Steve Young says he can still play in wake of Philip Rivers’ improbable return

After Philip Rivers made his improbable comeback this year, Steve Young is claiming he still might have some gas left in the tank, too.

The 64-year-old Hall of Famer said recently that despite his age and his time away from the game, if he had to get under center for an NFL team like Rivers did, he could.

“I absolutely feel confident that I could take the snap, run the screen game, throw the ball in the flat, maybe throw a slant,” Young told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Young last suited up in 1999, and it was hardly his most memorable year. He played in just three games, and during the third, he sustained a head injury that not only kept him out for the rest of the season, but it also effectively ended his career.

Young, though, said he’s confident he could still sling it on the gridiron — albeit in a severely limited capacity.

“It’s not like, ‘Put on the pads and go play,'” he said. “Still, if it was ‘Hunger Games’? If they said, you had to do this or die? Yeah, you could pull off something.”

Young wasn’t the only legendary signal-caller feeling that way after watching Rivers return from a nearly five-year hiatus to quarterback the Colts — Kurt Warner also told the Chronicle he could complete passes in today’s game if required.

“I get it, I’m 54 now,” Warner said. “So I’m not stupid, but, I mean, I can still go out in my backyard and throw a football (well), right? So, I think when you can do that, you say to yourself, ‘If I could just get acclimated to the speed again and just get acclimated to the physical part to some degree …'”

Rivers went 18-for-27 for 120 yards, a touchdown and an interception in his season debut for Indianapolis in Week 15. He’ll get another crack at NFL action on Monday, when the Colts take on the 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Warner, who hasn’t played since 2009 but admitted he had thoughts of a comeback in 2014, went on to praise Rivers for putting himself in a position where failing could cause a blemish on a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

“Most people wouldn’t do that,” he said.