Philip Rivers, at 44 years old, is back in the NFL.
The Indianapolis Colts found themselves in a QB crisis, and they called on a guy whose last game was a playoff loss for Indy back on Jan. 9, 2021. It looks likely that Rivers will suit up to start in Week 15 on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
And when you take a peek under the hood, you find that the story of the NFL can be told in only a handful of degrees of separation from Rivers.
You see, it goes like this, with help from AllSportsPeople' Managing Editor, Micah Adams:
- Philip Rivers completed a pass to Keenan McCardell
- Keenan McCardell caught a pass from Bernie Kosar
- Bernie Kosar played against Jim Plunkett
- Jim Plunkett played against George Blanda
- George Blanda played for George Halas
- George Halas coached the 1920 Decatur Staleys
Those 1920 Decatur Staleys were part of the first season in NFL history, back before it was even called the NFL — it was the American Professional Football Association then, the APFA.
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Other teams in the APFA with the Staleys? The Akron Pros, Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Cardinals, Rock Island Independents, Dayton Triangles, Rochester Jeffersons, Canton Bulldogs, Detroit Heralds, Cleveland Tigers, Chicago Tigers, Hammond Pros, Columbus Panhandles and, for one game before shuttering, the Muncie Flyers.
Rivers may not have fit in too well back then. The NFL was still 13 years away from allowing forward passes from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage.
These days, Rivers is just going to be trying to prove an old dude can still get it done.
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A few players have played until an older age than Rivers, including the aforementioned Blanda as well as Tom Brady.
But to come back after nearly five years away from an NFL field? That's pretty much unprecedented, and there's no telling how this might go.
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