Reports that 44-year-old Philip Rivers is returning to the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts are true. The father of 10 and a new grandfather — who was one of the elite quarterbacks in the game for 17 seasons — is headed back to the NFL.
The longtime quarterback, who retired from the league in 2021, signed with the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, Dec. 9 after a tryout. Rivers will join the practice squad of an 8-5 team in the thick of the AFC South race. With starter Daniel Jones tearing his Achilles on Dec. 7 and former starter Anthony Richardson already on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone, rookie QB Riley Leonard was thrust into action and is now dealing with a knee injury.
Rob Parker Blasts Colts For Signing “Old Man Rivers”
Longtine sports radio host Rob Parker went on a classic rant on his daily “The Odd Couple” show on Fox Sports radio this week, blasting the Colts for not even considering former San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick.
“This is when the NFL is BAD, because they’re bringing ‘Old Man River’ to quarterback! You mean to tell me there’s nobody that can play football and quarterback the Colts. This guy hasn’t played in five years. This was the same league that five years ago told me that Colin Kaepernick was too old and was too rusty and didn’t play in a while,” Parker said. “I would have had more respect for the Colts if they said, ‘Colin Kaepernick put on a helmet and get a uniform.’
I’m still mad at the NFL players who allowed the owners to do what they did to Colin Kaepernick and take away his career because he cared about people. It makes me sick that Colin Kaepernick’s career was taken from him and a league that’s almost 70 percent Black allowed that to happen.”
Fans Respond To Rob Parker’s Call For Colin Kaepernick
“The Colts are notorious for stunt hires,” one fan responded.
“I would’ve’ said Colin Kaepernick over him any day,” another quipped.
“When you’re right, you’re right,” one netizen said, agreeing with Parker.
This signing of Phillip Rivers has opened up a new can of worms that has people speaking the name of Colin Kaepernick, who played his last NFL game in January of 2017, was blackballed by the league after kneeling for the nation anthem to bring awareness to police brutality, social inequality and systemic racism.
Rob Parker Says NFL ‘Cronyism” Is Still Alive and Well
According to Rob Parker, the hiring of “Old Man Rivers” is another example of the NFL’s systemic oppression towards qualified candidates of color. The league’s The controversy that his peaceful protest incited inspired many other athletes to join in his social statement and exposed the NFL owners and many of its fans as totally unconcerned with the problems in society that Kaepernick was trying to bring awareness too. Instead, they attacked him as a villain and labeled him a tool of division that the NFL just couldn’t tolerate. Everyone in the league, from coaches to players to executives turned their backs on him.
RELATED: The Kaepernick Effect: Evaluating Nike’s Future Value
With the recent recycling of 44-year-old Rivers, Parker had to call out what he says is the “cronyism” that has long been a problem in the league, particularly when it comes to persons of color advancing on the field and in the executive and ownership ranks. The fact that Kaepernick, who’s six years younger than Rivers still can’t get a look all these years later, speaks volumes about the league and the Black players in it, according to Parker.
