‘Dadgummit, let’s freaking go’ – Philip Rivers returns to the NFL with Colts

FILE - Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Buffalo Bills, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File)

“I had not given any thought of playing again until about 48 hours ago, to be honest with you,” a candid Philip Rivers said while standing in front of a group of reporters at the Indianapolis Colts facility.

But there he was, at the age of 44 – and now a grandfather, at that – talking to the media Wednesday after being signed to the team’s practice squad.

Rivers retired from the NFL in January 2021, after 17 seasons in the league, having spent his final year with the Colts during a challenging Covid-19 season. And in a crazy turn of events, he might suit up as soon as Sunday.

Things have changed a bit since Rivers last wore a Colts uniform in 2020. The NFL season is now 17 regular-season games – and the press conferences are in person once again rather than on Zoom.

Rivers, coaching high school football in Fairhope, Alabama, had been nowhere near an NFL facility.

But it turns out the Colts, who originally showed much promise when they started the season 7-1, are now sitting at 8-5 and riddled with injuries. They needed help at quarterback – and fast.

Starter Daniel Jones is out, suffering a season-ending torn right Achilles. Riley Leonard has a knee injury. Anthony Richardson, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this season, still is not clear to return. Brett Rypien has been signed to the active roster.

So Colts head coach Shane Steichen – who worked with Rivers as an assistant coach when they were with the Chargers – picked up the phone. Steichen told reporters that Rivers – sixth all time in passing touchdowns and seventh all time in passing yards – said he was interested, then he slept on it.

“Called him back Monday morning. He said, ‘I need to get up there, need to get up there and throw, get in that building, start moving around,’” Steichen said Rivers told him.

“So he came in here, threw – he didn’t forget how to throw a football. … Then Tuesday, he was in the hotel thinking it over. He called us, me and (Colts general manager) Chris (Ballard) were in the office, said, ‘What do you think?’

“He said, ‘Dadgummit, let’s freaking go.’”

Rivers indicated that this opportunity felt right: He was familiar with Steichen and the Colts’ offense – he was calling the same plays while coaching high schoolers. Indianapolis, where he played one season after spending his first 16 with the Chargers, is where his NFL career ended.

Or so he thought at the time.

“They wanted me,” Rivers said of the Colts on Wednesday. “I try to keep it as simple as that. A game I love to play. A game that I thought I was done playing. Certainly, I wasn’t really hanging on any hope of playing again. I kind of thought that ship had sailed.

“But something about it excited me. Just kind of one of those deals - a door opens and you can either walk through and find out if you can do it or run from it. I know that there’s risk involved obviously in what may or may not happen. But the only way to find out is to go for it.”

‘Dad, do you think you can do it?’

Rivers was asked how his family reacted to the news.

“I think like all of us, even me, I mean, you’re a little scared, a little nervous,” Rivers said. “I mean, all the above. Any adjective you can throw in there that’s a synonym with those. But excited.

“I think my wife’s been my biggest fan the whole time I’ve played, and she’s nervous about the physical aspect of it, as you would expect any wife to.”

“But, shoot, I mean for 250 games or whatever it was,” Rivers said (it was 244 regular-season games and 12 playoff games, for the record), “that was a risk, you know, as you see every week.

“Whether you’re 24 and in the best shape of your life or whether you’re 44 and not so sure, anything can happen. That has never been a concern of mine, and you never hope something like that, or expect something like that to happen.”

“But shoot,” Rivers added. “(If) something like that happens, I got a long time to recover, that’s for sure,” leading to laughs in the media room.

As for his children, he says they too have been supportive of his return.

“(My younger children) are excited because they don’t remember Dad playing,” Rivers said. “You know, my 6-year-old actually asked me like four months ago, like, ‘Dad, why don’t you play anymore?’ And I’m like, ‘God, I’m sorry. The best you’re going to get is me coaching on the sideline.’ Because they were seeing, you know, a highlight or they’re pulling up some old games.

“My boys are fired up, obviously, but I think share the same sentiment – a little nervous like, ‘Dad, do you think you can do it?’

“And then my older girls are real excited because they’re a little bit confused. They’re like, ‘Shoot, I was 12,’ you know, some of them. Now, all of a sudden, they’re grown adults, married, and they remember 16 years old going to the ballgame.

“So it’s been a whirlwind of 48 hours I’ll say, but each moment that goes by I feel more and more confident. I really do.”

Hall of Fame consideration ‘not a factor’

Steichen called signing Rivers “a full circle moment,” calling the quarterback one of the smartest players he’s ever been around and that “the way he sees the game is on a whole different level.”

“For him to come back and want to do this at 44 years old, I think is incredible, and I know he’s going to give everything to this organization that he has,” Steichen said.

Rivers was approaching a potential spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility – having been recently named a semifinalist. If he’s added to the Colts active roster, his eligibility will get pushed back another five years.

“Missing the Hall of Fame, it’s a real honor to be mentioned with those other 25 guys, certainly, but I’m not holding my breath on that,” Rivers said. “I hadn’t been counting down the years. I mean, with all respect to the Hall, and if one day I can be a part of that group, it will be special, no question about it. But the extension of time, if that comes to be, was not a factor in my thinking.”

Jill Martin, CNN