Philip Rivers made his NFL return yesterday with the Indianapolis Colts after a five-year absence. He performed better than expected, throwing for 120 yards, a touchdown, and just one interception. More importantly, he gave the team a chance to win against the Seattle Seahawks on the road… a wild outcome few expected before the game.
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And who better to talk to about Rivers coming out of retirement than Brett Favre? Favre himself extended his own career well past when many fans thought he was done. He understands what it is like to be on the outside looking in when a quarterback in his mid-40s is still playing in the NFL.
When the former Packer first heard the news about Rivers, like many, he thought it was fake. He’d never heard of a player coming out so deep into retirement to play again. But when he thought about it, the move actually made sense.
“44 today is not as old as it was 20-30 years ago,” Favre said on his podcast. “Because the quarterbacks don’t get hit as much, and they’re protected a lot better. So, that’s probably encouraging to him to come back. But it’s going to be interesting.”
It’s a great point that definitely could’ve encouraged Rivers to make a return. Nowadays, teams can be penalized for hitting a QB too high, too low, too late, or even too hard. It’s a different landscape and set of rules than when Favre and Rivers played in the 2000s and 2010s.
Still, Favre acknowledged that Rivers’ long absence from the game would weigh on him. “I’m sure not being hit in 5-6 years is going to be looming in the back of his mind,” he noted.
Favre also urged Rivers not to take a lot of hits because a concussion is never a good thing, especially at his age.
“We know a lot more about concussions. Maybe not to the extent that we need to, but we know that they’re certainly not good, especially at an older age. So, going into the game, you don’t wanna get hit, especially when you haven’t been hit in 5 years. But you definitely don’t want to get a concussion,” Favre added.
The good news is that Rivers came out of the contest with his health intact. Furthermore, he and the Colts weren’t trailing in the game until 2:27 left in the fourth quarter. That’s right, somehow, the 44-year-old almost held the lead for the entire game against one of the game’s best defenses.
Even after the Colts gave up the lead, Rivers led an immediate drive that got them into field goal range to take the lead back. But they left 47 seconds on the clock, which was too much time. The Seahawks worked into field goal range and kicked the game-winner with 18 seconds left in the game. Rivers then threw an interception on the ensuing drive to end it, 18-16.
All in all, it was a valiant effort from Old Man Rivers. Nobody expected him to play as well as he did on Sunday, and he almost came away with a win. But like Favre said, old age isn’t as old today as it was years ago. Due to the modern-day rules that protect QBs, we’ve seen more older players succeed at the position in recent years.
