Had the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 56, Philip Rivers could have gotten another shot at winning a Super Bowl ring.
Rivers retired after the 2020 season despite throwing for 4,169 yards and 24 touchdowns and despite leading the Indianapolis Colts to 11 wins. They narrowly fell to the heavily favored Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round by a final score of 27-24.
But if the 49ers somehow managed to advance to Super Bowl 57 without all of Brock Purdy, Jimmy Garoppolo and Josh Johnson? San Fran head coach Kyle Shanahan would’ve looked at bringing in a 41-year-old Rivers to start the big game, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner:
“He was prepared to. Now that’s stuff we talked about throughout the whole year. We would’ve had to have seen how that was for the Super Bowl, but that was the plan most of the year.”
The 49ers’ unlucky string of injuries to QBs began in Week 2 of last season, when starter Trey Lance suffered a broken injury against the Seattle Seahawks. 11 weeks later, Jimmy Garoppolo (the 49ers’ main starter since 2017) suffered a broken foot which also ended his year.
Rookie Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, was up for the challenge and on all five regular season starts. He led San Fran to the NFC Championship Game but had to leave early after suffering a torn UCL.
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Backup Josh Johnson suffered a concussion in the game and had to leave, prompting the 49ers to use a very limited Purdy behind center. The Eagles went on to win the NFC Championship by a final score of 31-7.
To think that if the Eagles somehow lost that game, an eight-time Pro Bowler and 41-year-old could have been facing off his longtime AFC West foes in the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Who knows? Maybe a team will grow desperate enough for a QB and place Rivers a call in 2023. And maybe, just maybe, the Chargers’ legend will take the offer.
