Quarterback Philip Rivers returns to the NFL at age 44 : NPR

In July, former quarterback Philip Rivers was asked if he could still play an NFL game, during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.

“Oh yeah. I’m a little heavier than I was, but I could get through a game,” Rivers replied, adding with a laugh. “Now, I may need a wheelchair the next morning.”

But now the sports world is absorbing the news that Rivers, a grandfather at age 44, has signed a practice contract with the Indianapolis Colts. The team recently lost its starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, for the rest of the season, due to injury, endangering its playoff hopes.

Here are some key numbers that provide some context into Rivers’ return:

21: Years since Rivers’ first season.

“I mean, that’s pretty ridiculous to think,” says Seth Wickersham, a senior writer at ESPN. But Wickersham also says the idea of Rivers returning isn’t as wild as it sounds.

Rivers doesn’t have the speed of younger athletes, but that was never part of his game. But what Rivers does have, Wickersham says, is a very particular set of skills.

“Against, you know, all logic, sanity and reason, the NFL has kind of become an old man’s game for quarterbacks.”

For one thing, veterans like Rivers have proven they can quickly understand game situations. And today’s quarterbacks don’t get hit as much, if they stay in the pocket rather than scramble around. This season, similar circumstances allowed another 40-something quarterback, Joe Flacco, to return to the NFL to help the Cincinnati Bengals after Joe Burrow was injured.

10: Children in Philip and Tiffany Rivers’ family. On Wednesday, Rivers said they’re thrilled, nervous and a bit surprised about the idea of him playing in the NFL again.

“My 6-year-old actually asked me like 4 months ago, like, ‘Dad, why don’t you play anymore?’ ” Rivers said in a news conference. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. The best you’re gonna get is me coaching on the sideline.’ “

8: Pro Bowl appearances for Rivers, who maintained elite stats while spending most of his career with the Chargers, from 2004 until 2019. (The team moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017.)

5: Years of a waiting before a Hall of Fame induction. With his strong résumé, Rivers “was always going to get in on what’s called the first ballot, which is the first year that he’s eligible,” Wickersham says. If Rivers joins the active roster, his Hall of Fame candidacy would reset.

0: Number of playoff appearances by the Colts since Rivers spent the 2020 season with the team following the surprise retirement of Andrew Luck. Indianapolis reached the playoffs with Rivers, but lost to the Buffalo Bills in January 2021.

240: Consecutive regular season starts by Rivers, the second most for any quarterback. It’s a sign of both stamina and smarts, Wickersham says: “You don’t play football for that many games in a row if you’re getting hit all the time.”

14: Current Colts players that Rivers says were on the team when he was last there.

“The teammates that I was able to play with, shoot, 14 of them are still here,” he said on Wednesday. “Training room is the same. PR guys are the same. Equipment room is the same. They wanted me. I try to keep it as simple as that.”

32: Number of NFL starting quarterbacks. And during his career, not many of them could do what Rivers did — and might still do.

“There’s 16,000 starting quarterbacks in high school every year. There’s 858 in college at the highest level,” Wickersham says. “There’s 32 starters in the NFL. There’s 10 good ones and there’s three great ones, give or take, in a year.”

“There are very few guys like Philip Rivers,” he adds. “So if anyone can come off of the street and deliver a couple of wins and help this team make the playoffs, he’s one of the few guys that could do it.”

2: The number of Indianapolis star athletes who have torn their Achilles tendons this year, at key moments. First there was the Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, knocked out of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Months later, the Colts lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones — who had already been “playing through” a broken fibula.

“It’s just another stinging moment for Indianapolis sports,” says Samantha Horton, of member station WFYI.

For the city’s fans, she says, “I think some of them are just hopeful that … a dream of even seeing the playoffs can remain alive this year.”

For the Colts, that dream might depend on what Rivers can still do.

“It’s been heartbreaking for this to happen to Indy fans especially after the Pacers’ run,” Colts fan Grace Branson says. “The Colts were off to a great and hopeful start. I’m glad that Rivers is familiar with this offense so it gives me some hope and confidence for the rest of the season.”

WFYI’s Samantha Horton contributed to this story.