DANG IT, BUT HE’S GOOD
Philip Rivers comes to town as a Hall-of-Famer in waiting with his arm and with his PG-rated mouth that can still, somehow, get in an opponent’s head.
Several adjectives come to mind when the topic is Los Angeles (should be San Diego) Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. Great is one. “Old Man Rivers” already ranks in the alltime top 10 in several significant categories and is having his best season at age 36 (he turns 37 on Dec. 8).
“Very, very, very passionate,” is how Steelers cornerback Joe Haden describes Rivers.
The two teamed up at the Pro Bowl a few years back.
Unbelievably annoying works, too — for opposing players and fans alike.
Rivers might not have a Super Bowl ring, but he is a champion trash talker. You’ve probably seen the clip of him, early in his career, goading Jay Cutler into an obscene
[Philip Rivers’] talk is kind of funny — ‘Gosh dang’ and all that — unless he’s kicking your tail.” — Ramon Foster
gesture. Or the one just a few years ago, where he chews the ear off then-Tennessee Titans linebacker Sean Spence.
“Aw, quit cryin’, 55!” Rivers yells to Spence after one play.
“First play you called out right today, 55,” he says on another.
Ndamukong Suh told The Associated Press earlier this season that Rivers has at times thrown him off his game.
DeMarcus Ware was no big fan, either.
Rivers’ brand of trash talk is mostly the polite kind, which can be more infuriating than the X-rated stuff.
“I never met a quarterback who likes to talk,” says Steelers guard Ramon Foster. “[Rivers’] talk is kind of funny — ‘Gosh dang’ and all that — unless he’s kicking your tail.”
Which, of course, makes it that much sweeter to kick his.
I recall then-Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley telling me one of the cherished moments of his career was planting Rivers like a javelin late in a 2008 playoff game.
There is a photo still for sale of Woodley bear-hugging Rivers just before he body-slammed him (a play that might have netted Woodley prison time in today’s NFL).
Woodley claimed James Harrison had to hold him back from dancing over the fallen Rivers, an act that might have drawn a penalty even then.
You might remember the Steelers going to San Diego in 2015 and beating the Chargers on a last-second touchdown by some guy named Le’Veon Bell. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt remembers Rivers woofing up a storm that night — or at least that’s what he heard.
“I didn’t hear it, but guys were talking about it on the sidelines,” Tuitt said.
Tuitt has missed the past few games, so he’s hungry for a quarterback.
Particularly this one, it seems.
When asked if there are other passers out there who like to chirp, Tuitt laughed.
“I think the only person in my mind is Philip Rivers,” he said. “That’s the only person I’m thinking about now, constantly, 24/7. He’s my man crush right now, to make sure I get to him.”
Any expectations for Sunday night?
“Prime-time game,” Tuitt said. “I’m expecting nothing less than him to give us some of his best trash talk.”
Tuitt and the other Steelers players I spoke with seemed more entertained by Rivers than anything else. But they have tremendous respect for his ability.
I asked Haden if he ranks Rivers with the elite quarterbacks in the league.
“He’s in there for sure,” he said. “He’s been playing at a very high level for so long. It’s just that you have Big Ben, you have Tom Brady, you have a couple of guys who you might say are a little better, but he’s definitely in the the class with those dudes.
“I would say Hall-of-Fame caliber.”
I would, too. And of, course, Rivers is a Hall-caliber talker.
Haden thought of only two others close.
“Tom Brady, sometimes, if he gets upset,” he said. “Cam Newton, too. He talks a little bit of trash. But not like Philip. Him and Tom are the only two non-mobile guys who really talk.”
Same question went to cornerback Mike Hilton.
“I can see Cam, for sure, and Brady, once he gets rolling,” Hilton said. “But you have to poke the bear with Brady. Rivers? He’ll talk to you from the jump, man.”