Forty-four-year-old grandfather Philip Rivers was happy coaching his son’s high-school team and watching NFL games from the sofa when he got the call asking if he would like to play for the Indianapolis Colts.
“Heck yeah, I’m interested,” Rivers told Colts head coach Shane Steichen over the telephone, before racing up from Alabama to Indiana on Monday to strap on pads and practice throwing the ball.
Rivers could take to the field as soon as Sunday, against the Seattle Seahawks, potentially filling in for stricken quarterback Daniel Jones in a crucial game for the injured-ravaged Colts’ playoff hopes.
Photo: AP
“I wasn’t really hanging on any hope of playing again — I kind of thought that ship had sailed,” Rivers said on Wednesday, of the stunning turn of events.
Rivers played nearly 250 games for the Colts and the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers across a 17-year professional career, and ranks sixth for all-time NFL passing touchdowns.
At 44, he is only a year older than Tom Brady was when the all-time great quarterback won his seventh and final Super Bowl in 2021, but four years younger than George Blanda, the oldest man ever to play a game at quarterback.
Yet speaking to journalists, Rivers admitted he is nowhere near to the athletic shape he was in for his last NFL appearance in 2021.
A notably plump Rivers joked that he is “not sure” what he currently weighs, and said his wife in particular was “nervous about the physical aspect” of returning to one of sports’ most dangerous positions after so long away.
“All of us, even me ... [are] a little scared, a little nervous,” he said.
“Who wouldn’t have doubt after five years?” Rivers added.
The father-of-10 said his youngest kids would be excited to see him on the field, having been too young to remember his final season.
If Rivers plays on Sunday depends on whether the Colts’ third-string rookie Riley Leonard recovers from a knee injury he sustained last week.
Coach Steichen said his team will “go through this week in practice, see how it goes, and then we’ll make a decision at the end of the week.”
The Colts (8-5) are one spot out of the American Football Conference playoffs, but face a tough run of games in the final weeks of the campaign.
“We’re taking this thing one day at a time,” Rivers told reporters.
“The easiest way to eliminate all the things that can go bad is to stay home,” the veteran added. “And the only way to find out, ‘can you still do it,’ is to go try.”
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