Colts QB Philip Rivers makes final decision on his NFL future

Philip Rivers retook retirement after his brief spell with the Indianapolis Colts had seemingly come to an end.

Rivers, 44, appeared on Kay Adams’ “Up & Adams” show on December 31, where he said that his comeback is over, and officially said goodbye to the sport on a late-season return that ended in seeing the Colts turning to a rookie QB for their regular-season finale.

The Colts struggled with injuries in December, and it wiped out their quarterback room. Indianapolis brought Rivers in with the hopes he could solve the team’s problem, and head coach Shane Steichen was keen that the move would work for him, taking advantage of the ageing QB’s experience both with the Colts and overall.

Rivers started three games for Indianapolis, and the results were mixed. The Colts went 0–3 down, but Rivers' performance was not bad considering he hadn’t seen the field in more than four years, completing 63% of his passes for 544 yards, including three interceptions and four touchdowns.

Philip Rivers confirmed his second retirement on Kay Adams’ Show.

When Rivers was asked if he was done for good this time, he answered in the affirmative.

“I am,” he replied. “I got a son who will be a senior and I got that St. Michael football team ready to go. We got beat in the semifinals two years in a row.

“So, it’ll be his senior year. My second son will be a ninth-grader. They’ll be on the same team together.

“It’ll be fun to get back with the boys back home. The school has been really excited. A lot of them came to the game last week. It’ll be fun. It’ll kickstart our offseason program to say the least. Maybe the things I say to them they’ll take it a little more seriously now that I was just out there playing.”

Despite results not going in his team's way, Rivers showed he could still manage an offence against tough teams.

“I’m back to the sideline,” Rivers added. “This was a fun three-week blur that nobody saw coming, including myself, and that’ll be it.”