As wildly improbable as it is that 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers has come out of retirement after five years to play for the Indianapolis Colts and reportedly will start Sunday at Seattle, it’s not the first time something like this has happened in NFL.
Steve DeBerg did pretty much the same thing in 1998, coming back at age 44 to play for the Atlanta Falcons after a five-year hiatus.
Even crazier, DeBerg went 7-1 as a starter.
First, Rivers. The eight-time Pro Bowl selection and Hall of Fame semifinalist has not played since calling it a career after the 2020 season. The father of 10 — who is also a grandfather — had been coaching football at St. Michael Catholic High in Fairhope, Ala., where his son is a four-start quarterback recruit.
The Colts came calling after starter Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles’ tendon last Sunday and rookie backup Riley Leonard sustained an undisclosed knee injury. Leonard was a full participant in practice Thursday, and the Colts promoted Brett Rypien from the practice squad last week, but it’s unclear how they plan to proceed at quarterback against the 10-3 Seahawks, who are jockeying with the Rams for the top seed in the NFC.
In adding Rivers to their active roster, the Colts have reset the quarterback’s Hall of Fame eligibility clock because the Chargers legend has to have been retired for at least five years to be considered. Rivers made it clear this week that that’s not a concern.
“It’s a real honor to be mentioned with those other 25 guys, certainly,” Rivers said of being named a semifinalist. “But I’m not holding my breath on that. I hadn’t been counting down the years. With all respect to the Hall, if one day I can be part of that group, it will be special, no question about it. But the extension of that timeline, it that comes to be, was not a factor in my thinking.”
DeBerg first retired in 1993 after an 18-year career that included stops in San Francisco, Denver, Tampa Bay and Kansas City.
He didn’t immediately leave football, though. He spent two years coaching quarterbacks for the New York Giants under Dan Reeves. When the Giants fired Reeves after the 1996 season, the whole staff was shown the door.
Around that time, DeBerg’s son was a high school freshman playing quarterback. Father and son would play catch every day, and DeBerg noticed his throwing skills hadn’t diminished since his playing days. His body felt good too. So in 1998, he called Reeves, who was coaching the Atlanta Falcons.
“Coach, I’m thinking about making a comeback,” DeBerg said.
“Steve, I thought you were smarter than to try to get back into coaching,” Reeves said, misunderstanding what the old quarterback was saying.
“No, Coach, I’m thinking about coming back as a player.”
The phone line went silent for about 45 seconds. To DeBerg, it felt like five minutes.
“Are you out of your … mind?” Reeves said.
DeBerg assured him he wasn’t and said he hoped to drive from Tampa to Atlanta for a tryout. He’d pay his own way. Reeves reluctantly agreed, and worked out the quarterback after an organized team activity practice. Seven rookie receivers stuck around to catch passes, and DeBerg recalled the football never touched the ground. The team offered him a contract on the spot. Imagine, the starting right tackle hadn’t even been born when DeBerg began his NFL career.
The Falcons had quarterback Chris Chandler at the time, and couldn’t seem to win without him, even though Chandler was frequently knocked out of games because of concussions. His backup was Tony Graziani in his second season.
“The truth is, I thought I’d be the most valuable third-stringer in history,” said DeBerg, who had been the NFL’s oldest active player from age 36 on. “I was a longtime player. I had quarterback coaching experience. Thought I’d be able to help the quarterbacks and players understand, and help the coaches game plan.”
DeBerg, representing himself, sat down with Falcons general manager Harold Richardson and began to hammer out a contract. He would be paid the league minimum of $380,000 along with a playing incentive, in the unlikely event he would get playing time. Before Richardson made his first offer, DeBerg told him, “Wait. I want to bet on myself. I only want to get paid the incentive if I play and win.”
“Wish there were more guys like you,” said Richardson, who was happy to play along.
The chances DeBerg would play were relatively small — and win? This team didn’t win games without Chandler at quarterback.
“So after that, this was like fake money,” DeBerg recalled. “I’m not even going to make the team. There’s no way I’m ever going to play in a game and win. So he throws out this big number. It wasn’t a million bucks, but it was way bigger than I was going to negotiate for.”
DeBerg upped the ante. He would agree to that incentive, but if he won more than four games, that incentive would double.
“Done,” Richardson said, knowing that number would never hit the books.
Shockingly, it all came to pass — just the way DeBerg came to pass. After Chandler was injured, DeBerg stepped in and won seven of eight starts.
“I got paid,” he said.
The Falcons finished the season 14-2 and wound up making it to the Super Bowl.
DeBerg said he can envision Rivers being successful, whatever that looks like.
“Rivers has an amazing ability to throw the football,” DeBerg said. “He’s got a really high football IQ. He’s stayed in the game mentally, and he never was a runner.
“[The Colts] have a really talented team. It’s different if you don’t have an offensive line, don’t have a defense. But they’ve got a really nice team.”
And, for the moment, they have the eyes of the football world.
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