It's 2025, and quarterback Philip Rivers is on the brink of playing in an NFL game again. Rivers reunited with the Colts this week after being signed to the team's practice squad and will now look to make the active roster ahead of Week 15's game against the Seahawks.
It's safe to say few could have foretold Rivers's unlikely NFL return—not even the man himself.
Rivers played his final season with the Colts in 2020, and at his opening press conference the then 39-year-old was asked how long he intended to play.
Rivers responded, "I'm not going to get carried away. I don't think you'll see me in the Tom Brady range."
When Philip Rivers arrived in Indy in 2020, the 39-year-old QB was asked at his opening press conference how long he planned to play.
— Jim Ayello (@jimayello) December 9, 2025
"I’m not going to get carried away. I don’t think you’ll see me in the Tom Brady range."
Rivers is 44. Tom Brady retired (for good) at 45.
Rivers, who just recently turned 44, might just have to eat those words. If the Chargers legend takes the field Sunday, he'll be one year younger than when the 45-year-old Brady played his final NFL season with the Buccaneers in 2022.
Here's the full context of what Rivers said of his playing future, courtesy of Colts.com:
"If I feel like I feel right now next year, then I'll be excited to keep going. Again, depending on how the team feels about that and etc. So, I don't know, I don't have a number on it. Like I said, I want to coach my son, my oldest son. I have two boys that are 12 and eight (years old). He'll be a sixth grader, so we have a little bit of time but that is important to me to coach him in high school. So, if that gives you a little idea.
"I'm not going to get carried away. I don't think you'll see me in the Tom Brady range. But I am excited and feel like I can still help a football team go win a championship."
Since retiring from the league in 2021 following his one-and-done season with the Colts, Rivers has spent some time coaching his children's football teams, but a return to the NFL could have still been lingering in the back of his mind. JJ Watt shared that Rivers ran the same offense as the Colts for one of his son's high school football teams this season, and that Rivers and Colts coach Shane Steichen have been in frequent contact.
Rivers and the Colts reportedly discussed a previous return back in 2021, but nothing came of it. It looks like Rivers's NFL comeback is very much real this time around, with the 44-year-old on the precipice of making some cool NFL history as one of the "oldies." Rivers could be just the fifth quarterback ever to start a game at age 44 or older, joining the likes of Brady, Vinny Testaverde, Steve DeBerg and Warren Moon. Let's just hope Rivers's un-retirement doesn't give Brady any funny ideas.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Philip Rivers's 2020 Line About Tom Brady Didn't Age Well After NFL Return .
