Come Sunday night, NFL fans might be debating whether Philip Rivers looked more like a father or a grandfather during his return to action for the Indianapolis Colts after five years of retirement.
The 44-year-old is preparing to start at quarterback for the Colts against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon after injuries to Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson left the franchise scrambling for emergency options this week. Rivers is a father of 10 and became a grandfather last year.
It’s an unprecedented situation. Rivers goes from coaching high school ball to starting in the NFL in the short span of one week. And as much as someone might believe they’ve stayed in game shape while out of the league for five years, it’s a different animal once the ball is snapped and 300-pound men are barreling down on you.
And as CBS’s The NFL Today crew caught their first glimpses of Rivers on the field warming up for Sunday’s game, it didn’t take long for one analyst to point out the obvious: Rivers looks more like a dad than an NFL quarterback.
Phillip Rivers is getting ready to go 👀 pic.twitter.com/kALVPaXHvO
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 14, 2025
“He’s taking a look at that call sheet, going through the plays one more time, maybe a little bit of visualization right there,” Matt Ryan, who spent the last season of his career in Indianapolis, said as CBS aired shots of Rivers on the field. “I think also, this is actually settling in. It’s all hypothetical. There’s been talk all week. Now he knows. This game is a few hours away and he’s going through that mindset of getting himself ready to compete which is one of the things he’s done as well as anybody throughout his career.”
“I mean this with the most amount of respect, because I am a guy with one. He got dad bod energy right there,” Nate Burleson chimed in.
Everyone was thinking it, but Burleson actually had the gall to say it.
We’ll extend Philip Rivers a little grace until he actually takes the field Sunday afternoon. Maybe he’ll shock the world. But his 44-year-old physique isn’t exactly inspiring confidence as the Colts try to right the shift after falling to 8-5 on the season.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.