Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers in 2006
San Diego Chargers
Career information
College:	North Carolina State
NFL draft:	2004 / round: 1 / pick: 4
Career history
San Diego Chargers (2004–present)
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowl selection (2006) Senior Bowl MVP (2004) ACC Athlete of the Year (2004) ACC Rookie of the Year (2000)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008
TD-INT: 78-36 Passing yards: 10,697 QB Rating: 92.9 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Philip Rivers (born December 8, 1981 in Decatur, Alabama) is a professional American football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 2004 NFL Draft as one half of the infamous Manning-Rivers draft trade which sent him to San Diego and the 1st overall pick, Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, to the New York Giants. Rivers played college football at North Carolina State University. He goes by the nickname of "Wild" Rivers, a reference to the local water park.

After starting Chargers quarterback Drew Brees went to the New Orleans Saints after the 2005 season, Rivers was named the starter and led the Chargers to a 14-2 record in his first season. In 2007, he helped the Chargers win their first playoff game since 1994 after beating the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round of the 2007 playoffs and eventually leading them to the AFC Championship game.

Early life

Rivers worked as a waterboy at Decatur High School, in Decatur, Alabama, where his father Steve was the head coach of the football team. As part of a fifth-grade project, he had to make a poster about his dreams and aspirations. On the poster, he pasted his face over that of a Minnesota Vikings player who had appeared on a cover of Sports Illustrated. He has worn the number 17 since ninth grade; it is in honor of his father, who wore the same number in high school. Though residing in his hometown of Decatur, Philip played high school ball at Athens High School in nearby Athens, Alabama, where he earned the nickname "McFishy-tush" because of his love for McRib sandwiches with tartar sauce.

College career

After high school, Rivers attended North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he played for coach Chuck Amato. During his collegiate career, Rivers shattered almost every NC State and Atlantic Coast Conference passing record. His career culminated with his record 51st college start, establishing a new benchmark for consistency in college football. Rivers was a reliable quarterback for the Wolfpack, starting all four years. The Wolfpack went to four consecutive bowl games under the leadership of Rivers, winning three of them, including a New Year's Day victory over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in the 2003 Gator Bowl.

Rivers was named ACC Athlete of the Year in 2004 and was also named the game MVP of 4 bowl games, two Tangerine Bowls, a Gator Bowl and the 2004 Senior Bowl. Rivers was even named the "Offensive MVP" for NC State in a losing cause to Pittsburgh in 2001's Tangerine Bowl. He was considered a Heisman candidate by some journalists, but he was not invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation. Rivers finished his career with 13,484 passing yards, 4th all-time among Division 1-A quarterbacks (he was 2nd at the end of his collegiate career). He also threw 95 touchdown passes, which ties him for eighth all-time with Kliff Kingsbury and Brady Quinn. His career YPA (yards per attempt) average (9.55) is still the best in college football history. Rivers' number was retired before his final home game at North Carolina State.

Professional career

2004 NFL Draft

Main article: Manning-Rivers trade

Rivers was projected to be an early first-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He was viewed by many prognosticators as the best quarterback in a draft that included Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. But despite Rivers' record of success in college and remarkable accuracy (72% completion percentage for his senior season), questions about his lack of arm strength and his unorthodox side-arm throwing motion were concerns for some NFL GMs. The pre-draft consensus was that Rivers could be selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 11th pick. The Chargers coveted Eli Manning and wanted to select him with their first round pick, which was also the first overall pick of the draft. However, after Eli Manning indicated before the draft that he would not sign with the San Diego Chargers, the Chargers were forced to adjust their plans. Rivers was their first alternative to Manning because the Chargers head coach at the time, Marty Schottenheimer, had coached Rivers at the Senior Bowl and he liked what he saw from Rivers. The Chargers agreed to a trade on draft day with the New York Giants, who possessed the fourth pick of the draft. Manning was selected by the San Diego Chargers then later in the draft traded to the New York Giants for Rivers and the rights to draft picks used to select future Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding.

San Diego Chargers

2004

In August 2004, Rivers signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract with the San Diego Chargers that included $14.5 million in signing bonuses. However, due to a protracted contract negotiation with the San Diego Chargers, Rivers reported to the team during the last week of training camp. As a result, the Chargers gave incumbent quarterback Drew Brees the opportunity to retain his starting job at the beginning of the season. With almost no training camp time under his belt, Rivers was unable to wrest the starting position from Drew Brees during the 2004 preseason. Rivers began the season as the Chargers' third QB option, behind Doug Flutie, but ahead of the #4 QB Cleo Lemon. Lemon was a quarterback at Arkansas State and played against Rivers in Rivers' first collegiate game. Unfortunately for Rivers, Brees went on to have by far the best season of his career up to that point. By the end of the season, Drew Brees was named to the NFL Pro Bowl and won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Rivers received very limited playing time in the 2004 season, playing in only two games. He only threw passes in the second half of the last game of the 2004 season (a win over Kansas City), by which time the Chargers had already clinched a home playoff spot and the AFC West division title.

2005

Rivers was promoted to the #2 on the quarterback depth chart after the Chargers released Doug Flutie, who later signed with the New England Patriots.

Rivers was unable to beat out Drew Brees for the starting quarterback job in the Chargers' 2005 training camp and preseason, thus remaining the backup QB. In the Chargers' final game of the 2005 season, at home in Qualcomm Stadium, Rivers entered the game after Brees dislocated his right shoulder late in the second quarter due to a hit from Denver Broncos safety John Lynch. Rivers completed 12 of 22 passing attempts for 115 yards with one interception and two fumbles. The Chargers lost to Denver, 20–7. However, Rivers led the Chargers on their only scoring drive that game, which culminated in a 4-yard TD run by RB LaDainian Tomlinson.

