Steve Young Watches Philip Rivers’ Comeback and Can’t Help But Wonder: Could He Still Do It?
Philip Rivers’ surprise return to the NFL at age 44 has done more than just give the Colts a veteran presence under center-it’s stirred up some serious nostalgia, and maybe even a little bit of competitive fire, in one of the game’s all-time greats.
Steve Young, the Hall of Fame quarterback who last played in 1999, has been watching Rivers’ return with a mix of admiration and curiosity. And if you’ve heard him lately on KNBR, it’s clear: the idea of a comeback, even a fantasy one, is bouncing around in his head.
Young, now 64, hasn’t thrown an NFL pass in over two decades. His career ended after a concussion in Week 3 of the 1999 season, and he retired the following summer.
Since then, he’s stayed close to the game-whether it’s through his work as a TV analyst, his regular appearances on Bay Area radio, or coaching his daughters in high school flag football. But Rivers’ return has clearly reignited that old quarterback itch.
When Rivers signed with Indianapolis two weeks ago, Young couldn’t help but poke a little fun at the situation. On KNBR’s “Dirty Work” show on Dec. 10, he joked that he was “offended” the Colts didn’t call him first. It was classic Young-sharp, self-aware, and just playful enough to make you wonder how much truth was behind the joke.
Then Rivers went out and played. And while the Colts didn’t get the win against Seattle, Rivers looked like he belonged.
He managed the game, made smart throws, and gave Indy a shot. That performance didn’t just earn Young’s respect-it got him thinking.
By the time Young returned to KNBR on Dec. 17, his tone had shifted. He praised Rivers’ poise and command, especially his ability to read defenses from the pocket-something Young believes never really leaves a quarterback, no matter how many years go by.
“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,” Young said. “That’s not going to go away, and it didn’t for Philip. You could see that he could do that.”
Young didn’t stop there. In a follow-up interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he took it a step further-sounding less like a guy joking around and more like someone who, in another life, might be lacing up the cleats again.
“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 said. “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.”
That line-equal parts humor and confidence-says a lot about how former elite quarterbacks view the game. There’s a muscle memory to it, a mental sharpness that doesn’t fade with age.
Sure, the body might not cooperate like it used to, but the instincts? The vision?
The feel for the game? Those stay with you.
Young also touched on something that resonates with a lot of retired athletes: the longing to keep doing what you were once the best in the world at. It’s not about ego-it’s about identity. About knowing you once owned the moment, and wondering if, just maybe, you still could.
“It allows all of us to kind of say even more, ‘Could I go out there for five plays? Could I go out there and run the screen game?’”
Young said. “Because you got to remember, all of us, we were the best in the world at something.
And then we were out, and we’re not the best at anything else. So you kind of want to keep doing what you were best in the world at.”
And that’s the real heart of this story. Rivers’ return isn’t just a quirky headline-it’s a mirror for guys like Young. It’s a reminder of what they once did, and what they still believe they could do, even if only for a handful of plays.
As the 49ers prepare to take on Rivers and the Colts on Monday night, it’s impossible not to imagine Young watching from the booth or the sideline, mentally stepping into the pocket one more time. Not because he’s planning a comeback-but because, deep down, that quarterback never really leaves.