Philip Rivers wanted to try one last time to win that coveted Super Bowl title.
That’s why this 44-year-old grandfather, who made the final four for induction into the Football Hall of Fame, decided to come out of retirement to join the Indianapolis Colts.
Just hours after team management announced Rivers was signed to the practice squad, the veteran told reporters he was looking forward to his first NFL game since 2020. He added he hoped to get the start Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle.
“Something about this story motivated me, and it’s a bit like when a door opens and you either have to go through it to see if you can do it, or you have to avoid it,” he mused. I know there are risks, I don’t know what will happen, but the only way to find out is to give it a try. »
Although Rivers has never been one to back down from a challenge, he has never faced one like this before.
Rivers spent the last five years in Fairhope, Alabama, where he coached the St. Michael High School football team. However, he never severed ties with the NFL.
The American said he regularly watches the Los Angeles Chargers and Colts, the two teams he played for during his first 17 seasons, and was still watching them last weekend when quarterback Daniel Jones tore the Achilles tendon in his right foot in a 36-19 loss to the Jaguars in Jacksonville, ending his season.
Rivers said he immediately wondered if the Colts were going to call him.
At the time, he and the Colts (8-5) were unaware that their backup rookie quarterback, Riley Leonard, had also injured his right knee during the game, making the situation even more urgent for a team struggling to stay in the NFL playoff race.
Then the phone rang.
“He said, ‘Of course I’m interested,'” said Colts head coach Shane Steichen, who worked with Rivers when they were both with the Chargers. So he thought about it overnight, and then we called him back Monday morning and he said, ‘I have to come see you and throw some passes in this stadium.’ So he came here, and he hadn’t forgotten how to throw a football. »
Steichen said it’s possible Rivers could be the starting quarterback on Sunday, depending on how things go this week.
However, Rivers has already accomplished everything in his career except winning a championship.
He finished the first part of his career among the best players in the league with more than 63,000 passing yards, more than 400 touchdown passes and 134 victories. He was named the NFL’s “Player of the Year” in 2013 and has been around long enough that the former North Carolina State star was the centerpiece of the trade that sent two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning to the New York Giants in 2004.
The big question now is what the Colts can expect from this version of Rivers.
Although he’s been practicing and throwing the ball occasionally at home, Rivers acknowledges there’s a significant difference between what he’s been doing and what he needs to do to successfully run a professional offense against one of the league’s best defenses.
And while Steichen said his playbook largely resembles the one he and Rivers used when they were with the Chargers, they still face some new developments.
It’s also heavier this time around.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” he replied when asked, prompting laughter. “It’s not what it was when I left. But I want to make it clear that I have never run away from anyone.”
