Julian Edelman Honors Phillip Rivers Following QB’s Retirement From Football

Robert Alvarez

2 years ago at 4:41 pm ET

Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

They may have been conference rivals for a decade, but there was plenty of respect between Julian Edelman and Phillip Rivers.

On Wednesday, Rivers formally announced his retirement from football after 17 seasons and Edelman took some time to honor him over Twitter.

Edelman tweeted out the following photograph of the two meeting up after the 2018 Divisional Playoff game while writing “Helluva Career 17”.

Helluva career 17. pic.twitter.com/PpGYBrUS2Z

— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 20, 2021

In his career against the Patriots, Rivers was 1-8 all time in both the regular season and playoffs, he recorded his only win against Matt Cassel in 2008. Against the Brady-led Patriots, he went 0-8 overall, and 0-2 in the postseason.

Rivers retirement announcement comes exactly 13 years to the day since the furthest he ever got in the NFL’s postseason, a 21-12 defeat to the Patriots in the 2007 AFC Championship. Rivers would play the whole game on a torn ACL and meniscus.

Over his NFL career, Rivers walks away ranked fifth all time passing yards (64,440) and touchdowns (421). During his 17 seasons, Rivers earned eight Pro Bowl invites and is second all-time in consecutive regular season starts by a quarterback in NFL history at 242 games.