Chargers Legend Almost Joined NFC Powerhouse as Quarterback Contingency

In a shocking development this week, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan almost pulled off an unthinkable move last year.

After rotating through quarterback injuries all season long, had the Niners made the Super Bowl, Shanahan mentioned the team would've lured former Chargers QB Philip Rivers out of retirement to play the big game.

"He was prepared to. Now that's stuff we talked about throughout the whole year. We would've had to have seen how that was for the Super Bowl, but that was the plan most of the year."

(

via Nick Wagoner, ESPN

)

Talk about coming out of left field. Rivers' last NFL memory was with the Colts in their own scramble for a signal caller after the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck.

Falling short against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card game, Rivers decided to call it a career after a long stint with the Chargers and his final year in Indianapolis.

Rivers gave his take on the situation and said he was never going to go anywhere.

"I heard from a couple of teams, just kind of checking in,"

Rivers told AL.com

. "I didn't contact anyone and I'm not going anywhere. I think maybe some teams, with some guys going down, may have been just looking for a contingency plan."

(via Nick Wagoner, ESPN)

One of, if not the best, quarterbacks to never play in a Super Bowl, Rivers would've had a great chance to do so if the 49ers could overcome the eventual NFC champion Eagles in last year's postseason.

San Francisco's chances to win the conference crown were quickly dashed as rookie sensation Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury midway through the game.

Gashed on the ground by Philadelphia's ground game all afternoon long, things only got worse for the team from the Bay when backup QB Josh Johnson suffered a concussion.

Keep in mind that the team had already lost Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance to season-ending leg injuries, respectively, and Christian McCaffery had to play emergency QB snaps.

It would've been really fun to see the former NC State and Charger legend slinging it across the field to Deebo Samuel and George Kittle for a chance at Super Bowl glory, but sometimes things are too good to be true.