Colts put Philip Rivers on roster for Sunday’s game, completing NFL return for 44-year-old grandfather
By Kevin Dotson, CNN
(CNN) — The Indianapolis Colts announced Saturday that Philip Rivers has been signed to the team’s 53-man active roster ahead of a Sunday showdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
The 44-year-old Rivers joined the Colts’ practice squad earlier in the week following a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Daniel Jones.
Multiple NFL insiders are reporting that Rivers will start the game under center for Indianapolis, but the Colts are playing it close to the vest for now.
“Our team won’t officially announce a starter before kickoff tomorrow,” Colts spokesman Matt Conti told CNN on Saturday.
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.
“I had not given any thought of playing again until about 48 hours ago, to be honest with you,” a candid Rivers said Wednesday while standing in front of a group of reporters at the Indianapolis Colts facility.
Rivers – now a grandfather – had been enjoying retirement, keeping busy as a high school football coach in Fairhope, Alabama, when the unexpected call came from the Colts.
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. Now that he’s been added to the Colts’ active roster, his eligibility will get pushed back another five years.
Indianapolis was in desparate shape after a rash of injuries ravaged their quarterbacks room.
Jones was out with a torn right Achilles. Riley Leonard is nursing a knee injury. Anthony Richardson, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this season, still is not cleared to return. The Colts have also signed Brett Rypien to the active roster from their practice squad.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen – who worked with Rivers as an assistant coach when they were with the Chargers – was instrumental in the long-shot plan to bring Rivers back the NFL after nearly five years away.
After sleeping on the offer, Rivers decided to come work out with the team and see how he felt.
“So he came in here, threw – he didn’t forget how to throw a football,” Steichen said Wednesday. “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.’”
For Rivers, this opportunity with this team at this time just felt right.
“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.”
Rivers still has his trademark gunslinger’s swagger, but even he is not sure how this story will end.
“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.”
As for his children, he says they too have been supportive of his return.
“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?’
The answer will come when the Colts and Seahawks kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET.
CNN’s Jill Martin contributed to this report.
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