At the age of 44 and nearly five years removed from his last NFL snap, Philip Rivers comes out of retirement to try to get the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs.
It’s an absurd situation, created by the Colts’ loss of Daniel Jones to a torn Achilles tendon and additional injuries to backups Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson. This is something almost unprecedented in the NFL. Even a good start would make Rivers, a grandfather, part of NFL history.
Advertisement
So naturally, Tom Brady, 48, thinks he could do it too. There’s only one thing holding him back.
The New England Patriots great discussed the return of his longtime quarterback counterpart on Fox Sports’ “The Herd” Thursday. Asked if he could get off the couch and, with a passing knowledge of the offense, generate drives in an NFL game this weekend, Brady responded in the affirmative while poking fun at his own return from retirement:
“Yes, I certainly could. But first of all, who retires, then doesn’t retire and then finally goes to retire again? Who does that? It’s ridiculous of Philip to do that. But good for him, I’m glad he does it.
“I think the answer for me would be yes. I’m not allowed to anymore because I’m a minority owner of the Raiders, so I can’t unretire, but I’m very excited to see Philip play because I think it’s very cool.”
Brady is correct in that the only way he could remove a Rivers would be to sell his stake in the Raiders. The NFL explicitly prohibits its players from owning stock in franchises, and some teams are already nervous enough about Brady working as a broadcaster for Fox while owning stock in a team.
So it seems like we’ll never get to see if Brady can prove himself right.
Of course, Tom Brady thinks he could still play in the NFL. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
(Patrick Smith via Getty Images)
Brady, who played in the NFL until age 45, was generally optimistic about Rivers’ chances of success if he gets a start for the Colts:
“It shows how much he loves the game and what he’s still capable of doing. This game is, for the quarterback, from the neck down. We used to say at Michigan, the mental is to the physical like four to one at the quarterback position. It doesn’t really go away. It’s still up there.
“Do you still have the physical ability to do it, to take the hits, to make the throws, to make the drops, to gain some time in the pocket? If Philip has practiced those things, then we’re all going to see it on full display in Seattle on Sunday afternoon.”
It’s still unclear whether Rivers or the returning Leonard will get the start for the Colts against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Because Rivers is technically on the practice squad, Indianapolis should bring him up before the game if he wants to play.
