Why Philip Rivers Is Retiring for Good After Improbable Three-Game Stint With Colts

The 44-year-old Rivers is hanging up the cleats and heading back to the sidelines.

Rivers, after four years away from the game, unretired and returned for a three-game stint with the Colts. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

After four years away from the game, Philip Rivers, 44 years young, unretired and returned to the NFL with the quarterback-needy Colts, whose signal-caller depth chart was riddled with injury at a pivotal moment with Indianapolis in the midst of a playoff race. But with the Colts reeling off of six straight losses and eliminated from playoff contention, Rivers's run came to an end, as Indianapolis on Tuesday announced it intended to start rookie Riley Leonard in the Week 18 season finale on Sunday against the Texans.

The end of Rivers's improbable three-game run as a starter for the Colts is also the end of his pro football career, as Rivers on Wednesday confirmed during an appearance on The Up & Adams Show.

Philip Rivers is retiring. pic.twitter.com/V9FSocYJyJ

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) January 1, 2026

Rivers went on to explain why he's calling it quits.

“I’ve got a son that will be a senior on the St. Michael's football team,” Rivers said. “We got beat in the semifinals two years in a row. It’ll be his senior year and I’m looking forward to it. My second son will be a ninth grader so they’ll be on the same team together, so it’ll be fun to get back. The boys back home at the school are excited.”

Rivers, the head coach and offensive coordinator for the St. Michael's Catholic High School in Fairhope, Al., came out of retirement roughly two weeks after the end of the high school's football season and just days after 2025 starter Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles. With backup Riley Leonard at the time nursing a right knee injury and 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson on injured reserve, the Colts were in a tight spot and turned to Rivers, who was familiar with coach Shane Steichen's offense from his days with the Chargers, with whom Steichen rose from a quality control coach to QBs coach to offensive coordinator during Rivers's tenure there.

It was this connection with Steichen, as well as Rivers's familiarity with the Colts organization as a whole, that enabled his incredible return—and also makes the future Pro Football Hall of Famer sure of his decision to retire for good.

“Everything just lined up just right,” Rivers said. “...It was a place I’d been, a team I was familiar with, the offense was exactly the same, a coach I knew, it was all those things, our football season was over, all those things made it the perfect storm.”

Rivers said his mother even asked him if he'd consider returning next year, but he remained firm on his stance.

“I’m back to the sideline,” Rivers said. “This was a fun three-week blur that nobody saw coming, including myself. And that’ll be it.”

Rivers made three starts for the Colts, completing 63% of his passes for 544 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Despite the Colts' 0-3 record in his starts, Rivers, working with limited arm strength and mobility, largely took care of the ball and kept Indianapolis in the game. Sixth on the all-time touchdown passes list and eighth on the career passing yards list, Rivers is a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame, though he won't be eligible for Canton consideration until the Class of 2031.

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