2006

After the 2005 season, Drew Brees was not re-signed (partly due to the injury suffered in the Denver game) by the Chargers, instead signing a large contract that included sizeable guaranteed money with the New Orleans Saints during the 2006 free agency period. Many doubted the Chargers' decision to change quarterbacks as they were a Super Bowl contender, believing that Rivers' inexperience would hinder them. Rivers was named the Chargers' starter going into training camp. Expectations were high for Rivers due to the large amount of talent on the San Diego Chargers' offense and the performance of his peers from the 2004 draft (Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger) as starters.

Football Outsiders projected that Rivers would become an NFL star before the 2006 season due to his spectacular completion percentage in college (72% as a senior). After just 5 NFL starts, Rivers was named the second best NFL quarterback under 25 years of age by Sports Illustrated and drew numerous comparisons to Dan Marino for his quick release and pocket presence..

On September 11, 2006, Rivers made his NFL start against the Oakland Raiders. Rivers managed the game well despite only passing 11 times, but completed 8 passes as well as one TD in a 27–0 rout of the Raiders. After his first game, Rivers led the NFL in QB rating with 133.9.

The fifth week of the season, the reigning Super Bowl-champion Pittsburgh Steelers came to town, and Bill Cowher's defensive game plan revolved around stopping LaDainian Tomlinson. This game marked a turning point for Rivers, who aided by head coach Marty Schottenheimer's opening of the playbook, proceeded to take the game on his shoulders and led the team in a come-from-behind victory throwing 24-of-37 for 242 yards and two TDs, winning 23–13. This was LT's favorite "Rivers Moment" from 2006 remarking, "It was just the simple fact that we couldn't run the ball and he had to win the game for us, and he did.""

On November 12, 2006, Rivers had the best game of his short career and led the San Diego Chargers to an improbable comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals. Down 28–7 at halftime, Rivers led the Chargers on six drives culminating in touchdowns. After driving in for the Chargers first touchdown after halftime, Nick Hardwick, River's center, reminisced about Rivers, mimicking his southern drawl, "He's yelling 'Y'all don't think we're out of this' to the Bengals. When he said that, I said, 'Shoot, I guess we ain't out of this. Right on.'" Rivers himself threw for 337 yards and three touchdown passes, while LaDainian Tomlinson scored three of their four rushing touchdowns. San Diego outscored Cincinnati 42–13 in the second half winning the game 49–41, matching the biggest comeback in 23 years for the Chargers.

Then the very next week against what was considered at the time to be a strong Denver Broncos defense, the Chargers became the first team in history to win back-to-back games after trailing by 17 or more points and also the first team to win four straight when allowing at least 24 points in each game. Rivers led several 4th quarter comebacks in 2006, and posted the league's highest 4th quarter quarterback rating. His performance over the season led to a selection to the 2007 Pro Bowl. After a 14–2 season the Chargers were set to play the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Patriots won 24–21.

2007

Norv Turner took over as the head coach of the Chargers in 2007. After a 1–3 start, the Chargers found their groove finishing 11–5 and winning the AFC West for the second straight year. The Chargers also won their first two playoff games since the 1994 season, beating the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts before falling to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game 21–12.

Following the playoff loss, Rivers revealed that he required surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury he had played through during the Chargers' playoff run - this operation would require 6 months recovery. However, Rivers promised to be back in time for training camp before the start of the 2008 season

2008

In 2008, Rivers had the highest quarterback rating in the NFL with a league leading 34 Touchdown passes, 105.5 Passer Rating, and a league best 8.4 yards per pass attempt. On December 28, 2008, Rivers set the Chargers team record for touchdown passes in a season with 34, a record previously held by Dan Fouts, who had 33 in 1981. After a 4–8 start, Rivers threw 11 touchdown passes and only 1 interception to win the final four games of the season, winning the AFC West division against the Denver Broncos with the score 52–21 leading them to the playoff against the Colts. Despite having good stats in 2008 Rivers was only able to lead his team to an 8-8 record. Fortunately for Rivers the AFC West were quite poor and they were able to win the division over Denver by a tie-breaker. On January 3, 2009, the San Diego Chargers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 23–17 to advance to the AFC Divisional Playoff. Rivers led the Chargers down the field down 3 points with under 2 minutes left. He set up Nate Kaeding for a game-tying field goal that would lead to overtime, where the Chargers would go on to win 23–17, thanks to a Darren Sproles touchdown. In the divisional round versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rivers played well throwing for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns but was sacked 4 times and threw an interception. Despite his efforts, the team fell short and lost to the Steelers 35–24. They possessed the ball for only 17 seconds during the third quarter and had only 15 yards rushing.

2009

On August 24, Rivers signed a 6-year, $92 million contract extension with the Chargers, with approximately $38 million guaranteed.

Personal life

Rivers and his wife, Tiffany, began dating in the seventh grade. They have three daughters (Halle, Caroline and Grace) and one son (Philip "Gunner"). Rivers is good friends with Chicago White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy, who is also from Alabama and, up until 2009, also played in San Diego with the Padres.

Rivers currently lives in Poway, a suburb in San Diego County.

See Also

• List of NFL quarterbacks who have passed for 400 or more yards in a game

External links

• Philip Rivers at the San Diego Chargers website