From grandpa to gridiron: Philip Rivers' inspiring NFL return

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The “ Gridiron Grandpa ” thrilled both young and old alike with his return to the NFL 1,800 days after last throwing a touchdown pass.

Philip Rivers nearly helped the injury-riddled Colts (8-6) pull off the upset at Seattle, completing 18 of 27 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown with one sack and an interception in an 18-16 loss to the 11-win Seahawks.

“I was just thankful — grateful — that I was out there,” said Rivers, whose pick came on his final pass as he tried to force the ball down the field in the closing seconds. “And it was a blast — it was a blast — but obviously the emotions now are disappointment. This isn’t about me. We have a team scrapping like crazy to try and stay alive and get into the postseason.”

For much of the NFL, it was all about Rivers, who admitted he wasn't even sure how he'd play coming out of retirement as a Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist.

“There is doubt, and it’s real,” Rivers said. “The guaranteed safe bet is to go home or to not go for it, and the other one is, ‘Shoot, let’s see what happens.’ I hope in that sense that can be a positive to some young boys, or young people.”

The high school team that Rivers coaches in his native Alabama, the St. Michael Catholic Cardinals, who finished 13-1 this season, gathered at a local restaurant in Fairhope for a watch party and went wild when Rivers threw a touchdown pass to Josh Downs that put Indianapolis ahead 13-3.

And you can bet plenty of gray-haired football fans were just as thrilled as those teen-agers to see “Old Man Rivers” slinging it again and joining other sports greats who returned from retirement with less hair or more gray, including the likes of Michael Jordan, George Foreman, Mario Lemieux and Magic Johnson.

Rivers definitely has a dad bod, and last week he couldn't even tell reporters what his weight was, only that it was certainly higher than when he walked away after the 2020 season.

For nearly five years, Rivers’ seemingly final touchdown toss was caught by tight end Jack Doyle in Indy’s 27-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game on Jan. 9, 2021.

The one he threw to Downs on Sunday was Rivers' 438th career touchdown toss, counting the playoffs, and few could have been more thrilling.

Rivers was the butt of plenty of old-man jokes and the subject of innumerable social media memes after the Colts called him out of retirement to try to salvage a once-promising season that's been sabotaged by injuries, including the one to starting quarterback Daniel Jones, whose stirring comeback season ended with a torn Achilles.

Rivers did nothing to embarrass himself Sunday, not even when he slipped down without contact on one drop-back before scrambling to his feet and darting up the middle.

Rivers insisted he enjoyed the few hard hits he took from the Seahawks’ stout defense, saying, “I never minded that part of it. My wife always tells me I’m crazy because there’s been times in the last three or four years I said, ‘I wish I could just throw one and get hit — hard.’”

Tim Hasselbeck, the 47-year-old ex-NFL QB turned ESPN analyst who recently became head football coach at The Ensworth High School in Nashville, was thoroughly impressed by the way Rivers handled himself after just one short week of practice with the Colts.

“That's something that people need to understand, too,” Hasselbeck said on the “Scott Van Pelt Show,” stressing that Rivers risked not just his health but his reputation by returning to the gridiron.

“He's been out of the game for nearly five years. The risk associated with (returning to the NFL): getting hurt, tearing your knee up, blowing out an Achilles — and then more honestly — humiliating yourself by playing," Hasselbeck said. "There were risks associated with what he's doing.”

“I work with colleagues that were just flat wrong," Van Pelt concurred, "that acted like it was embarrassing that this guy was going to go do this. No, it wasn't. They lost by two points to one of the best teams in football.”

Colts coach Shane Steichen on Monday confirmed that Rivers will be the Colts' starter against the San Francisco 49ers (10-4) next Monday night.

If he stays upright and keeps the starting job, it won't get any easier for Rivers, who would have to face the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4) on a short Christmas week before a trip to Houston (9-5) to close out the regular season.

Yet, if Rivers can lead them to a couple of wins, the topsy-turvy AFC playoff picture that's missing Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow might very well feature the 44-year-old gridiron grandpa who last won a playoff game in 2018 with the then-San Diego Chargers.

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