Sometimes, all you can say is, “wow.”
The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly bringing back Philip Rivers at age 44 to help salvage their 2025 season.
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After reports circulated Monday night that Rivers was being considered, the signing was announced Tuesday on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show.
BREAKING NEWS: According to my source(s) Philip Rivers WILL be signing with the Indianapolis Colts#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/tQu0GTwBmm
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 9, 2025
Rivers, who hasn’t played since the 2020 NFL season, is being added to the Colts’ practice-squad — with potential to go active — as the team squirms under the weight of season-ending injuries at quarterback.
Rivers played 17 NFL seasons between 2004 and 2020. He spent 16 years with the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers before spending one year with the Colts and then calling it a career... at least, until Tuesday’s miraculous return.
If 44 is truly just a number, then Colts fans should be delighted with this news. Rivers is an eight-time Pro Bowler, who is seventh all-time in passing yards (63,440) and sixth all-time in passing touchdowns (421).
The quarterback room in Indianapolis has been decimated by injuries in 2025.
Season-starter Daniel Jones had been playing through a fractured fibula in his left leg for several weeks, but he went down for the season with a torn Achilles tendon in his right leg in Sunday’s 36-19 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud’s draftmate, was also lost for the season when he suffered an orbital bone fracture in a pregame warmup accident back in October.
After Sunday’s loss, the presumed starter was Riley Leonard, a sixth-round rookie from Notre Dame. But now, Leonard faces competition for the starting job in a way nobody would have expected just two days ago.
The Colts started the 2025 campaign with an NFL-leading 7-1 record, but they have now dropped four of their last five games to fall to 8-5. Their freefall included a 20-16 loss to the visiting Houston Texans.
As it stands today, Rivers might only serve as a practice-squad passer and mentor for Leonard. Still, the potential for regular-season action from a man closer to qualifying for senior-citizen discounts than his 20s remains very real.
We just saw Tom Brady perform at an elite level well into his mid-40s, so positive results from Rivers would be surprising, but not completely unheard of.
It’s also worth mentioning that Rivers and his wife, Tiffany, have 10 children and at least one grandchild.
I was curious if this would make him the first active NFL quarterback to be a grandfather. Turns out, it’s happened at least once before, when Brett Favre became a grandfather during his final season in 2010. This is the kind of deep research you can trust from Michael Horton.
Even if he’s not the first QB grandpa, with 10 kids, a grandchild and an NFL playbook to learn this week, he very well might be the single busiest person on Earth. Now that eight-hour shift doesn’t feel so bad, huh?
The Texans will close out the 2025 season at home against the Colts, in a game that could very likely have AFC South or postseason implications for one or both teams.