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

VETERANS &RETURNING PLAYERSPhilip Rivers, continuedIn 2008, Rivers topped Fouts’ team record for single-seasontouchdown passes and recorded his first 4,000-yardseason. He set a team record and led the league with a seasonrating of 105.5, joining Brees as the only Chargers QBsto finish a season with a rating over 100.0. Cool under pressure,Rivers was the NFL’s second-leading passer on thirddowns (110.7) and in the fourth quarter (111.7). He threwan NFL-best 15 touchdown passes on third down and ledthe Chargers to an NFL-high 152 points in the fourth quarter.He logged six 300-yard games in ’08, the most sinceFouts had seven in 1985. Rivers even did it in back-to-backgames, something not done by a Chargers quarterbacksince 1991. And he capped off 2008 with a sensationalDecember, leading the Chargers to the playoffs. He went 4-0 to improve his career record in December to 14-0 andcompleted 80-of-121 (66.1%) for 1,054 yards with 11touchdowns and just one interception. His passer rating forthe month, a lofty 120.3, was second in the NFL.The 2009 season saw Rivers selected to the Chargers’50th Anniversary All-Time Team. He threw 28 touchdownpasses and posted a passer rating of 104.4. He was one ofjust five NFL QBs in ’09 to pass for more than 4,000 yards,throw 25 or more touchdowns and record a season passerrating of 100.0-plus. Rivers’ passer rating was the NFL’sthird-highest in ’09, and four times — tied with Brett Favrefor most in the NFL — he posted a single-game passer ratingof 130.0 or better. Rivers also had four games in 2008where he rated 130.0 or better and is the only quarterbackin team history to post four such games in a season. Duringthe team’s 11-game win streak to close out the regular season,Rivers completed 69.0% of his passes (209 of 303) for2,735 yards and a rating of 112.0 while throwing 21 touchdownpasses and only six interceptions. His passer ratingduring those 11 weeks was the highest in the NFL.In 2010, Rivers threw for a career-high and NFL-leading4,710 yards. It was the 10th-most yards for a single seasonin NFL history and third-most in team history. Alongthe way, Rivers set a new career high with six 300-yardgames, including a team-record 455 in Seattle. The 4,000-yard season was Rivers’ third-straight, tying Fouts for themost in team history. By the midpoint of the ’10 season,Rivers had managed to throw for 2,649 yards, an NFLrecord for the first eight games of a season, breaking yetanother mark which Fouts (2,580 in 1982) had previouslyset. During the season, Rivers completed an NFL-leading66 passes of at least 20 yards and 12 of those went fortouchdowns, second-most in the NFL. Rivers ranked secondin the NFL in passer rating in ’10 (101.8). He was theonly quarterback in the league to post a season passer ratingover 100 each of the 2008-10 seasons and he joinedSteve Young and Peyton Manning as the only passers everto post a rating of 100.0-or-higher for three straight years.Rivers’ outstanding rating was aided by a a completionrecord of 66.0% that set a team single-season record.Rivers found the end zone with regularity in ’10, tossing 30touchdown passes to become the first quarterback in teamhistory with 25 or more in three-straight seasons. It includeda team-record stretch of 23 straight games with atouchdown pass, surpassing the previous mark of 20-straight set by Fouts in 1979-80. Amidst that streak was apair of four-TD efforts in consecutive games at Houstonand against Denver, equaling a feat that only Fouts (1985)and Drew Brees (2004) accomplished for the Chargers.Eleven different players caught touchdown passes fromRivers in 2010, most in team history for a non-strike season.Rivers grew up in Decatur, Alabama. His dad, Steve, a formerlinebacker at Mississippi State, was the head footballcoach at Decatur High School and Philip was a water boy forthe team. Shortly before Philip was set to enroll at Decatur,Steve took the head coaching job at nearby Athens HS andPhilip followed. He played linebacker as a sophomore andmoved to quarterback as a junior. Since his first seasonunder center at Athens, Philip has never had a losing record,going 11-2 (1998) and 10-3 (1999) at Athens; 8-4 (2000),7-5 (2001), 11-3 (2002) and 8-5 (2003) at North CarolinaState, and 14-2 (2006), 11-5 (2007), 8-8 (2008), 13-3(2009), 9-7 (2010) and 8-8 (2011) with the Chargers. A fivetimeMVP in bowl games, including the 2004 Senior Bowl,Rivers had a 3-1 bowl record at N.C. State.The latest Rivers prodigy to emerge from Athens isPhilip’s younger brother, Stephen, who is a redshirt freshmanquarterback at LSU and wears the same No. 17 thatPhilip wears in San Diego.Rivers and his wife Tiffany, have six children (four girlsand two boys). He is part-owner of two D1 Sports Trainingand Therapy Centers located in Raleigh, North Carolina andHuntsville, Alabama.TRANSACTION HISTORY: Drafted in first-round (4) by NewYork Giants, April 24, 2004…traded to Chargers, April 24,2004…signed six-year contract, Aug. 24, 2004...signed sixyearextension thru 2015, Aug. 24, 2009.2011: Pro Bowl...Chargers MVP...335 yards Sept. 11 vs.Minnesota were most in season opener...capped13th-career fourth-quartercomeback with 19-yard touchdown passto Mike Tolbert with 5:01 remaining...went over 20,000 career pass yards Sept.18 at New England on 29-yard pass toVincent Jackson on first completion of game...first rushingtouchdown (two yards) since 2009 Oct. 9 at Denver...tiedcareer high with four touchdown passes Nov. 6 vs. GreenBay, including first opening drive touchdown of season...wasfourth-career 4-TD game…finished with 385 yards, fourthhighestof career...also threw three interceptions vs. Packers,ending NFL-record streak of games started at start of careerwithout a three-interception game at 90…previous mark (57)was set by Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana...Nov. 20 at Chicago,threw 150th and 151st touchdown passes of career tojoin Dan Fouts (254) and John Hadl (201) as only players infranchise history and 75th player in NFL history with 150MEDIA GUIDE | 96In May, Rivers delivered the keynote address at North Carolina State’s2012 graduation ceremonies. Photo: N.C. State