Philip Rivers Announces His Retirement From The NFL As a Charger
He was part of the Quarterback era; and blessed us with countless electric moments in football. An eight-time Pro Bowler, Rivers holds more than 30 Chargers records and led the Bolts to four straight AFC West titles from 2006-09. He is the franchise leader in nearly every possible statistical passing category, including yards (59,271), touchdowns (397), completions (4,908) and attempts (7,591). Therefore, it makes sense for this Bolts legend to end his football legacy with the organization he forever changed. On Monday, Philip Rivers announced his retirement from the NFL as a Charger.
The Chargers shared the news Monday that the legendary quarterback is retiring with the team he spent 16 seasons with, and Rivers recently told Chargers.com that doing so with the Bolts was always something near and dear to his heart. To make the announcement, the franchise filmed a video showing Rivers’ top highlights as he is discussing the good ol’ days. In the 4-minute vid, Rivers mentions,
“I’m Philip Rivers, quarterback, and I’m retiring as a Charger.
Goes fast. I’m thankful that I’ve had guys like Nick Hardwick and Kris Dielman, Jeremy Clary and Marcus McNeill [as well as] Mike Goff. These guys, they really cared about me. They actually really, genuinely wanted to keep me clean.
They took it personal if I was getting just drilled under the chin. They were upset. I always wanted to be tough like the offensive linemen. I didn’t want to let those guys down.
It’s really, in the past handful of years, been my desire [to retire] as a Charger. It was more so the timing. Gratitude is the first thing that comes to mind. Just thankful. Thankful for my time there as a Charger.
Sixteen years … a lot of my adult life was there in that organization and around all those people and teammates. I’m overwhelmingly thankful more than anything.”
John Spanos, Chargers President of Football Operations, said Rivers will always hold a special place in franchise lore and that No. 17 retiring as a Charger was always a given. Spanos reveals, “[Rivers] and I have had discussions over the last several years, ever since his first year when he wasn’t playing. He made it known back then he wanted to retire a Charger, and I obviously expressed that we would love that to happen as soon as he was ready. I think we both knew this day was coming for a few years now, but the key thing that I expressed to Philip was that I wanted the timing to be something he was good with. He had to be ready to close that door.”
Philip Rivers Announces His Retirement From The NFL As a Charger
Well, that day finally arrived. The door is now shut. But this does not mean the memories shall ever fade. When asked about what he loved most while playing, Philip reminisced,
“There were so many highlights and fun Sundays. So many… but what I miss and what I’m most appreciative and thankful for are those relationships. The things that were behind the scenes.
What you lived every day. It’s the days at Murphy’s Canyon, on the practice field. You miss those moments. I picture riding down that hill into Qualcomm… you go man shoot, [the fans are] fired up today! Seeing the flags, seeing the smoke from the grills going. That just never got old.”
Ahh… Qualcomm. We miss that stadium as well. Many memories running all over that place lol. Nevertheless, it’s always great to hear players share their experiences and accounts; and it’s wonderful to see Rivers end his story with the Chargers. So then, thanks for giving the game your all Rivers; we thoroughly enjoyed it.
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