Legendary Former NC State Quarterback Stars on Monday Night Football
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RALEIGH — For two weeks in December, the NC State community was captivated by one of its favorite former quarterbacks, shocking the NFL world. Philip Rivers, now 44, came out of a five-year retirement to try to help the Indianapolis Colts save their season after losing starting quarterback Daniel Jones for the season.
Rivers, NC State's career passing yards leader to this day, led the Colts onto the field for a Monday Night Football matchup against the playoff-bound San Francisco 49ers for one last-ditch effort to save his team's season and keep it in the playoff hunt for the final two weeks of the year. While the Colts came up short, Rivers turned back the clock and gave Wolfpack and NFL fans a vintage performance.
Rivers' Monday Night performance
NC State’s favorite grandpa dealing early on Monday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/LWOVs2ZteF
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) December 23, 2025
With the Colts on the brink of elimination, Rivers entered the game knowing he'd need to throw the ball to keep them alive. The gunslinger came out doing just that, firing short passes for completions all the way down the field on the first drive of the night. While the velocity was never Rivers' strength, he hit his receivers with perfectly timed passes and finished the drive with a 20-yard pass for a touchdown.
The 49ers torched the Colts' defense, however, despite the best efforts of a fellow former NC State player, linebacker Germaine Pratt. He finished with four solo tackles in the loss. The shootout nature of the game meant Rivers had to throw the ball more consistently, and he battled to keep his team in the fight for as long as he could.
Rivers, an ultimate competitor, just wanted to be in the mix again. He proved, despite being a grandfather already, that he could still compete with some of the best athletes in the world despite being five seasons removed from the NFL. He finished what is presumably his final professional outing completing 23 of 35 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with an interception mixed in.
"There's no prize for losing," Rivers told The Associated Press. "I know this locker room is hurting again. I’ve been part of it for a short time, two losses, and I know it’s been a long slide now for over a month. I know that’s tough because I’ve been part of those slides. We’ve just got to find a way to dig deep and find a way to win a football game.”
Despite the loss, 44-year-old Philip Rivers left it all out there 👏
— ESPN (@espn) December 23, 2025
The veteran continues to inspire since returning to the NFL after a nearly five-year retirement 🙌 pic.twitter.com/TLjdF2mFrD
The NC State community wasn't the only part of Rivers' life consumed by the quarterback's comeback. Rivers' entire family sat together in a luxury box at Lucas Oil Stadium, taking in Monday Night Football likely one last time.
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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