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NEED TO KNOW
- Philips Rivers, the Colts’ 44-year-old quarterback, said his wife Tiffany is nervous about his return to playing football
- Rivers said his wife “has been my biggest fan the whole time I’ve played and she’s nervous about the physical aspect of it, as you expect any wife to”
- Their 10 children are “fired up” about watching their dad possibly play quarterback with the Colts, he told reporters on Dec. 10
Philip Rivers, who recently became a grandfather, says his wife Tiffany is feeling nervous about the physicality he’ll face in the NFL.
Rivers, who was signed to the Colts’ practice squad after quarterback Daniel Jones was injured on Sunday, Dec. 7, spoke to reporters about his return to the league, and his wife’s hesitation.
“My wife has been my biggest fan the whole time I played, and she’s nervous about the physical aspect of it, as you expect any wife to,” Rivers, 44, said on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
Lance King/Getty
Rivers explained that going into a game worrying about injury has “never been a concern of mine” and noted, “”I mean, for 250 games or whatever it was, that was a risk, as you see every week.”
The quarterback added, “Whether you’re 24 in the best shape, or you’re 44 and not so sure. Anything can happen.”
“Dudes are big and fast, just like they were, so I’m just taking it one day at a time,” Rivers said. “You never hope or expect something like that to happen, but shoot, if something like that happens, I’d have a long time to recover.”
The quarterback said his children are excited to cheer on their dad if he does make an appearance in a game. Currently, the Colts plan to start rookie Riley Leonard, but he is battling a knee injury, the team said. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, Leonard was scheduled to practice.
Rivers added in the media availability that some of his children “don’t remember” his playing days before he retired in 2021. “My six-year-old asked, ‘Dad, why don’t you play anymore?,’ ” he said.
Rivers and Tiffany share 10 children: Halle, 23, Caroline, 20, Grace, 19, Gunner, 17, Sarah, 15, Peter, 14, Rebecca, 12, Clare, 10, Anna, 6, and Andrew, 2.
Meanwhile, his sons are “fired up” about upcoming Colts games, he said, noting that they also “share the same sentiment, like, ‘Dad, do you think you can do it?’ ”
Tiffany and Philip were middle school sweethearts who tied the knot in 2001. They welcomed their oldest Halle in 2002 and have continued growing their family since.
The former Chargers signal-caller shared his best parenting advice in a profile with the team in 2019, saying, “Be present. Just try to be there. Children want our time.”