2012 SD Chargers Media Guide_PROOF.P - Seahawks Online ...

17 PHILIP RIVERSQuarterbackTrade (NY Giants)-’046-5, 228 North Carolina State9th NFL SeasonAthens HS9th with ChargersAthens, Ala.One of the greatest quarterbacks ever to don a San DiegoChargers uniform, Philip Rivers is the Chargers’ all-timeleader for career completion percentage (63.5%) and passerrating (95.5). He’s led the Chargers to four AFC West titles,is 66-37 (.641) as a starter (including playoffs), 26-10 in AFCWest games and 39-13 (.750) at Qualcomm Stadium.Rivers is coming off a milestone season and embarks on2012 closing in on 25,000 career passing yards and 200career touchdown passes. He needs just 715 passing yardsto become the 63rd quarterback in NFL history to reach25,000. And with 163 career touchdown passes, he needs37 to reach 200, a mark reached by only 31 other signalcallersin league annals.In 2011, Rivers completed a team-record 366 passesand threw for 4,624 yards. He joined Dan Marino (1980-81), Warren Moon (1990-91), Peyton Manning (2009-10)and Drew Brees (2010-11) as the only players in NFL historywith back-to-back 4,500-yard passing seasons. And hejoined Manning (1999-04 and 2006-10) and Brees (2006-11) as the only quarterbacks with at least four-straight4,000-yard seasons.Demonstrating great peripheral vision and field awareness,four players had at least 50 catches for the Chargers in2011, something that had only been done two other timesin team history (1984 and ’05). Also in 2011, Rivers builtupon his reputation as one of the NFL’s best quarterbackslate in the season. He led the Chargers to a record of 3-1 inDecember and increased his career passer rating for themonth to 99.9, second all-time behind Green Bay’s AaronRodgers. Rivers’ December statistics include 6,323 yardspassing and a 3-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio (48touchdowns and 16 interceptions). Rivers also owns theNFL’s second-highest passer rating for Weeks 9-16 of theregular season (97.8). As a starter, he is 41-12 (.774) inregular-season games in November, December and January,including 26-3 in games in December and January.Rivers’ 2011 totals included 27 touchdown passes, makinghim just the sixth quarterback in NFL history with atleast 25 touchdown passes in four straight seasons. Hejoined an esteemed list that included Manning (1998-2010), Brett Favre (1994-98 & 2001-04), Marino (1984-88), Brees (2006-11) and Rodgers (2008-11).While Rivers ranked in the top-10 in virtually every statisticalcategory in 2011, he threw a career-high 20 interceptions,uncharacteristic for a player who had thrown a combined57 in his previous five seasons. A majority of the pickswere thrown early in the season. As a testament to hisresiliency, Rivers bounced back later in the year to assemblea career-long string of 170 passes without an interception,easily surpassing his previous career-best of 143.When the season concluded, Rivers was appointed tohis fourth-career and third-consecutive AFC Pro Bowlsquad and he was selected by teammates as the Chargers’Most Valuable Player for a fourth-consecutive season.Only the late Junior Seau (five) has been selected teamMVP consecutively in more years than Rivers.Off the field, Rivers was recognized asone of three finalists for the prestigiousWalter Payton NFL Man of the YearAward for his work with the Rivers ofHope Foundation. Rivers and wife, Tiffany, launched theFoundation in 2010 and focused on helping unwanted,abandoned and orphaned children find permanent lovinghomes. The Foundation has raised more than $650,000through football camps and a 5K Fun Run, and Rivers personallycontributes 100 percent of his off-the-field revenueto the Foundation. Additionally, Rivers and teammateQuentin Jammer partnered to help fund a football stadiumfor San Pasqual Academy, a first-in-the-nation residentialeducation campus designed specifically for foster teens.Rivers originally came to the Chargers in 2004 in ablockbuster trade with the New York Giants. Less than anhour after the Bolts selected Eli Manning with the No. 1pick in the ’04 NFL Draft, Manning was on his way to theBig Apple in exchange for Rivers and a slew of draft picks.Rivers spent the majority of his first two years on the sidelinesbehind Brees, taking the reigns in 2006. That ’06 seasonwas memorable as Rivers was voted to the Pro Bowlafter leading the Chargers to a team-record 14 wins,including 10-straight to close out the season. The Chargersalso finished undefeated at home for the first time in teamhistory. The ’06 squad scored a team-record 492 pointsand Rivers achieved some notable marks along the way. Hebecame the first NFL quarterback to rally a team from 17-point deficits in consecutive weeks, doing so on the road inCincinnati and Denver. During the two wins, Rivers was inthe midst of a streak of 19-straight scoring drives thatended in touchdowns without settling for a field goal. Thattoo was a team record and it was the fifth-longest streakin NFL history. Rivers finished the year as the NFL leader inpasser rating during the fourth quarter (116.6) and thethird and fourth quarters combined (99.3).In 2007, Rivers led the Chargers to the AFC ChampionshipGame. Including playoffs, the team put together aneight-game winning streak down the stretch during whichRivers completed 133 of 214 (62.1%) for 1,656 yards with14 touchdowns and only five interceptions for a rating of98.2, nearly 16 points higher than his cumulative seasonrating (82.4). Rivers’ toughness, both mental and physical,was put on full display in the final weeks of the regularseason and the playoffs. In a December victory at Tennessee,he had to leave the game after spraining his kneein the first half, but he returned in the second half and ledthe Chargers to a come-from-behind victory in overtime.He continued to play and fought through the final monthof the season in severe pain. Then a different knee injurysent him to the sideline in the Bolts’ Divisional Playoffgame in Indianapolis. After backup Billy Volek led theChargers to an improbable win over the Colts, Rivers hadarthroscopic surgery to repair a torn ACL on Monday andjust six days later he started and took every snap on a frigidday in the AFC Championship Game at New England.VETERANS &RETURNING PLAYERSMEDIA GUIDE | 95Continued next page