Controversy is the lifeblood of sports talk in 2025, which means the Michigan coaching situation, the College Football Playoff and the future of Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy are at the front of my brain this week.
But there has to be space, too, for the truly remarkable and out-of-nowhere stories that nobody would have been expecting to talk about until they happened.
The Colts have taken a horrible quarterback situation — Daniel Jones is done for the year with an Achilles injury, backup Anthony Richardson is still out with a freak injury and backup to the backup Riley Leonard is nursing a knee injury — and given us a gift.
They have brought back Philip Rivers. Yes, the quarterback who last played in 2020 and just turned 44. He’s only on the practice squad for now, but it is possible he will play this weekend.
How did we get here and why do we need to treasure this moment? Let’s get to that at the start of today’s 10 things to know:
- With those injuries mounting, the Colts made a desperate call to Rivers. He and Colts coach Shane Steichen have a long history together dating to their time with the Chargers. So Rivers knows how to run the offense. He has been coaching his high school-aged son Gunner using the same playbook this year because of course he has.
- Rivers talked about why he decided to come back this week. “Certainly I wasn’t really hanging onto any hope [of] playing again,” he said. “I kind of thought that ship had sailed. But something about it excited me. And it’s kind of one of those deals that a door opens and you can either walk through it and find out if you can do it, or run from it.”
- But seriously, Rivers is 44. His last year in the NFL was 2020, when he helped the Colts to an 11-win season while throwing for 4,169 yards. That was five years ago! He’s twice the age of McCarthy. He’s four years older than Steichen and Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell. He not only has 10 kids, but he’s a grandfather.
- Speaking of O’Connell, the Vikings coach was asked about Rivers on Wednesday. “He’s one of my favorite people that I’ve ever been around. ... I know for a fact he has a full-scale practice field at his house. He has enough folks in his family to form a team if he needs to,” O’Connell said, drawing laughs before adding more seriously: “He’s one of the best to ever do it. ... I wouldn’t put it past him to play at a really, really high level like he always did.”
- The Colts started the season 7-1 but have lost four of their last five to sit at 8-5. They have a brutal finishing schedule, including Sunday against a daunting Seahawks defense. Leonard was listed as a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. Will Rivers play? We’ll find out, but for now let’s just enjoy the story.
- Star Tribune Wild writer Sarah McLellan was my guest on Thursday’s Daily Delivery podcast. We talked about the team’s injury woes, Jesper Wallstedt’s emergence and Zach Parise’s induction in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, among other things.
- Bobby Nightengale will be my guest on Friday’s show to get you up to date on all the Twins’ offseason news.
- The Gophers men’s basketball team kept it close for a half at No. 6 Purdue before the Boilermakers blitzed them after the break. Final score: 85-57.
- The Gophers volleyball team is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022. They’re on the road against Pittsburgh, the top seed in their region, on Thursday.
- Steph Curry is set to make his return for Golden State against the Wolves on Friday. The real NBA story, though: Everyone is playing for second place behind Oklahoma City, which is now 24-1.
