The Indianapolis Colts are officially on the search for their starting quarterback in 2021 after Philip Rivers called it a career on Wednesday, retiring from the NFL after 17 illustrious seasons.
With Rivers retiring, he recorded the second-most passing yards in a final season for a quarterback at 4,169, per Elias Sports Bureau. The quarterback with the most passing yards in a final season? Andrew Luck in 2018.
Philip Rivers threw for 4,169 yards this season, the second-most in @NFL history in a player’s final season. Only Andrew Luck had a higher total; he passed for 4,593 yards in 2018, coincidentally for the Colts, before his surprising retirement.
— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) January 20, 2021
Luck and Rivers are the only players to finish their careers with over 4,000 passing yards in their final season. While Rivers’ retirement was not all that shocking coming at the age of 39 and after 17 seasons in the league, Luck’s shocked the world.
But we don’t have to travel down that painful road again.
Though many expected Rivers to be back for another season with the Colts in 2021, he seems to be at peace with his decision. He will now be moving on to coach high school football in Alabama while he awaits a potential enshrinement into Canton.
If anything, he and Luck share a unique stat in both of their final seasons in the NFL.
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