Rich Gannon has a lot of gray hair and when he doesn't shave -- which is most of the time -- he's a little scruffy around the edges. At 37, he is the epitome of the grizzled veteran. At a quick glance, Gannon looks old enough to be Chad Pennington's father.

Well, almost. Pennington, at 26, is so fresh and new to all of this he's almost wet. It looks like it would take him a few months to achieve the five o'clock shadow Gannon effortlessly develops in a few days.

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And yet, despite their wildly different styles, their substance is beyond dispute. Gannon set an NFL record for attempts in a season, with 418. His pass attempts (618) and total yards (4,689) were NFL highs. Pennington, meanwhile, led the league with a passer rating of 104.2 and a completion percentage of 68.9. Gannon was second in both categories with 97.3 and 67.6.

Who has the more unlikely story? You make the call.

Gannon, who came out of Delaware -- Delaware? -- bounced around with the Vikings (1987-92) and Redskins (1993) before sitting out the entire 1994 season. He came back to play four seasons with the Chiefs before then-Raiders' head coach Jon Gruden rescued the career backup in 1999. Gannon's 15th season in the NFL was his best.

He cleared 300 yards in 10 games, breaking a record shared by Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.

"You need opportunities in this business," a humble Gannon said after winning the MVP. "Up until 1999, I didn't feel like I had a whole lot of opportunities. It wasn't until the Raiders brought me here and gave me a chance to be an everyday starter … that was an opportunity to flourish."

	Pennington

	Gannon

Pennington, meanwhile, was a celebrated 2000 first-round draft choice who was working the sideline for better than two seasons while Vinny Testaverde led the Jets. But in this season's fourth game, at Jacksonville, Testaverde was sacked and injured in the first quarter and Pennington's opportunity had arrived.

The Jets lost that game, scoring a single field goal, and fell in Pennington's first start, to Kansas City. Pennington was terrific in that game, completing 22 of 29 passes for 237 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. From that point on, the Jets played up to his level.

Pennington is 9-4 as a starter and efficiency has been his signature. In the Jets' 41-0 blowout of the Colts, he started the game by completing 12 of 15 passes for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. The final numbers were 19-for-25 and 222 yards -- good for a rating of 142.

"It's hard to believe how he is out there, for a guy just starting his first year," said returner Chad Morton. "But he's arrived for us, just in time."

The numbers
Rich Gannon: 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, 37 years old, 15th NFL season, 4th NFL team (Vikings, Redskins, Chiefs, Raiders) … Drafted in the fourth round in 1987, No. 98 overall, by the the Patriots and was traded to the Vikings two weeks later … Completed 418 of 618 passes (67.6 percent) for 4,689 yards, 26 TDs and 10 INT, 97.3 passer rating. Was on pace through 13 games to break Dan Marino's single-season record for passing yards (5,084).

Chad Pennington: 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, 26 years old, 3rd season with Jets … Drafted No.18 overall in 2000, out of Marshall … Completed 275 of 399 passes (68.9 percent) for 3,120 yards, 22 TDs and 6 INT. Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.