Top Four Moments From Philip Rivers on ESPN’s “ManningCast”

Former NC State quarterback and 17-year NFL veteran Philip Rivers joined Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN’s “ManningCast” broadcast of Monday Night Football. 

The trio of former franchise signal callers reminisced on memories of playing pro ball and were sure to address the rumored return of Rivers to the NFL. 

Rivers joined the broadcast in the fourth quarter, when the San Francisco 49ers were already up 31-10 on the Los Angeles Rams. The whole point of the “ManningCast” is the ability to dive into interviews with A-list guests if the game becomes boring, so the Mannings didn’t waste time getting into the questions. 

Here were the top five moments from Rivers’s appearance on “ManningCast”:

No. 1: Rivers doesn’t deny rumors of potential NFL return

Not long after the Mannings introduced “Coach” Rivers, who was wearing a red Saint Michaels football shirt to represent the team he coached this fall, Eli addressed the rumors of the New Orleans Saints potentially showing interest in signing the retired quarterback. 

The Saints recently lost starting quarterback Jameis Winston to a season-ending injury. New Orleans currently holds a Wild Card spot in the NFC playoff race and is relying on backup Trevor Simeon to keep the team in contention. 

With a talented roster just a quarterback shy from being in Super Bowl contention, signing Rivers could make sense if the Saints wanted to go all-in on their championship hopes this season. 

Rivers has been on record saying that he would be willing to hear the Saints out if they came calling. 

After painting the scene, Eli directly asked Rivers what the odds were that No. 17 would be in a Saints uniform this season. 

Politely, Rivers didn’t give Eli a number. But he also didn’t rule out that there weren’t any conversations happening. 

“I don’t know if I can put a percentage on it,” Rivers replied. “If anything, it could help me get in a little better shape. ‘Coach bod’ is a real thing. But I played 17 years with that coach/dad bod.”

Just before Eli’s question, Rivers admitted it was weird to not have any football left to look forward to in early November. 

It’s evident that Rivers would likely jump at a chance to return to the gridiron this season if an opportunity opened up that made sense for him personally. 

The Saints would seem to check several boxes for Rivers, so it’s a storyline to at least keep an eye on in the coming weeks. 

No. 2: Peyton brings up 2004 NFL Draft

Of the two Manning brothers, Rivers is more often linked with Eli due to the way things unfolded in the infamous 2004 NFL Draft. 

Not only were Rivers and Eli products of the same class, but they were also traded for one another on draft night.

After his senior season at NC State, Rivers was selected fourth overall in the 2004 Draft by the New York Giants. Manning, a product of Ole Miss, was selected first overall by the San Diego Chargers. 

But Manning had informed the Chargers that he had no desire to join their franchise. He ended up being traded to the Giants for Rivers and additional draft picks, and the rest is history. 

Manning eventually won two Super Bowls with the Giants. Meanwhile, Rivers was never able to reach a Super Bowl despite appearing in the playoffs seven times. 

When Peyton asked Rivers if he ever thinks about what life would have been like playing for the Giants, Rivers was graceful and insisted that “it worked out for the best” but that he does think about it all the time. 

Rivers even shared a story of spending the night of the draft in his parents’ house in Raleigh. 

He knew something was weird when he saw he was drafted by the Giants on television but never got a call. 

Apparently, his parents’ neighbors were big Giants fans. Knowing that their neighbor’s son had just been drafted by their favorite team, they started honking their car horns as soon as it was announced. 

“I think I signed a Lawrence Taylor jersey,” Rivers recalled. “It was the only time I ever gave an autograph affiliated with the Giants.”

No. 3: The Bolo tie origin story

One of the things Rivers became famous for while in the NFL was that he would wear bolo ties before and after games during his media availability on game days.

That led to the story of how the look became synonymous with the longtime Chargers quarterback. 

From 2007-2012, Rivers was coached by Norv Turner in San Diego. 

Turner didn’t have a strict gameday attire dress code and allowed his players to have a business casual look when they would travel as a team. 

Evidently, that was preferable to Rivers. 

Turner was fired after the 2012 season and was replaced by Mike McCoy, who insisted on a professional coat and tie for his players on game days. 

At the time, Rivers was joined by reserve Charlie Whitehurst in the quarterback room. 

As Rivers recalls, Whitehurst came up with the idea knowing the starter’s disdain for neckties and recommended he go with bolo ties to get around the rule. 

Rivers went with it and eventually stuck with it after getting quite a few compliments. But not everyone is a fan. 

“My wife hates it,” Rivers joked. 

Rivers’s only recommendation to those looking to match his style? To buy them at “Boot Barn.”

No. 4: NC State name drops

Rivers’s roughly 20-minute appearance on “ManningCast” didn’t go without mention of NC State. Not only was Raleigh’s name dropped, but Peyton was left asking about the Wolfpack as well. 

The Mannings brought up one of their first interactions with Rivers. As they recalled, it was at the 2003 Manning Passing Academy camp. 

Rivers and Eli were both seniors in college while Peyton led the workout with the college quarterbacks. 

When it was mentioned, the broadcast showed pictures on Rivers at the camp in NC State practice gear, which prompted an NC State shout out from Peyton. 

Eli recalls asking Philip if he wanted to join the guys for beers after the workout. Rivers declined, saying instead that he needed to call the wife and kids. 

To that, Eli recalled acknowledging Rivers’s maturity for his age. 

At the last return from a timeout, the broadcast showed Rivers changing football helmets in his background. 

Peyton narrated which helmets he displayed, recognizing the helmet of the high school football teams Rivers just coached along with a Chargers and Colts helmet. 

That left Peyton asking “No Wolfpack? Where’s the Wolfpack helmet?”

To which Rivers responded that he still needed to get the Wolfpack helmet out of storage since his family was “still getting situated down here.”