed dream. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Buzzard’s journey has many chapters left to write. He entered Saturday’s game third on the depth chart at defensive end and second on multiple special teams and played two snaps in all, with the second coming on Redwoods’ kneel-down to end the game.
But if anything is clear about his future, it’s this – there’s no forecasting what’s next. The unprecedented is quickly becoming reality, whatever form that ultimately takes.
He’s even had discussions with Hudson about playing together next fall. For a man who has already made national news and inspired scores across the country, that wouldn’t be the craziest thing that has happened to him recently.
“So far, so good,” Buzzard said. “But we’re early innings here.”