SEATTLE (LifeSiteNews) — Philip Rivers, the 44-year-old veteran NFL quarterback who retired in 2021 after a 17-year career, made a stunning return to the gridiron yesterday, completing a touchdown pass and almost leading his team to victory.
After former starter Daniel Jones sustained a season-ending torn Achilles’ tendon, the Indianapolis Colts (8-6) sought to salvage their season by seeking out Rivers, who is not only a father of 10 children but now a grandfather as well.
With 1:37 left in the first half, the devout Catholic veteran quarterback took a snap at the Seattle Seahawks’ 8-yard line and hit slanting wide receiver Josh Downs at the 3 before he galloped into the end zone.
TOUCHDOWN pass on his first day back!!!
So, this devout Catholic father of TEN children came out of retirement after 5 years and he is the one and only Philip Rivers!
He coached at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama since 2021.pic.twitter.com/joht58DuaR— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) December 15, 2025
Rivers, who had been coaching high school football for five years, also put his team into position for Colts kicker Blake Grupe to hit a 60-yard, go-ahead field goal that gave Indianapolis a 16-15 lead with 47 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately for the Colts, the Seahawks (11-3) managed to respond. Kicker Jason Myers drilled a 56-yard field goal with 29 seconds left to give Seattle an 18-16 win on its home field. Myers made six field goals, a franchise record, scoring all of Seattle’s points.
“It was exciting,” Rivers said. “Shoot, it was exciting to take a 13-3 lead. But first off, our play that we kind of had all week in the red zone in that area on that down and distance on that hash, we practiced in the exact same spot this week. So, when things go like that, they fire you up. Obviously, you throw in the fact that it’s been 1,800 days since throwing a touchdown or interception for that matter. So, yeah, both of those boxes were checked.”
The grandfather finished 18-of-27 passing for 120 yards, with one touchdown and an interception, which came on his final throw as he attempted to force the ball down the field in the closing seconds of the game.
In 16 years with the San Diego-Los Angeles Chargers from 2004 to 2019 and one final season with the Colts in 2020, Rivers was named to the Pro Bowl eight times. He ranks sixth in NFL history in passing yards with 63,440 and touchdown passes with 421. He was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, but because he came out of retirement, his eligibility was reset and he’ll now have to wait another five years after his final game.
As a Catholic couple, Rivers and his wife did not put a number on how many children they would welcome into their family. Instead, they left the decision up to God.
When announcing in 2023 that he and his wife Tiffany were expecting their 10th child, he revealed that his mother and maternal grandfather both came from families of nine children.
“We thought we would be the third generation of nine, but we decided to go double digits – or I should say we didn’t decide it. God decided,” he said at the time.
Rivers’ children range in age from 2 to 23, with seven girls and three boys: Halle, Caroline, Grace, Sarah, Rebecca, Clare, Anna, Gunner, Peter and Andrew.
And eldest daughter Halle welcomed a son in late 2024, making Rivers and wife Tiffany grandparents.
Having served as head football coach of St. Michael Catholic School in Fairhope, Alabama, for five years, the young school that opened only in 2016 and has approximately 350 students has become a football powerhouse, reaching the state semifinals each of the last two years and going 12-2 in 2024 and 13-1 this year.
RELATED:
Retired Catholic NFL star Philip Rivers announces his wife is expecting their 10th child
NFL quarterback runs to greet Dominican nuns before game in viral video
NFL star stuns interviewer: We have 8 kids and hope for more
