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12/16 05:15 CST From grandpa to gridiron: Philip Rivers' inspiring NFL return
From grandpa to gridiron: Philip Rivers' inspiring NFL return
By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
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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Behind the Call analyzes the biggest decisions in the NFL during the season.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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