It's astounding enough that Philip Rivers on Sunday, just five days after his 44th birthday, will take a snap under center for the Colts five years after he last played in the NFL. There are several facts about Rivers that make his NFL comeback even more remarkable, but none more extraordinary than the fact that he's a grandfather at 44 years young.
But Rivers is not the first grandfather to play in the NFL—or even in pro sports entirely. There have been several high-profile stars in each pro sports league who played at a high level long enough for their children to have children of their own.
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Philip Rivers
Rivers will be making his 241st career start in Week 15 against the Seahawks. During his decorated 18-year NFL career, Rivers has eclipsed 60,000 passing yards, 400 touchdown passes and has been selected to eight Pro Bowl teams. Nine of Rivers's 10 children were born during his playing career, and his oldest child, Halle, had a child of her own back in November of 2024, making Rivers a grandparent. So he'll officially join this list when he takes the field for the Colts.
Brett Favre
Favre, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, was an iron man, as he set the record for the most consecutive starts in NFL history with 297, a stretch of games dating from September of 1992 until December of 2010. His incredible longevity helped allow him to make this list, for his daughter Brittany gave birth to a baby boy while the then-41-year-old Favre was playing for the Vikings during the 2010 campaign.
Julio Franco
Franco's MLB career spanned 23 seasons, eight different teams, four presidential administrations and three decades. He became the oldest player in baseball history to achieve the following feats: hit a grand slam, steal two bases in the same game, and oldest player to enter a game as a pinch runner. Franco became a grandfather during the 2007 season, his final campaign in the big leagues, with the Braves. Amazingly, he once hit a home run with his grandson in attendance, according to ESPN and MLB.com. That's a feat that one would expect would be a first, but it was actually first achieved by the next man on this list.
Stan Musial
Stan Musial did many amazing things during his Hall of Fame MLB career. Stan the Man rapped out 3,630 career hits, the fourth-most ever. The three-time National League MVP belted 475 career home runs, tied for the 32nd most in baseball history. In 1962, at the age of 41, he finished the season with a .330 batting average, good for third in the NL. But one of the most impressive things Musial ever achieved occurred in the waning months of his final season in 1963. The first of Musial's 11 grandchildren was born on Sept. 10, 1963, and Musial and his wife Lil had stayed up until 1:30 a.m. awaiting his birth before they went to bed. Restless, they awoke at 4 a.m. and moments later received a phone call from Musial's son saying the child had been born. That night, Musial, on the first pitch he saw as a grandfather, belted a two-run homer atop the pavilion roof at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Robert Parish
Parish was a key member of the dynastic Celtics in the 1980s, with whom he won three NBA championships. He then helped the 1996-97 Bulls win a title. Remarkably, Parish played 80-plus games in a season nine times in his career, the first time as a 24-year-old, the last as a 41-year-old. In September of 1994, Parish's daughter gave birth to the then-41-year-old's first grandchild. In April of 1996, Parish broke the record for the most career games played in NBA history, and at halftime was gifted the most appropriate present in honor of the achievement: a grandfather clock.
Gordie Howe
Howe played professional hockey from when he was just 18 years old to when he was 51 years young. No wonder he was given the nickname Mr. Hockey. From 1961 until 2021, Howe held the record for the most career games played in the NHL. And he did a lot of winning in his hockey career, as he won four Stanley Cups with the legendary 1950s Red Wings, then went on to play six years in the now-defunct World Hockey Association, where he won two more championships with the Houston Aeros. Howe's first grandchild was born while he was playing in the WHA playoffs for the New England Whalers in 1978. He then played one final season in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Philip Rivers and Five Other Grandfathers Who Have Played Professional Sports.