The trash talker is a quarterback who I have watched, cheered for, hated, cried over, questioned, joked about, and supported for my whole football watching life. This quarterback has been the starter for my favorite team for the last fourteen years and his name is Philip Rivers. Philip Rivers went to college at North Carolina State and was an interesting prospect for NFL teams since his throwing motion was odd compared to traditional throwing motions quarterbacks have. Rivers throws the ball with more of a side arm motion because that is the way his dad taught him to throw the ball when he was younger due to his hand being too small to throw the more common way. The regular motion is usually moving your elbow back and the moving your arm forward launching the ball out of your hand, but this varies on each quarterback. In the end, this would not matter too much since he would end up being the 4th pick in the 2004 NFL draft, chosen by the New York Giants. However, due to Eli Manning (another quarterback picked in the draft) not wanting to play for the Chargers (the team that drafted him), this would cause a trade by the Giants and Chargers to trade Rivers for Eli. This swap would make football analyst and commentators compare these two for the rest of their careers and bring up this story every season. If I were invested in football when I was 4 years old when this happened, I would have hated Eli Manning, but I did not so I didn’t hate him and if anything, I respect him for beating the perfect patriots twice in the Superbowl. With Rivers, I’d say I have a love hate view on him, but I have always respected him for various reasons.
I will always love Philip for one of the main defying traits this man possesses and that’s his love for trash talking. Rivers will trash talk or speak his mind whenever to the opposition, his teammates, the referees, and even his coaches. What’s so great about his trash talking is that the man will never use any swear words at all. So, most of the time it sounds like a child is insulting you when he insults you. What goes with this is his passion for the game and his drive to always do what’s best for the team based on his judgement. The man always gives it everything he’s got every game and always playing to win. However, this passion that Rivers has leads him to try to do too much which usually ends up costing him and his team games. This happens when he throws a bad bone headed pass, trying to force a ball, and it and it gets intercepted which usually happens late in the game. Although Rivers has given me heartache like that many times, he has had his shiny moments. The man has Started 235 games straight for the Chargers in his 16-year career. This means he has not gotten injured, never gotten suspended, or missed a game for any other reason for 235 games straight (second in consecutive starts list). This means he can be called an iron man. To emphasize this Rivers tore his ACL in a playoff game, this injury is usually a season ending and career threatening injury. The Chargers ended up winning that game, so they advanced to the Championship, Rivers would end up having a quick surgery and end up playing in the Championship game against the Patriots. The Chargers would lose the game, Rivers playing in general was a very dumb and career risking move. In the end, Rivers played on one dead knee in a high contact sport, so I never questioned that man’s drive to win again and would always go on to respect him no matter what.
Sadly, this past season it seemed Rivers regressed, he would do a lot more bone head throws this season, the team would end with a losing record even though there is plenty of young talent on the team, and the sport has changed to teams having mobile quarterbacks. Rivers has always been a stationary quarterback that would never use really his legs to extend plays. These factors would lead for the Chargers to move on from Rivers after 16 years with him. He is currently in the free agent market where any team can pick him up. I personally see him going to the Indianapolis Colts where they basically have all the tools, he needs in order to succeed in this league. I personally wish him the best, I even hope he wins a Superbowl with another team, but if he ever faces my Chargers, I will still root for them no matter the situation.
The Quarterbacks of my Time 