Antonio Gates scoffed at the flattering but crazy idea.
“Are you going back, too?” the Hall of Famer has been repeatedly asked.
For years, Gates and Philip Rivers were a “package deal” as they solidified themselves as one of the greatest quarterback-tight end tandems in NFL history during their days with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers. So, when the 44-year-old Rivers shocked the NFL world by ending his nearly five-year retirement last week, the 45-year-old Gates wasn’t surprised to be asked, even in jest, if he, too, would soon be making his NFL return.
“Everybody still assumes we’re a package deal. I love that people have that confidence in me, that I would go out here and do the same thing, but I’m retired, and I know I’m retired,” Gates said, laughing. “I was fortunate enough to get into the Hall of Fame last year, so I have no plans on coming back.”
But just because he won’t be joining Rivers on the field any time soon doesn’t mean he won’t be glued to the TV on Monday night, watching and rooting for his longtime friend, as Rivers leads the Colts (8-6) into a pivotal game for their playoff hopes, against the San Francisco 49ers (10-4).
Like many others, Gates was stunned to learn that Rivers, five years into his high school coaching career, was even considering a comeback.
Gates was in attendance at the Monday night game between the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles in Los Angeles Dec. 8, when news broke of Rivers’ potential return. As the text messages started flooding his phone, he quickly realized he wasn’t being pranked. And Gates knew if this was happening, Rivers wasn’t returning to hold a clipboard and offer wisdom as a backup.
Rivers was going to put his body on the line and compete, just as he always had when he started 224 straight games for the Chargers.
“Kudos to (Rivers) and his family, man,” Gates said. “It’s awesome that his younger kids get to see him play.”
On Monday night, Rivers will indeed play with his children — and the rest of the NFL world — watching as he makes his second straight start for Indianapolis. Last week, Rivers became the oldest quarterback to appear in a game for the Colts in franchise history, and he almost led them to an upset win on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. The now 18-year veteran finished 18-of-27 passing for 120 yards and one touchdown against one interception in his first game in 1,800 days.
So good to have him back 🥹pic.twitter.com/LmaBk9RTE9
— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) December 15, 2025
There were tears in Rivers’ eyes after the loss, a mixture of gratitude and disappointment as he captivated the NFL world in his return. An even bigger spotlight will be on Rivers when the Colts host the 49ers Monday night in Indy’s lone primetime game of the season.
As Rivers tries to once again stave off Father Time, The Athletic caught up with Gates and three more of Rivers’ former teammates: safety Eric Weddle and quarterbacks Charlie Whitehurst and Billy Volek. Here’s what they had to say about Rivers turning back the clock.
Gates caught 89 touchdown passes from Rivers during his Hall of Fame career. (Jeff Gross / Getty Images)
‘He is still trying to win a ring’
When Rivers fired a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Downs last week, Gates couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. There was Rivers, only the sixth QB ever to appear in an NFL game at 44 or older, still slinging it after all these years. Gates immediately grabbed his phone to congratulate him while also keeping him humble.
“We have a group chat, me, him and Dwight Freeney and a couple of our other teammates from when he (last) played, and I kind of jokingly said to him, ‘I can tell you those game checks aren’t the same ones that you used to be getting!’” Gates said, laughing. “’With me, you were making $100 million, so the Colts can’t match the game checks!’ But the game can definitely still have the same intensity as a competitor, and that was beautiful to see.”
Rivers is making a prorated $278,888 over the last four regular-season games, per Spotrac, which is in stark contrast to the $218.9 million he made in 16 years with the Chargers. Gates also joked that Rivers only came back to regain another five years of NFL insurance coverage for his 10 children. But underneath all of Gates’ light-hearted jabs is a deep reverence for the Chargers’ all-time leader in passing yards and passing TDs.
For nearly every game of Gates’ 16-year career, Rivers was his quarterback. The two became one of the most feared tandems in the league, evidenced by the 89 touchdown passes Rivers threw to Gates, the second most ever by a QB-TE duo.
Gates doesn’t think he would’ve had such an illustrious career had he not been paired with Rivers, whom he called “the heartbeat on offense” in his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech. The legendary tight end was hopeful that Rivers, a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2026 class, would join him in the NFL’s most exclusive club next year.
However, Rivers’ Hall of Fame candidacy will have to wait. Players are required to be retired for at least five years before they can be considered for induction into the Hall of Fame, and now that Rivers is back on an active roster, the earliest he could be immortalized is in 2031.
Gates called the Hall of Fame “the closest thing to heaven on earth,” but he also understands why Rivers delayed his potential entry. The two share a sense of incompleteness that has haunted them for years, having played in just one AFC Championship and never reaching the Super Bowl.
“We still take flak for scoring all those points and being this high-powered offense and never bringing home a Super Bowl,” Gates said. “The same way with Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed take flak (with the Buffalo Bills), it’s the same way with LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers.
Still playing on Sundays, still having fun 💙 @Colts pic.twitter.com/kSeYdbKTD5
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) December 18, 2025
“We all would probably do it. If (the Chargers) were going into the Super Bowl and said, ‘Antonio Gates, do you want to come play? … Do you want to play this last Super Bowl game?’ A part of me would still want to go train and get ready, because that’s the one chapter I couldn’t close in my sports career, so I think that’s the reason he’s doing it.”
Reminded that the Colts have lost four straight games and are currently out of the playoff standings, Gates emphasized that it was all the more reason to commend Rivers. He came back knowing he could fail, embarrassingly and publicly, but Gates explained that in order to be a high-level athlete, you have to be irrational enough to believe in yourself regardless of any obstacle. Gates and Rivers share that trait, the tight end said. It’s why Gates was “No. 381” to enter the Hall of Fame, and it’s why he’s confident Rivers will one day join him, hopefully with a championship on his newly updated resume.
