First & Girl

Did You Know?

Rivers' dad, Steve, was the head coach at Decatur High School, and Philip worked as a water boy when he was a kid. Rivers has worn the number 17 on his jersey to honor his dad, who wore the same number in high school. Philip's number was retired at North Carolina State before his last home game. (JockBio)
Philip is really close with his family. He calls home almost every day after practice to talk to his family, often rehashing Chargers plays that he ran in practice that day. (San Diego Chargers)
Rivers and his young family often returns to Decatur, Alabama, where he and his wife grew up. When Rivers visited in February 2007, he saw a Q&A in a local newspaper with a high school student, Will Inman, whose dream was to meet Rivers. After Philip read the story, he decided to surprise the student, and showed up on his high school campus unannounced a few days later. Rivers spent the day with Inman and the other shocked students. (San Diego Chargers)
San Diego Padres pitcher, Jake Peavy, and Rivers are good friends (SignOnSanDiego.com, April 2, 2008)
Philip appeared on "Life on the Rock," a EWTN TV series. He co-owns D1 Sports Training in Alabama. (NationMaster.com)
Rivers' wife had his fifth child - a girl - the day of the 2010 Pro Bowl, so Rivers stayed behind and did not play even though he was selected

Player Facts:

As a high schooler at Athens High, Rivers was not only a football star, but an outstanding student: he graduated with a 4.0 GPA, and was Alabama Player of the Year, completing 109 out of 195 passes as a senior (San Diego Chargers)
Ever since he started as a quarterback his junior year of high school, Rivers has never had a losing record. At Athens High he was 11-2 in 1998 and 10-3 in 1999; at North Carolina State he was 8-4, 7-5, 11-3 and 8-5 in the years 2000-2003. (San Diego Chargers)
The list of Rivers' college awards, honors, and records is long. As the MVP of five bowl games--including the 2004 Senior Bowl--Philip holds every major school passing record at North Carolina. He was the seventh vote for the Heisman Trophy in 2004, and was only the second quarterback in NCAA history with 13,582 total yards. He is tied for fifth in NCAA history with 95 touchdown passes, and set the Atlantic Coast Conference record as well as the school record with 1,710 passing attempts, 1,147 completions, 112 touchdowns he was responsible for, 18 300-yard passing games, and seven 400-yard passing games. He was the the Player of the Year in 2003, and was a first-team All-ACC as he led the nation in completion percentage and passer ratings. He was No. 2 in the nation with 4,491 passing yards and a 353.9 average offensive yards per game. Philip was chosen as Newcomer of the Year by ABC Sports, Freshman of the Year by Football News and Columbus Touchdown Club, and was an eight-time ACC Rookie of the Week. He broke many more records and received more awards, but you get the point. (San Diego Chargers)
Rivers had to patiently wait through his first two seasons with the Chargers before getting to play in the 2006 season, but has had a great NFL career as the Chargers' starting quarterback. He led the NFL in fourth quarter passer rating, and was the NFL's second-highest rated passer in the second halves of games. His teammates voted to award him with the Rodney Culver Memorial Award as Chargers Offensive Player of the Year in the 2006 season, and Philip shared the Chargers' Most Inspirational Player Award of the 2007 season with Carlos Polk. (San Diego Chargers)
Rivers was selected to the Pro Bowl in the 2006 season, and had the most wins in a single season for a first-time starter that same year (San Diego Chargers)