There were several unusual sports stories which occurred over the weekend.  Let’s jump right in!

WWE star performer John Cena finally ended his year-long “Good-bye” tour on Saturday night in a nationally televised wrestling event in Washington DC. 

The 48-year old Cena was a 17-time WWE champion and, more recently, has become involved in the movie business much like former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Longtime NFL quarterback Philip Rivers, though, just exited his nearly five-year football retirement at age 44 on Sunday to lead the Indianapolis Colts. 

Rivers last played NFL football in January, 2021.

The irony is that it might be entirely possible that these two 40-something athletes might just find themselves doing the opposite at some point soon.

Cena taps-out to the disappointment of millions of wrestling fans

John Cena publicly announced his decision to retire from professional wrestling before the end of 2025 due to the physical nature of the sport and his advancing age.  That sounds rational and reasonable for a 48-year old man working in such a demanding and dangerous profession.

John Cena’s wrestling ring motto was “Never give up!”

Alas, the WWE scriptwriters for Saturday night’s final match ignored Cena’s favorite slogan.

The popular John Cena tapped-out (gave up) in losing to a designated bad guy (“heel”) named Gunther.

No, not Gunther Toody from “Car 54, Where are You?”

There is actually a pro wrestler named Gunther!

The wink-and-nod nature of pro wrestling etiquette is for the exiting top star to lose in their final match to promote an up-and-coming personality.  The exiting champion’s loss usually provides a significant “push” up the prestige ladder for the winner in popularity (good or bad) with pro wrestling fans.

John Cena’s surprising loss to Gunther (a well-trained and very proficient wrestler who, unfortunately, has the personality of a dill pickle) means that something special is likely coming for Gunther soon in the WWE.

Perhaps Gunther will receive a much-needed personality transplant and become a good guy (“baby face”) during 2026?

Meanwhile, John Cena signed a 5-year deal to stick around WWE and help promote the business.  He claimed that his wrestling days were officially over as of Saturday night.

But, hey, we’re talking pro wrestling here!

You never know when a new script will developed by the WWE requiring none other than John Cena to save the day and make yet another “final” comeback, right?

NFL: Ol’ Man Rivers…he keeps on rollin’ along!

On the other end of the retirement spectrum, 44-year old quarterback Philip Rivers returned to the NFL on Sunday!

The aging QB is now one good hit away from being sent back to his Alabama Gulf Coast home to begin a second NFL retirement soon.

The Indianapolis Colts were the darlings of the NFL during the first two months of this season.

They raced out to 7-1 start. Indy then lost four of its next five games.

Making matters worse, starting quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a season-ending Achilles tendon injury one week ago in Jacksonville.  Back-up quarterback Anthony Richardson was already on injured reserve nursing an eye injury.

The Colts turned to a rookie third-stringer named Riley Leonard to replace the injured Daniel Jones in the game at Jacksonville.

The former Notre Dame signal caller completed 18 out of 29 passes for a measly 145 yards and one interception in the Colts’ 34-19 defeat.  The team’s record fell to 8-5.

Indianapolis found itself one game behind Jacksonville in the AFC South.  The Colts’ playoff hopes were fading quickly.

Enter Philip Rivers

Quarterback Philip Rivers played 16 of his 17 NFL seasons with the San Diego-turned-Los Angeles Chargers.

He became a free agent in 2020 and played for one final season with the Indianapolis Colts before retiring in early 2021 at age 39.

The veteran quarterback has been living in southern Alabama wondering whether he might still be able to compete at a high level once again.

Rivers said, “My wife always tells me that I’m crazy because there’s been times in the past three or four years when I said, ‘I wish I could just throw one and get hit hard!’ She’s like, ‘That’s not normal’!’”t

A series of calls between Philip Rivers and his former Indianapolis coach brought the veteran signal caller out of retirement last week.

He left the toasty Gulf Coast and traveled to frigid Indianapolis for one final NFL ride.  The likely Hall-of-Fame quarterback found himself in the team’s starting line-up days later on Sunday as the Colts traveled to play Seattle.

Sunday’s game against the Seahawks saw Philip Rivers complete 18 of 27 pass attempts for a modest 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

He led to the Colts downfield to take the lead with just 47 seconds remaining as newly signed (former Saints) placekicker Blake Grupe nailed a 60-yard field goal.

