AGE IS JUST A NU M BER.
But that number is on the move, and longevity is on its way
to running up the score. According to the United Nations,
in 1990 there were 95,000 people on the planet who made
it to 100. Today there are more than 500,000 centenar-
ians, and, by 2100, it’s projected there will be more than
25 million. In 1980, around 382 million people were 60
and older. By 2050, that number will exceed 2 billion. There
are some gerontologists who believe the first person to
live to age 150 has already been born. Others ask: Are we
so sure there are age limitations on human life?
What are fun facts and dinner-party conversation start-
ers for us are foundational to the School of Aging Studies
at the University of South Florida. It’s the largest—and,
appropriately, one of the oldest—school of its kind in the
country. Its mission statement cites a commitment to
“understanding the biological, psychological, social and
public policy aspects of aging.” But talk to faculty casu-
ally and it’s clear that one of the core principles of the
curriculum is this: to teach life hacks that help human
beings get older with grace.
Located as it is in Tampa—the U.S. metro area with
the densest concentration of senior citizens—the school
has always had plenty of subject matter and data points
nearby. But now, the campus is also within a golf-cart drive
of the archetype for aging gracefully. Want to conduct a
field study to see what longevity looks like in practice (not
to mention in games)? Well, Tom Brady lives and works
just a few miles away.
For all his manifold football gifts, Brady’s true super-
power is his ability to take time, stretch it out like the27 SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 20212 0
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