Three Facts That Make Philip Rivers's Potential NFL Comeback With Colts Even More Wild

Ryan Phillips | 3 Hours Ago

The Indianapolis Colts have signed quarterback Philip Rivers to their practice squad. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Philip Rivers is back.

On Tuesday, the Colts signed the 44-year-old quarterback to their practice squad for the stretch run of the season. With Daniel Jones out for the season after tearing his Achilles, and Riley Leonard dealing with a knee injury, Indianapolis’ bench got really thin, really fast. Enter Rivers.

Rivers and Colts head coach Shane Steichen worked together with the Chargers from 2011 to ‘12, then again from 2014 to ‘19. Steichen was Rivers’s position coach, then became his interim offensive coordinator in 2019. Rivers is currently the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, and his team runs the Colts’ offense.

Despite his age, there are many reasons this fit makes sense.

Rivers played 17 NFL seasons, 16 with the Chargers and one with the Colts. He was an eight-time Pro Bowler who still ranks in the top 10 in passing touchdowns (421), passing yards (63,440), and completions (5,277). Now he’s back for one more run.

Despite all the reasons this might make sense for the Colts, here are three reasons why this is still crazy.

He’s a grandfather

You read that right, Rivers recently became a grandfather. The eight-time Pro Bowler has 10 children, and one of them recently gave birth. It’s worth noting, his oldest daughter, Halle, was born in July 2002, so she’s 23 years old. That makes her older than Leonard, who was born on September 13, 2002.

Rivers would not be the first grandfather in the NFL, or even the first quarterback in recent memory to be one. Brett Favre’s daughter, Brittany, gave birth to a baby boy in 2010 while her father was still active with the Vikings. That occurred months before Favre’s final NFL season.

He’s a Hall of Fame semifinalist this year

Rivers has been out of the NFL so long that he could have made the Hall of Fame this year. Rules state that a player must be retired for a full five seasons before they are eligible, while coaches must be retired for one season, and there is no waiting period for contributors. River retired after the 2020 season.

There is a pretty big caveat here. If Rivers remains on the practice squad and isn’t on the active roster or promoted to the game-day roster, he’d still be eligible for the Hall of Fame. That’s a crucial detail because he’s actually a semifinalist this year, but if he got on the active roster, his clock would reset, and he wouldn’t be eligible until 2031.

Rivers has long been a mentor to Riley Leonard

Rivers is currently coaching in Fairhope, Ala. That’s where Leonard is from, and Rivers has mentored the young quarterback for years. Leonard went to Fairhope High School, where he became a star quarterback before heading to Duke, then Notre Dame. Now he’ll be sharing a locker room with Rivers.

It’s pretty crazy that one of Leonard’s backups is old enough to be a true mentor for him. Leonard is 23, Rivers is 44 and, given how early and rapidly the latter began having kids, it could be a father-son relationship.

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