Philip Rivers, the 44-year-old grandfather, has come out of retirement to rejoin the Indianapolis Colts, five years after he last played in the NFL.
The Colts needed a quarterback quickly after two players were injured in their 36-19 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, and his replacement, rookie Riley Leonard, hurt his knee. Back-up Anthony Richardson was already out with a facial injury.
Because of this, Rivers worked out for the Colts on Monday — which was his 44th birthday — and has now been added to the practice squad. Rivers, a father of 10 and head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama, is now the oldest player in the NFL, passing Aaron Rodgers, who is 42.
Rivers spent 16 years with the Chargers before joining the Colts in 2020, leading them to an 11-5 finish and a play-off appearance. The Colts started strong this season but have dropped to 8-5 after losing three straight games. They have also promoted Brett Rypien to the active roster for their game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Rivers ranks 7th all-time in passing yards (63,440) and 6th in touchdown passes (421). Colts head coach Shane Steichen previously worked with him on the Chargers’ staff.
Interestingly, Rivers’ oldest child is two months older than Colts rookie Leonard, who trained with Rivers earlier this year in their hometown of Fairhope, Alabama.
Rivers’ return may affect his Hall of Fame eligibility. He is currently a semi-finalist for the class of 2026, but if he moves from the practice squad to the active roster, his eligibility would be pushed back to 2031.
