One of the most fascinating stories of the NFL season is Philip Rivers‘ decision to come out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts following Daniel Jones’ injury. Rivers hasn’t played since 2020 and is 44 years old, but the Colts are desperate to save the season.
The veteran quarterback coming out of retirement led to speculation that Tom Brady might want to do the same. He’s older than Rivers (48), but he played more recently. However, Brady is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, and during the approval process, the league added a rule that stated that NFL owners aren’t allowed to play in the league.
Brady was asked if he could consider playing again amid the Rivers comeback, but he admitted that he can’t do anything as an owner of the Raiders.
“I certainly could… I would say the answer for me would be yes,” Brady said on “The Herd.” “I’m not allowed to anymore, because I’m an owner, a minority owner of the Raiders. So I can’t un-retire. But I’m very excited to watch Philip play.”
Even if he could legally play, it would almost certainly have to be for the Raiders. Playing for one team while owning another would open up a whole set of problems.
Brady Believes in Rivers
It’s impossible to know how Rivers might look for the Colts. They announced that he’ll start against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15, so it won’t take long to find out.
Unlike Brady, Rivers isn’t known to be a health nut who puts a lot of time and money into his body. It’s going to be very interesting to see what he’s able to do at this point in his life. While Rivers isn’t the athlete he once was, Brady believes that the most important thing is his mind.
“This game is about, for the quarterback, from the neck up,” Brady said. “We used to have a saying at Michigan, ‘The mental is to the physical as four is to one at the quarterback position.’ That doesn’t really go away. Do you still have the physical ability to still do it — take the hits, make the throws, the drops, buy a little time in the pocket?
“If Philip has been practicing those things, then we’re all going to see it on full display in Seattle on Sunday afternoon.”
Rivers Could Be in for Rough Time
Rivers has been coaching high school football, so he’s still kept football on his mind. He should be fine in that aspect of the game.
However, he’s about to play a very good Seahawks defense. How is his body going to react to getting hit by a 300-pound defensive lineman? It’s easy to see this situation becoming a disaster very quickly.
It’s hard to fault the Colts for throwing a Hail Mary, but this doesn’t make much sense for Rivers. Indianapolis isn’t going to win a Super Bowl with a 44-year-old quarterback who was retired a week ago. It’s a fun story, but it’s hard to imagine this ends well for Rivers and the Colts.
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