Anthony Walker Jr. was sitting at home Monday night when he saw a message from Jacoby Brissett light up his phone.
The linebacker and the quarterback spoke regularly, close friends thanks to the four years they spent together with the Colts from 2017-2020, so this wasn't out of the ordinary by any means.
What was out of the ordinary – and in fact, completely unexpected – was what Brissett's message contained: the news that their former teammate from 2020, Philip Rivers, would be trying out for the Colts practice squad.
Brissett followed it up by asking, "What y'all got going on there?!"
It was a perfectly valid question. Walker's response was just as valid.
"Uncle Phil!"
That's kind of the only response you can have when you find out a 44-year-old quarterback is coming back to the NFL after five years off. Maybe it should have been "Grandpa Phil" instead.
Rivers, fondly referred to as "Uncle Phil" by many of his teammates, decided to retire from the NFL after the 2020 season and take on a role as the high school football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Ala. He helped train young players like Riley Leonard and was a father and a grandfather with a well-established life after football. He didn't need to pick up a Sunday night phone call from Shane Steichen and he didn't need to come back to Indiana, much less put on pads and a helmet again.
But he did. No one who knew him was surprised.
"I was definitely shocked, but not shocked at the same time," Walker, who was teammates with Rivers in 2020, said. "I know he knows the game very well, this is the same offense that he runs at his high school. So pretty dope to have him."
"At first, I did think it was kind of funny, but then I really sat there and thought about it, and I was like, 'You know what, Philip really invented this offense. This is the offense that he's ran,'" Michael Pittman Jr., whose rookie season coincided with Rivers' one-year stint with the Colts, said. "And if we were gonna go get a guy, I think he's him."
"He's super competitive, the most competitive person I've ever been around – him and Daniel actually are probably neck-and-neck," Leonard, who is neighbors with Rivers in Fairhope, said. "But I mean, he's still got it. Mentally, he probably thinks he's 20 years old. So I'm sure you guys see that, but he's got everything it takes."
A total of 14 current Colts players shared a locker room with Rivers in 2020, including DeForest Buckner, Jonathan Taylor, Kenny Moore II and Mo Alie-Cox. Some of them knew that Rivers might be joining the Colts for the remainder of the 2025 season, thanks to a meeting held by Steichen with the team's leadership council prior to Rivers' arrival. That doesn't mean they didn't have that initial feeling of shock upon hearing the news, though.
"Coach (Steichen) met with some of us on the leadership council – there's about eight of us on the council – and kind of told us they're going to bring him in to work out," Alie-Cox said. "When he told us, I was like, 'What?!'
"There's never a dull day at West 56th Street. In the nine years I've been here, a lot of crazy stuff has happened, and this is right up there."
Rivers, with his 17 years of NFL experience, brings a strong sense of familiarity and reliability to a locker room that is still processing losing Daniel Jones to a season-ending Achilles injury. Rivers was a major influence on young players like Pittman and Taylor developing into the talented players they are today, and there's something about Rivers – whether it's his natural leadership skills or elite knowledge of the game – that has always inspired confidence in everyone around him.
"Having this come full circle is kind of insane," Taylor said. "He's still the same old Phil. It's just awesome."
At 8-5 with four games left in the regular season, the Colts know they still have everything in front of them. Rivers' desire to come out of retirement to help his former teammates only bolsters their confidence that they can still achieve their goals.
Walker: "The game of football, man, it's crazy to say and we hate saying it, next man up – but that's literally what it is. And our guy just happened to be next man off the high school football sideline. It sucks for Daniel. But the message is we're still all in; we still believe in this locker room and just got to put the work in."
Moore: "We're all delighted to have him here. We built something really good here this year and we want to be able to reap the benefits of such a good start. We want to finish even better. So we want to get that dialed in and get some games going. We just got to get back in the win column, and he gives us the best chance to do that."
Alie-Cox: "It shows that we're at least trying to finish strong and not just laying down and falling victim to whatever's happened to us, and the injuries and stuff like that."
Buckner: "I know the competitor, the leader he is, the energy he brings to the building. I know he knows the scheme, I know he'll be able to put the offense in the right positions and things like that. I'm excited to have him back."
The 14 men who played alongside Rivers in 2020 have no doubt in their minds that he's the man for the job. They have no reason to doubt him or his abilities, firsthand witnesses to his remarkable football savvy and work ethic. And the fact that he might actually go out and play in the NFL at 44 years old after five years off?
"If there's one guy who can do it, it's Philip Rivers," Buckner said.
Even the Colts players who have never played alongside Rivers – including the ones who were barely two years old when his NFL career began – know what he's capable of. Why? Because dadgummit, he's Philip Rivers.
Jalen Travis: "The selflessness and emotion that he plays with is something I've always admired. Growing up, as a fan of football, it's hard to miss one of the greatest minds at the quarterback position. So having him in the locker room and for him to be able to share some of his wisdom is unmatched."
Tyler Warren: "I didn't see him as a 44-year-old, I just (see) him as a good quarterback. So I'm excited to play with him and see how he is."
Tanor Bortolini: "I remember watching him growing up, which is pretty cool. He's 21 years older than me, so that's pretty insane to think about. He's been playing for a long time at a high level...This is a guy that, when you look at careers, this is someone that you aspire to have a career like. So getting to just spend some time, pick their brain, see what he does on a daily basis, it's been really cool so far."
It's simple. Everyone knows Rivers, even if they hadn't met him before this week. He's walking around the locker room talking to everyone, pulling Warren aside to talk through a play one minute and laughing with Grover Stewart the next. He's at ease, and so is everyone around him.
"You've seen him before, we've all seen him, and even though it was probably 100 years ago, we've seen him play the game at the highest level," Walker said with a laugh. "And it's the quarterback position, where it's more mental than it is physical. Obviously they feel like he can still sling, and we believe in it."
On the Thursday before their Week 15 game against the Seattle Seahawks, the Colts don't know yet if their starting quarterback will be Rivers or Leonard. They'll see how the week goes and make a decision when the time comes. But make no mistake: One reason why Rivers was brought in was to bring energy to the Colts locker room, and he certainly has done that.
