In this blog post, Up in The Rafters writer Braeden Fruin writes about his favorite NFL player, Philip Rivers.
I was eleven and my brother and I had just gotten our first Madden game. Madden 06, we went into our first game together, and I chose the Chargers, I’m fairly certain it was arbitrary, if there was a reason, I’ve forgotten it. My first play was a run with the legendary Ladanian Tomlinson, it went 90 yards for the touchdown. A favorite player and favorite team were chosen that day and I haven’t looked back, much to my chagrin. I ended up beating my brother, a feat accomplished rarely, that would be the last time the Chargers ever came through for me with a big win...just kidding, but much less than I’d like. My fandom with the Chargers has thus far coincided completely with the career of Philip Rivers. While the future is bright with Justin Herbert, I want to look back and celebrate a player whose career has shaped my football-watching life, it’ll never be the same without him. These are my three favorite Philip Rivers games. In no particular order.
Chargers at Chiefs Week 15, 2018
Chargers at Chiefs week 15, 2018. 2018 was a fever dream season for the Chargers, after multiple seasons ranging from mediocre to bottom five, it was all coming together in 2018, and the week 15 game against the Chiefs was the season's climax. For some context, the Chargers had not beaten the Chiefs for nine straight games, that’s four seasons of football. Chargers were 10-3, Chiefs 11-2, this was to tie for the division lead, or fall too far behind to catch up. The game started as I have come to expect many Chargers games to start, an interception on play one, followed by an inability to stop the run, and Patrick Mahomes consistently outmaneuvering the defense in increasingly impossible ways. It was looking well on its way to ten straight losses. The first half ends with a Philip Rivers end zone pick, and the Chargers down 14-7, extended to 21-7 shortly into the second half. In the fourth quarter now, the Chargers are down two touchdowns, with 8~ minutes left, Philip Rivers orchestrates a march down the field to make it 29-21 with just under 4 minutes left. Credit where credit is due, the Charger defense puts together a great stop, forcing the Chiefs to punt from their end zone. Now with a little over 3 minutes, Philip Rivers marches down the field with great efficiency. Making two throws down the seam to Travis Benjamin, which I believe to be two of the greatest throws of his career, putting the Chargers in a scoring position. Admittedly, the red zone was messy and the Chargers were helped along by a questionable pass interference call (but let’s be honest, you’d be hard-pressed to find a game in today’s NFL not tainted by some questionable calls), but the touchdown was scored and with seconds left Rivers converts the walk-off 2-pointer to Mike Williams (who had a career game) and the Chargers break their losing streak to the Chiefs in a 29-28 nail biter win.
Chargers at Packers Week 6, 2015
Chargers at Packers week 6, 2015. Among the more frustrating games in recent memory for me, this game, during the dark days of the Mike McCoy era Chargers. Philip Rivers goes 43/65, 503 yards, 2 touchdowns. In a game where Philip Rivers did everything he could to put this Charger team on his back, but could not pull off the win, losing 27-20. At the time the most yards to ever be thrown in a loss, that sad record was beaten by Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII, then again by Jared Goff in 2019. Like all Philip Rivers’ games, it was far from perfect, but it is a perfect example of Philip Rivers’ giving it his all, a running theme throughout his career. Worth mentioning that Keenan Allen, who finished this game with 14 catches for 157 yards, was out with a hip injury towards the end of the game, had he been able to stay in, this game may have ended differently. Down 7 points with 1:28 left on the clock, Philip Rivers marches down the field, leaning on the GOAT QB to TE duo, (I might be biased) Rivers to Gates...only for McCoy to call for a run with the clock ticking down to 20 seconds. A run that was easily stuffed. Now fourth down, with one more shot at the end zone, the pass to Danny Woodhead falls incomplete. Despite the loss, this game has stuck in my memory as a game where the team let Rivers down, a story all too frequent in his career.
Chargers at Patriots AFC Championship, 2007
Chargers at Patriots AFC Championship, 2007. Likely Philip Rivers’ most famous game, the game that cemented him as one of the NFL’s toughest. The week prior Rivers tore his ACL but managed to play anyway. Sadly it was not his best football, throwing for just 211 yards, 2 interceptions, and never finding the end zone. The Chargers would lose 21-12 to the undefeated New England Patriots. While the game was disappointing overall, it’s a game that can not be mentioned in a list that tries to encapsulate the career of Philip Rivers. His toughness was second to none, holding the record for most consecutive games started, never missing one in his entire 17-year career (of course Eli Manning would hold that record had he not erroneously been held out of a game by Ben Macadoo). This game was early in my Chargers fandom, this had only been my second season as a fan, and at the time, I’m not even sure I knew that Rivers was playing on a hobbled leg, at the time it was just another disappointing loss to the evil Patriots, when I look back on it now though, I just feel a sense of pride, that that was my Quarterback.
Philip Rivers played for 17 seasons, playing 244 games. He was never the best in the league, he never got to lift the Lombardi, a fact that will sadden me forever, but he played with all his heart. Recounting three games is an impossible way to encapsulate a career, but I feel like I’ve highlighted what made Rivers special, aside from his funky throwing motion and his cartoonish trash talking. His never say die mentality, his mental and physical toughness, and those pretty throws that fall to the perfect spot. I wouldn’t trade him for any QB in the league, as hard as it can be to be a Chargers fan, I count myself lucky that I got to follow Rivers’ career so closely, the good and the bad. I will miss watching him play football.