“The cherry on top is the opportunity to win,” Gates said of Rivers’ return. “If the Colts weren’t in a position to be a postseason contender, I don’t think this would be a topic of discussion. … He is still trying to win a ring.”
‘You don’t know until you go do it’
If there’s one player who can relate to what Rivers is trying to pull off, it’s Weddle, who played with Rivers for nine seasons. The six-time Pro Bowl safety is currently coaching football at Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego, but in January 2022, he ended his nearly two-year retirement and rejoined the Los Angeles Rams just before the start of their playoff run. Injuries to the team’s other safeties, Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp, opened the door for Weddle’s return, and it ended in storybook fashion. The Rams went on to win the Super Bowl, with Weddle starting all four of their playoff games.
“When I went back, it was very similar because things like this don’t happen for you to get a second chance,” Weddle said of Rivers’ return. “And so much of life is about opportunity and taking advantage of it, and he had very similar sentiments like, ‘Yeah, is this gonna be hard? Is it crazy?’ But you don’t know until you go do it.’”
Weddle was 36 when he returned to the NFL, but he joked that his return was more difficult because, unlike QBs, who can still throw regularly to gauge their arm strength, there’s no equivalent for a safety to see if he can still cover a receiver across the middle or tackle a running back in the hole.
The other factor Weddle didn’t gloss over is the risk of injury. He described his body as being on a timer when he came out of retirement, and that timer finally went off in the Super Bowl when he tore his pectoral muscle during the Rams’ 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. In the end, he said, it was worth it, but he joked that he hopes Rivers doesn’t have too many “300-pound linemen falling on him and his old ribs” as he tries to push the Colts into the playoffs for the first time since he last led them there in 2020.
“Gosh, when I was hearing his press conference the week leading up about his timeline (to return) and what his thinking was and emotions and nervousness, I was like, ‘Man, I was just there three years ago,’” Weddle said. “I knew exactly what he was thinking and what he was saying. And at the end of the day, it’s kind of like a way of life. I don’t live with regrets. … I know he doesn’t, either.”
‘Philip got to hear it one more time’
Whitehurst was hunting in Texas when a text from his brother alerted him to Rivers’ return. Like Gates, the retired 43-year-old QB was initially in disbelief that his former, older teammate came out of retirement. Whitehurst spent six years in the same QB meetings as Rivers and saw him do the near-impossible before, like playing in the 2007 AFC Championship just days after tearing his right ACL and meniscus.
“He didn’t take a snap in practice as we were getting ready to go play the undefeated New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, and he played good enough to win!” Whitehurst said. “That guy went out there and played his ass off on one leg.”
However, coming out of a nearly five-year retirement is a totally different set of circumstances, Whitehurst explained. This wasn’t Rivers gutting it out as the face of a franchise. This was a franchise seeking his face, a familiar yet notably older one, amid a playoff push.
“They’re not calling me!” Whitehurst said, laughing. “But the respect that somebody or the football world has to have for you to actually ask you to do that, I think, is the biggest honor I’ve ever seen. They know he’s not in tip-top shape, right? And they still told him. ‘Hey, you give us the best chance.’”
After he wrapped up his hunting trip, Whitehurst said he was driving home to Georgia when Rivers made his return against the Seahawks. Whitehurst pulled the game up on his phone and set it on the dashboard in his truck so he could hear it, and when Rivers threw that second-quarter TD pass to Downs, Whitehurst pumped his fist — just like Rivers did.
Rivers’ excitement reminded Whitehurst of when John Riggins and Joe Theismann were inducted into the Washington Commanders’ Ring of Honor in 1990. Riggins, a Hall of Fame fullback, surprised the home crowd by running out of the tunnel in full uniform as if he still had a game to play.
“The stadium went crazy, and apparently he told Theismann, ‘I just had to hear it one more time,’” Whitehurst said. “… Philip got to hear it one more time. You can’t really replicate that.”
‘He’s my GOAT’
Volek couldn’t believe what he was witnessing on TV, nor in the setting around him. The former NFL QB found out that Rivers was coming out of retirement while he was on a ski trip in Denver, and when he sat down to watch Rivers in what’s typically Broncos country, he may as well have been in San Diego.
“The whole restaurant was rooting for Philip … in Denver!” said Volek, who was Rivers’ teammate for six seasons. “I had my Chargers shirt on and just to see the excitement he gave people (was amazing). I think everyone is pulling for Philip right now. I think the Colts need him, and the NFL needs him, too.”
Volek famously (or infamously for Colts fans) replaced Rivers in their 2007 Divisional Round matchup against Indianapolis after Rivers tore his ACL and meniscus in the third quarter. The backup led the Chargers on a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that ended the Colts’ season. Asked if he’s still hated in Indy, Volek laughed and said he hopes both sides can put the past behind them and focus on the present with Rivers.
If Rivers and the Colts knock off the 49ers on Monday night, Rivers would become just the third QB age 44 or older to win a game in the NFL. But more importantly, a victory would validate why he was even brought out of retirement in the first place.
“Every game is like the Super Bowl for him,” Volek said. “Just the commitment that he puts into it, the time, the energy, the hours. We lived next to each other, and sometimes he’d pick me up at 4 a.m., sometimes 4:30, or I’d pick him up at 4:45. It’s just the grind that he has to be the best.
“That’s why he’s my GOAT.”