The Indianapolis Colts might be about to make some pretty unique sports history this season.
Philip Rivers is back on the roster, and if he takes a snap this year, he’ll do it as a grandfather. That would put him in incredibly rare company across all professional sports.
ESPN’s stats guru Paul Hembekides dug into this and shared his findings on X Monday. He found just four athletes who’ve played in their respective leagues as grandparents:
- Stan Musial
- Gordie Howe
- Julio Franco
- Brett Favre
Rivers would make it a pretty exclusive quintet.
Think about what has to align for this to happen. You need a player with serious longevity, but also someone who had kids early enough for them to have kids while dad’s still playing. Even for guys who last a long time in their sport, it’s not a given.
Rivers famously has 10 kids, so the math worked out for him to have a grandchild too.
Not many saw this comeback coming. He signed a one-day contract back in July to retire as a member of the Chargers.
But here he is.
Rivers isn’t guaranteed playing time. If Riley Leonard gets healthy, maybe he still gets the start Sunday. But Rivers is ready, and there’s a good chance he sees action this week or soon.
If that happens, he’ll be making some pretty grand history indeed.
