Respect for Rivers runs deep after gutsy effort
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Philip Rivers hobbled his way through the AFC Championship Game, his right knee in tatters, the anterior cruciate ligament torn and the medial collateral ligament sprained.
He also provided an image that could prove everlasting.
"I did an interview with Tom Brady (the other day), and the first thing Tom and I talked about was what Philip Rivers did," Trent Dilfer of NFL Network told us at Super Bowl XLII media day in Phoenix.
"Tom said to me, 'That guy forever won me over. Forever!'"
Dilfer once played with a compromised MCL, which is a relative hangnail compared to what Rivers endured.
"You can't imagine what he went through in that game," Dilfer said. "Your right leg is everything we do (as right-handed quarterbacks)."
So why do it?
"You do it for the guys in the locker room, and you do it for the team," Fox analyst Troy Aikman said. "One of the ways you earn respect in the locker room is going out and putting your body through things that most people wouldn't attempt."
Rivers won over his Chargers teammates that day and, apparently, some of his NFL brethren.
"And I think Eli (Manning) has done the same thing," Dilfer volunteered, before being asked about the Giants quarterback. "Whether it was the Tiki (Barber) incident (in training camp) or just being so stoic on the field and with how he handles all the criticism, he's been unflappable."
ELI VS. RIVERS VS. BIG BEN
Four years into their professional careers, the top quarterbacks of the 2004 class are verifying their draft-day stock.
Eli went first, Rivers was fourth and subsequently packaged in a trade for Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger was selected 11th by the Steelers.
They supply debate fodder for the foreseeable future: Who is best? Who would you want on your team? In a big game?
Roethlisberger's headline to date was the run to Super Bowl XL, and he has the best career numbers of the three. He is coming off his best statistical season and is a Pro Bowler.
Manning tied for the league lead with 20 interceptions but is viewed as cool, clutch, composed. Popular among teammates, he is likable, his aw-shucks demeanor particularly easy to cheer when he is winning.
Rivers has some ground to make up, having started 23 fewer games than the others. Easily the most outwardly emotional, Rivers might wind up parlaying toughness into his trademark.
Dilfer, who strongly preferred Manning and Rivers over Roethlisberger because of their college experience, called it "a hard question" when asked if he'd favor the same draft order now. Ultimately he decided he would, saying, "All of them fit well with the team that drafted them."
Aikman noted that while their draft order might look proper now, "a couple of years ago, we wouldn't have said that" when Roethlisberger was becoming the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
Said Fox's Jimmy Johnson: "Looking at them now, Eli took some time to develop but he's showing that he's worthy of being a top four or five player. Rivers is capable of being a top four or five player; he has shown that. Obviously, Roethlisberger has done that in winning a Super Bowl."
http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/gra...760.xml&coll=1
Brady praises Rivers
Linear Mode
