Big Mouth Has Become Rivers’s Trademark
Some gems:
- For all of the reasons to celebrate Philip Rivers – his emergence as a Pro Bowl passer in his first year as a starter, his impeccable off-the-field behavior, his exceptionally gutsy effort in last year’s AFC Championship game after having torn his anterior cruciate ligament the week before – the fifth-year quarterback heads into the 2008 season as a 6-foot-5, 228-pound target.
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That, of course, was the real story. But do a word-association game with the typical NFL fan – or player – outside of San Diego County, and Rivers is likely to provoke a far less complimentary response than courageous or heroic.
Both words applied last January in frigid Foxborough, Mass., where Rivers summoned what seemed to be a medical miracle. Having torn the ACL in his right knee in the Chargers’ divisional playoff upset of the defending champion Colts in Indy, Rivers had an arthroscopic procedure to clean out the area the following day and set his sights on playing in the AFC Championship game six days later. With the knee heavily taped underneath a stabilizing brace, Rivers braved the 23-degree temperature (and a wind chill of nine degrees) at Gillette Stadium and hung tough against the undefeated Patriots, completing 19 of 37 passes for 211 yards in a 21-12 defeat.
That effort elevated Rivers in the eyes of his teammates, who already appreciated him for his intelligence and cool under fire. “That he played at all was amazing,” Chambers says. “He really proved a lot.”
- But in leading the Chargers to victories in their final six regular season games and first two playoff contests, Rivers completed 133 of 214 passes (62.1 percent) for 1,656 yards, throwing 14 touchdowns and only five interceptions for a cumulative passer rating of 98.2.
- To his credit, Rivers resists all efforts to play up his improbable effort in the AFC Championship game. This is yet another indication that Rivers, the son of an Alabama high school football coach, doesn’t possess the prima donna tendencies expected of him by many of his critics.
- You have to love Chris Chambers, too, and even more for what he says about his beloved quarterback: “He holds no punches, whether he’s talking to our guys or guys on (the opposing) defense. It rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But we know him. We know what he’s about inside. And that’s the guy we want leading our team.”
