Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
While the return of Philip Rivers to the Indianapolis Colts has undeniably been one of the most compelling stories that the NFL has seen in years, it’s also sparked an entire referendum on the league’s current crop of quarterbacks.
Given that the 44-year-old Philip Rivers has been able to come out of retirement and onto an NFL field for the first time in almost give years, the discussion about why that’s even the case have intensified, with many pointing to the way quarterbacks are developed, and the difference between pre-snap coverage dissection — what the likes of Rivers and Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were known for — and the progression passing systems primarily deployed today.
Rivers’ comeback has been so competent, in fact — he completed 23 of 35 passes for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night — that 64-year-old Steve Young now believes he couod pull off something similar.
Hall of Fame San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young believes he could still play in the National Football League at 64-years-old
“The one thing I will tell you, as a quarterback, I really do believe, if you could somehow do the Benjamin Button thing and just somehow go back and play, one of the things that would be like riding a bike is sitting in the pocket and reading defenses. That’s not going to go away, and it didn’t for Philip. You could see that he could do that,” the Hall of Fame Niners quarterback said.
“I absolutely feel confident that I could take the snap, run the screen game, throw the ball in the flat, maybe throw a slant,” Young told the San Francisco Chronicle. “… It’s not like, ‘Put on the pads and go play.’ Still, if it was ‘Hunger Games’? If they said, you had to do this or die? Yeah, you could pull off something.”
While Young’s comments may be a bit sensationalist, Rivers’ performance against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football proved — despite being a 44-year-old grandfather — that he can still play at the highest level, as he completed 23 of 35 passes for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.
Rivers was so on point on Monday night, in fact, that he accomplished something he had NEVER done in his career before, and that’s throw a touchdown play on a “free play.”
Philip Rivers was slinging it on primetime at age 44 👏
23/35 passing
277 yards
2 touchdowns pic.twitter.com/FLzkGIywTe— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2025
The most notable fallout of Rivers’ return to the NFL, though, has been the way it’s highlighted the difference between the quarterbacks of a decade ago, and now, with Rivers displaying a command at the line of scrimmage that is simply not seen as much in today’s NFL.
the precision 🤌 pic.twitter.com/NEkwLrQH9q
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2025