44-year-old grandfather Philip Rivers made his second start with the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, and while it was in a 48-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Rivers actually played quite well.
Mind-blowingly well, even, when considering that his job was being a high school football coach before he shockingly signed with the Colts on Dec. 10. Rivers completed 23-of-35 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
And on Tuesday night, Inside the NFL released footage from NFL Films of Rivers mic’d up in the game.
Philip Rivers showed off his fiery, yet very polite (unless you consider “bullcrap” vulgar) personality in the high-quality mic’d up footage.
Philip Rivers is back to being mic’d up and we’re all better for it.@insidetheNFL Week 16 Mic’d Up on X pic.twitter.com/FthDIPlTL3
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2025
“Hey!” Rivers said to an official after a penalty against the Colts’ offense. “That’s bullcrap! That’s bullcrap! Don’t start that! Hey! Don’t start that mess!”
“Boom!” Rivers exclaimed after a 20-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce on the game’s opening drive. “Let’s stinkin’ go! Stinkin’ go! Heck yeah, baby! Let’s go! Daggum it! Stinkin’ go, baby!”
Rivers’ one big mistake in the game came on a pick-six in the fourth quarter. With Indianapolis trailing 41-27 with under four minutes remaining, Rivers threw a pass that was intercepted by 49ers linebacker Dee Winters and returned 75 yards for a San Francisco touchdown.
After the game, Rivers sought out Winters to congratulate the linebacker on the play and to find out what led to the interception.
Philip Rivers made the effort to find Dee Winters to congratulate him on the Pick-6. Respect.@insidetheNFL Week 16 Mic’d Up on X pic.twitter.com/QZeR9MeG7Y
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2025
“Good play, man,” Rivers told Winters.
Rivers then asked Winters, “Hey, you knew it from the earlier check?”
“Hell yeah,” Winters said. “I did!”
Former NFL star linebacker Luke Kuechly also picked up on that and called the play before Philip Rivers snapped the ball while serving as an analyst on the ESPN MNF Playbook altcast.
“Golly,” Rivers responded to Winters.
“I heard you check and you hit him over there,” Winters explained.
“I know; I hit him on that side,” Rivers said. “Good play.”
That’s wholesome footage of a guy who just genuinely loves football and competition.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.