Philip Rivers Had Legendary Line When Colts Called Him About Coming Back

Incredibly cool.

Rivers is back in the NFL after playing his most recent game in 2020. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In a thrilling development literally no one could have seen coming, Philip Rivers is back in the NFL.

His return comes as the Colts—one of Rivers' two former teams—contend with injuries to starting QB Daniel Jones, intended backup Anthony Richardson, and initial third-stringer/rookie Riley Leonard, who could technically be available this weekend but is also dealing with some pain in his knee.

Enter Rivers, whose familiarity with head coach Shane Steichen, as well as Indy's overall offense, made him a strong candidate to bulk up the room, despite his age and years out of the league. That said, the Colts didn't necessarily know what the future Hall of Famer (who will have to restart the clock on the semifinalist bid he's got cooking right now) might say when asked to come back, and on such short notice.

Well, turns out that, after a bit of thinking, he had a rather legendary reply.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, the quarterback's excitement at the prospect of rejoining the team "wasn't hard to pick up on."

“Let me get up there and throw it around a little bit,” Rivers said, per Breer's reporting, “and we’ll figure it out.”

• Editor’s note: You can read Breer's full story on Rivers' s unexpected comeback here.

Iconic.

Things went pretty swimmingly after that, as you can imagine. A few hours later, the quarterback was in Indy for a catch-up meeting followed by a 7:30 p.m. throwing session.

"The ball was jumping off Rivers’s right hand," Breer wrote of that quasi-practice. "His feet were quick. He looked sharp. Everything was checking out."

The team then gave the vet until noon on Tuesday to make the final call. And as we now know, he agreed, and officially signed with the Colts' practice squad on Wednesday morning. There is even a possibility that he starts this weekend.

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