Philip Rivers had a crazy week.
First, on Monday, December 8, the "retired" Catholic father of 10 and grandfather of one flew in from Alabama to Indiana for a workout with the Indianapolis Colts. (That day was his 44th birthday, to boot.)
On Tuesday, he was signed to the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad after a myriad of injuries to their other quarterbacks left the team scrambling. Then, on Saturday, the Colts announced that Rivers would be the starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.
While the Colts would go on to lose that game 18 to 16, Rivers threw a touchdown and played remarkably well for someone who has been out of the NFL for nearly five years. In fact, he became just the second grandfather ever to throw a touchdown pass in the NFL. (Brett Favre was the first.)
But perhaps nobody was more excited to watch Rivers' return to the NFL than the football team at St. Michael Catholic High School from Fairhope, Alabama. Rivers has coached the team since 2021, and they had a watch party. During his tenure at St. Michael Catholic High School, Rivers has led the team to the state playoffs and nurtured their spiritual lives.
Noah Moss, one of Rivers' players at St. Michael, recorded their reactions when Rivers threw his first touchdown pass in 1,800 days. It's safe to say they were just a little excited for their coach.
Watch here:
Sons, players, inspired Philip Rivers to return to NFL
After the game, an emotional Rivers spoke to the media and explained why he decided to return to the NFL after five years. Part of the reason, he said, was to inspire his players and his sons to do things that scare them.
"Hopefully, I think of my sons and those ball players that I'm in charge of at the school, they'll say like, 'Crap, coach wasn't scared,'" he said.
“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.”
