{"id":648947,"date":"2026-01-02T20:31:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T20:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/648947\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T20:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T20:31:16","slug":"philip-rivers-says-return-to-nfl-over-after-colts-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/648947\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip Rivers says return to NFL over after Colts season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Philip Rivers\u2019 fairytale return to the NFL will end this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The Colts quarterback told Kay Adams on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CpU9lk5SJy8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Up &amp; Adams<\/a>\u201d earlier this week that he will consider himself officially finished as a pro following Indianapolis\u2019 tilt with the Texans on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am,\u201d he said of finishing his career. \u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 44-year-old explained he actually intended on being fully retired following the 2020 season, but the Colts\u2019 unique situation was just too perfect for him to pass up.<\/p>\n<p>He added that there\u2019s simply no way another one like it comes around again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said to someone if \u2014 I just made up a team, I don\u2019t mean the Chicago Bears or the Minnesota Vikings, but had someone like that called, there\u2019s no chance,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause [Indianapolis] was a place I had been, a team I was familiar with. The offense was exactly the same. The coach (Shane Steichen) I knew. It was all those things. Our football season was over. It was all those things just made it kind of the perfect storm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38079328\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/indianapolis-colts-quarterback-philip-rivers-117961876.jpg\" alt=\"Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) looks for an open receiver.\" class=\"wp-image-38079328\"  \/>Philip Rivers started three games for the Colts this season. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Rivers said\u00a0his main priority now is his head coaching role at St. Michael Catholic High School\u00a0in Alabama.<\/p>\n<p>Two of his sons will be on next season\u2019s team, and he won\u2019t miss out on that to be under center in the NFL again.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNeed West Coast news? The California Post is coming soon.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet in early. Sign up for our weekly newsletter before our 2026 launch.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m back to the sideline,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cThis was a fun, three-week blurb that nobody saw coming, including myself. And that\u2019ll be it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rivers joined the Colts in Week 15 following injuries to quarterbacks Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard.<\/p>\n<p>He made his first start against the Seahawks, and then suited up twice more in the following weeks against the Niners and Jaguars.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38079333\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/stands-field-nfl-football-game-117775770.jpg\" alt=\"Philip Rivers on the field after an NFL football game.\" class=\"wp-image-38079333\"  \/>Philip Rivers came out of retirement to join the Colts in Week 15. AP<\/p>\n<p>He totaled 58 completions for 544 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/30\/sports\/philip-rivers-storybook-colts-return-is-over-after-three-games\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in the three games<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rivers is expected to be a backup in the Colts\u2019 finale this weekend, as Leonard has been named the starter with Indy officially eliminated from the postseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Philip Rivers\u2019 fairytale return to the NFL will end this weekend. The Colts quarterback told Kay Adams on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[1443,2005,7,2004,392,2381,9892,6,3725,9,203],"class_list":{"0":"post-648947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-indianapoliscolts","14":"tag-kay-adams","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-philip-rivers","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-sports-media"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115827407943717008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}