(TNS) —Philip Rivers came out of retirement earlier this week to try to help the Indianapolis Colts make the playoffs after their top three quarterbacks suffered injuries in recent weeks. It’s been five years since Rivers last played in the NFL, which, surprisingly enough, is not the longest hiatus between a retirement and a comeback in league history.

Bronko Nagurski, who is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was retired for six years before he made a comeback in 1943 to play for Chicago when the Bears’ roster was decimated by players who were drafted into service during World War II.

Rivers, a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, is the latest in a long line of all-time greats to come out of retirement.

Tom Brady’s first retirement lasted only a few weeks, while Deion Sanders’ lasted three years. Brett Favre, Randy Moss and Reggie White are a few other Hall of Famers to come out of retirement.

Former Steelers center Mike Webster did not officially retire after he became a free agent in 1988, but he did quit playing to take a coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs before the 1989 season. When Webster realized he could help the Chiefs as a player, he convinced coach Marty Schottenheimer to sign him as a player.

Webster played two more seasons with the Chiefs, starting 23 more games before he finally did retire following the 1990 season.

The one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is NFL coaches valuing players with veteran experience and leadership. It’s become somewhat of a trend in recent years for players to come out of retirement late in the season.

The NFL regular season is a war of attrition. As injuries mount late in the season, coaches want experienced players on the field to take snaps in those pressurized, late-season moments.

Four years ago, after the Rams lost starting safety Jordan Fuller to an injury late in the season, they coaxed safety Eric Weddle out of retirement for the playoffs. Weddle not only stepped in as a starter, but he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl a few weeks later.

The Steelers pulled two players out of retirement late in the 2023 season after injuries ravaged their starting linebacker corps. They lost Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander to season-ending injuries in the middle of the season, setting off a frenzy of moves that included bringing Myles Jack out of retirement.

Jack, who started 13 games for the Steelers in 2022, was busy running the Allen Americans, his minor league hockey franchise in the East Coast Hockey League, when the Steelers called. He answered the phone and ended up playing in the final three games of the regular season and in the playoff game against Buffalo.

Former Green Bay linebacker Blake Martinez also was retired for a year before he made a comeback in the middle of that season. Martinez was signed to Carolina’s practice squad in October, and the Steelers signed him to their active roster shortly after that. He even started a game for them.

Those two — along with Mykal Walker, who was signed off the street — helped the Steelers win their final three games of the regular season to make the playoffs. Jack played 26 snaps in the AFC wild card against the Bills, a game the Steelers lost 31-17.

The patchwork inside linebacker corps of 2023 came to mind Sunday afternoon in Baltimore when Malik Harrison was knocked out of the game with a concussion and Patrick Queen was in and out of the game with a glute injury.

Holcomb, now a reserve after a remarkable comeback from his gruesome 2023 knee injury, stepped in and led the Steelers in tackles in the 27-22 victory over the Ravens, a game that put the Steelers in sole possession of first place in the AFC North with four games remaining.

“It was certainly needed,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “I’m appreciative of Cole Holcomb’s contributions. Malik has a certain job description for us. When he went down, I thought Cole did a nice job. But depth is big, certainly at the linebacker position.”

Of course, Jack isn’t the most famous Steelers linebacker to come out of retirement. That distinction belongs to James Harrison, who signed with the Steelers a few weeks into the 2014 season after Jarvis Jones suffered a fractured wrist.

Harrison, who had played the previous two seasons with the Bengals, was recruited by old teammates Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Brett Keisel to come back to the team for one more run.

Harrison came back for more than that. Not only did he register 5.5 sacks in 11 games that season for a playoff team, but he played three more seasons after that. Harrison finished his career as the Steelers’ all-time sacks leader, adding 20.5 sacks in the four seasons he played following his retirement.