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Philip Rivers Had the Funniest Celebration After Throwing His First TD in Five Years

Rivers is officially back.

Ryan Phillips

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers broke out a wild celebration after throwing his first touchdown pass in almost five years.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers broke out a wild celebration after throwing his first touchdown pass in almost five years. / Steven-Imagn Images
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Philip Rivers is back.

The 44-year-old former retiree is quarterbacking the Colts on Sunday and, frankly, looking pretty good doing it. Rivers hasn’t been on an NFL field in five seasons, but he’s looked surprisingly competent on Sunday against the Seahawks.

At halftime, Rivers had completed 10-of-16 passes for 82 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also had a ridiculous celebration when he had that touchdown pass.

The Indianapolis led Seattle 6-3 with 1:33 left in the second quarter while facing third-and-4 from the Seahawks’ 8-yard line. Rivers dropped back to pass and hit Josh Downs on a crossing route, and he walked right into the end zone.

It was Rivers’s first touchdown pass since January 9, 2021, during a 27-24 playoff loss to the Bills. That’s a cool 1,800 days between touchdown tosses.

In classic Philip Rivers fashion, the celebration didn’t disappoint. It is below for your viewing pleasure.

That is the 422nd touchdown of his career.

Rivers wasn’t the only one pumped up by the score. The high school team he coaches in Fairhope, Ala., was watching and went absolutely nuts.

The eight-time Pro Bowler just finished his fifth season as the head coach at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, and the Cardinals went 13-1 this season, while going 6-0 in their league. In his time as the school’s head coach, Rivers’s teams have gone 44-16 and 25-9 in league games. Over the past two seasons, the Cardinals have combined to go 25-3.

Philip Rivers career numbers

Entering Sunday, Rivers was one of the most statistically prolific quarterbacks in NFL history.

During his 17-year career, Rivers had completed 64.9% of his passes for 63,440 yards, with 421 touchdowns, 209 interceptions, and a passer rating of 95.2.

He ranks seventh in passing yards, sixth in passing touchdowns, ninth in completions, and 12th in passing yards per game (260.0).

Some of those numbers are likely to change over the next few weeks as the veteran plays in what is his 18th NFL season.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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