Unfortunately, the Colts’ defense allowed Seattle to move the ball downfield to score a game-winning 57-yard field goal by Jason Myers with only seconds remaining.

The Indianapolis Colts’ 18-16 loss dropped the team to 8-6 and two games behind Jacksonville in the AFC South.

With three games left in the NFL regular season, Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts face a daunting challenge to qualify for the playoffs.

Their next two games come at home against San Francisco (10-4) and Jacksonville (10-4). The Colts will close the season against their AFC South rival Houston Texans (9-5).

Ouch.  This won’t get any easier for Ol’ Man Rivers and his Indianapolis Colts.

The New Orleans Saints have become the NFL’s 2025 spoiler team

Two weeks ago, the New Orleans Saints were a pitiful 2-10 and in the running for earning the NFL’s #1 draft pick next spring by having the worst record in the league.

However, two consecutive wins over NFC South leaders Tampa Bay and Carolina have injected the suddenly-spunky Saints with some late-season confidence.

The Saints rallied from behind in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive week on Sunday in defeating this week’s NFC South leader Carolina 20-17.  The loss dropped the Panthers into a first place tie with the team which New Orleans beat last weekend in western Florida.  Tampa Bay and Carolina are now tied at 7-7.

The Saints improved to 4-10 and have zero chance of receiving the #1 draft pick next spring. Sunday’s victory put New Orleans behind a 2-12 trio of the Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants plus the 3-11 duo of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

Most Saints fans couldn’t be happier, though.

Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough has displayed rapid improvement and provided some much-needed leadership in the Saints’ offensive huddle.

The New Orleans Saints defense has been excellent recently, too.  The team’s final three games are winnable (at home for the 3-11 Jets this coming Sunday and on the road at 2-12 Tennessee and 5-9 Atlanta).  A 7-10 finish would be a huge accomplishment for rookie head coach Kellen Moore and his staff.

Saints fans are finally feeling a little renewed hope for their favorite team.

Did you hear about the wild finish in a Louisiana high school state championship game last Friday?

Imagine if your high school football team had scored the potential game-tying touchdown in the state championship game with just 35 seconds left to play.  The extra point kick would tie the score, but…he missed it!

Oh, no!

The St. Charles Comets from LaPlace (30 miles NW of New Orleans) were that team last Friday night in the Louisiana Superdome.  Their opponent was none other than the defending state champion Archbishop Shaw High School Eagles (also from the New Orleans area).

The Comets trailed 21-20 and attempted an onside kick.  Shaw recovered.

St. Charles used its two remaining timeouts after first and second downs.  With no more timeouts remaining, all Shaw’s Eagles had to do to claim the state championship was to take a knee and watch the game clock run out.

On that fateful third down play, one of Shaw’s offensive linemen prematurely tossed his helmet into the air – thinking that his team had already won the state championship.

The game officials said, “Not so fast!”

Archbishop Shaw was whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play.  The Eagles faced a fourth down punting situation after the premature celebration penalty was whistled.

St. Charles then partially blocked the punt.

The Comets remarkably had the football back but only seconds remaining to be played.  A sideline pass completion found the Comets’ receiver running out of bounds to stop the clock and bring on a potential game winning field goal attempt.

Yes, the field goal kicker would be the same St. Charles high school placekicker who missed the potential game-tying extra point just moments earlier.   This time, he would attempt a 47-yard game-winning field goal on the game’s final play.

Tyler Milioto’s kick went, as New Orleans Saints fans might say, “Right down Poydras Street!” and through the uprights.

St. Charles emerged with an improbable 23-21 win as pandemonium ensued in the Superdome.

The players, coaches, and fans of both teams had just experienced extreme sadness and happiness – all during the final minute of play.

For Archbishop Shaw’s team and fans, there was understandable confusion and anger about how the referees could have penalized one of their young men for being overly excited about winning a state football championship.

The St. Charles Comets fans couldn’t believe their own good fortune in getting a second chance to win the game.  The team’s kicker felt a very special redemption.

“I felt like I had lost us the game, and then the next thing I know I’m out there kicking the game-winning field goal,” said St. Charles kicker Tyler Milioto.

Indeed!  It was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

No one will forget that high school football game!

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