Jeff Pearlman doesn’t understand why CBS announcers weren’t being honest about Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers threw a football on Sunday for the first time in an NFL game since January 2021.

If you watched the Colts-Seahawks game, you probably noticed that those five years showed up on nearly every single pass. Author Jeff Pearlman certainly did, and he wasn’t thrilled with how CBS’s Andrew Catalon, Jason McCourty, and Charles Davis called the action.

Pearlman posted a TikTok during the game, calling out the broadcast for what he saw as dishonesty. McCourty and Davis kept trying to make Rivers’ performance sound intriguing, even though, according to Pearlman, anyone watching could see the 44-year-old didn’t have much left.

“I’m watching the Seahawks-Colts game, and I feel like the announcers are being pretty dishonest, actually,” Pearlman said. “Jason McCourty and Charles Davis, they keep making it intriguing about Philip Rivers and ‘Well, this and that and this…’ Like, he has nothing on his ball. He has nothing on his ball. I mean, he’s throwing balloons out there.”

@jeffpearlmanauthor I do not understand why CBS’ announcers aren’t being honest about Philip Rivers: Who no longer has an NFL arm. At all. #philiprivers #colts #indianapoloscolts #seattleseahawks #nfl ♬ original sound – Jeff Pearlman

Rivers never had a cannon for an arm during his playing days with the Chargers and that one season in Indianapolis. But asking someone who spent the last five years coaching high school football to generate NFL velocity is asking a lot. The game stayed close early, 3-3, when Pearlman filmed his video, but Rivers’ passes looked exactly like what you’d expect from someone who hasn’t played competitive football since the COVID season.

“He never had a great arm, but now he has like no arm,” Pearlman continued. “If I were Riley Leonard — if he’s even slightly healthy — or I think C.J. Beathard might be on the roster (he’s on the Detroit Lions practice squad), I’d be very confused by this. I really would. He cannot — there’s nothing on his footballs at all. The fact that he’s completed some passes is a little bit of luck and a little bit of timing, but there’s nothing there.”

Pearlman’s issue wasn’t with Rivers himself. The guy is 44 years old and a grandfather. Nobody expects him to look like he did in 2011. The problem was that the CBS broadcast kept selling this as some kind of compelling comeback story when what was actually happening on the field looked more like exactly what everyone predicted would happen when the Colts announced this plan, aside from the fact that Rivers didn’t leave the field on a stretcher.

“And I think the announcers have to say that,” Pearlman said. “They have to be very clear. That’s what honest announcing is in sports, is you say from your experience what you’re seeing. And if a quarterback is throwing helium balloons, the only way to call it is to be honest about it. And to keep adding like this, almost a sense of intrigue to Philip Rivers, but it’s quickly not that intriguing. He’s not getting his ass kicked yet. The game is 3-3, but he’s not at this level anymore, and it’s OK to say that as an announcer.”

The whole Rivers situation has been treated wildly differently depending on who’s talking about it. Ryan Clark called the decision to start him “incompetent” and “irresponsible” on First Take earlier in the week. But once the actual game started, the CBS crew apparently decided to frame it as this feel-good story rather than describe what was actually happening on the field.

McCourty and Davis aren’t bad announcers. They’re former players who generally know what they’re talking about. But Pearlman’s complaint was that they were choosing to package this as something it wasn’t. Rivers completed some early passes because NFL offenses are designed to get the ball out quickly, and his timing was apparently still decent. That doesn’t mean his arm looked like it belonged in an NFL game in 2025.

“And also start asking if you’re the backup quarterback of the Colts, how do you feel about this? Do you feel disrespected? Are you confused? You know you have a better arm than this. You know you’ve played more recently, and yet, they’re playing a 44-year-old guy who hasn’t thrown a ball in five years, who can’t throw a football anymore,” Pearlman added. “It’s just weird to me. It’s kind of a weird take by the announcers.”