“I Love the Game” — Philip Rivers Breaks Retirement to Help Colts With Playoffs Run
He turned 44 years old less than a week before his first game back.
Published Dec. 25 2025, 11:00 a.m. ET
NFL fans remember Philip Rivers as a mainstay with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers for the majority of his 17-year NFL career. That is, before retiring from the Indianapolis Colts in 2020, which marked the end of his tenure. Although he was away from the sport at the highest level of play for five years, he was still active as a coach for Alabama high schoolers.
That is, until he received a call to come and play for the team he ended his career on. So why did Philip Rivers come out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts?
Why did Rivers come out of retirement?
The quarterback's return to the big leagues probably wasn't on many NFL fans' bingo cards for the 2025–2026 season. According to Pro Football Network, a slew of injuries that have besieged the Colts prompted the organization to give Rivers a ring, and he took the call.
And it wasn't to be a fallback or reserve solution for the team either. Rivers was brought on to compete just a few days before the Colts took on the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 14, 2025.
And judging from Rivers's pre-game interview, it didn't sound like there was much hesitation on his part to agree to suit up for the Midwestern ball club yet again.
"I love the game. Got an opportunity. And it's just how I remember it," he shared. In the same discussion, Rivers opined on how excited he was to be part of a team again and how great it was to see some of the same players in the locker room who were there before he retired in 2020.
"I'm not here to be a hero by any means. I'm here to be one of the guys, and we know all it's gonna take," he said during the interview.
Rivers's return to the NFL didn't culminate in a win, but it's not as if he was outclassed on the field, either.
He threw for 120 yards and managed to help secure a touchdown while going 18 for 27 on throws. Jokes aside, AARP also reported on how impressive Rivers was in his return. He had just turned 44 years old less than a week before his game with the Seahawks.
On top of that, one of his 10 children is also a parent, making Rivers a grandpa. Despite that, he still displayed grit during the contest, taking hits from younger opposition and still trying to cinch a victory against the West Coast squad.
The Colts' decision to reach out to Rivers is a bid for the team to try to qualify for the playoffs. And while a loss to the Seahawks has taken them further away from this goal, their next game against San Francisco pushed them even further.
Despite the 49ers, according to Pro Football Network's Defense Impact rankings, currently ranking the club at 24th in terms of defense, didn't seem to have played a significant part in the 49ers overall record. The team currently enjoys 11 wins against 4 losses. Making them one of the better-ranked teams in the league.
The Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 28, 2025. According to the New York Times, Indianapolis has a 1 percent chance of making it to the Playoffs. Indy Star further explained what would need to happen in order for the Colts to have a shot at the Super Bowl for 2025–2026.
The Colts would need to beat the Jaguars in week 17 and the Texans in week 18. And then the Texans would need to beat Rivers's old team, the Chargers, in week 17 on Saturday, Dec. 27.