Philip Rivers Belongs in the Hall of Fame
Why Phil Rivers should be in the Hall of Fame
Ross Crawford makes the case for one of the great Quarterbacks taking his place among the greatest NFL players, in the Hall of Fame.
Setting the Scene
Phil Rivers catches the snap, takes a four-step drop, steps up in the pocket, and launches a high-arcing pass towards the endzone.
The ball flutters and begins to fade, its trajectory falling a few yards short of the endzone.
The first hands on the ball are that of Buffalo Bills number 23, safety Micah Hyde. Hyde emphatically bats the ball down to the ground. The Buffalo Bills win the game and advance. Rivers is knocked out of the playoffs for the seventh time in his career.
That was to be Rivers’ last throw of his career.
The Indianapolis Colts were dumped out of the 2020 season NFL playoffs in the Wild Card Round on the final play of the game.
Sadly, in many ways, his final throw epitomized his entire career. Falling just short.
11 days later, on January 20th, 2021, Phil Rivers announced his retirement from the NFL.
Now, the clock begins to tick.
Every NFL player must wait five years after retirement to become eligible for entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The popular opinion among NFL media is Rivers may have to wait more than five years before receiving his gold jacket.
Voters seem to have an unwritten agreement that only generational greats are granted entry to the Hall of Fame in the first year of eligibility.
Then there are those who say Rivers does not belong at all…
Philip Michael Rivers belongs in the Hall of Fame.
I have barely given time to the contrary opinion over the years. However, now the clock is ticking, it’s time for the defenders of Rivers to be heard, so his Hall of Fame campaign can commence.
Firstly, Rivers was one of the greatest statistical quarterbacks in NFL history. That’s where my defence for the quarterback begins…
The Stats and the Rivers / Eli Manning Comparison
Rivers ranks fifth all-time among quarterbacks with 63,440 passing yards. Only Brees, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning have more.
All of those quarterbacks ahead of Rivers are or will be in the Hall of Fame without question.
Whereas many argue Rivers accumulated those stats based on the era he has played the position becoming increasingly passer friendly.
So let’s set a bar for this debate. Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning hung up his own cleats in 2020 and in most circles is expected to enter the Hall of Fame. Manning won two Super Bowl titles with the Giants, while the simple fact is Rivers never won the NFL’s biggest prize.
However, it’s clear on reflection Manning was consistently poorer season to season than Rivers.
Rivers had 6,000 more passing yards than Manning, who struggled to string together seasons of consistent play.
Over their careers, Rivers also has 55 more passing touchdowns and 35 fewer interceptions.
For only an eight-game disparity in career games played (Rivers eight more), the gap is larger than it should be between two players often seen as equals.
If Manning gets in because of his two Super Bowl wins, Rivers should get in for the level of consistency he showed over 15 seasons as a starter.
He didn’t reach the heights of Manning in career achievements, but the stats show he was consistently better.
That argument is based on the opinion Manning will earn his own gold jacket. However, what if he doesn’t?
Rivers Lack of Elite Accolades
The defense becomes a little more tricky.
The fact remains, that there is no quarterback currently in the Hall of Fame who did not earn at least one of the following…
A Super Bowl Win
League MVP Award or Offensive Player of the Year
First-Team All-Pro
Rivers did not earn any of those. He did not even reach a Super Bowl.
The furthest a Rivers-quarterbacked team advanced in the playoffs was the San Diego Chargers in 2007.
San Diego lost 21-12 to the New England Patriots. But that game illustrates why Rivers has so many fans.
His character and personality are unique and infectious, and make Rivers easy to route for.
Rivers Trash Talking
Rivers is definitely a Hall of Fame trash talker, often keeping insults safe for children watching with his one of a kind use of vocabulary that includes among others, “Donkey-Bottom,” “Skatblabbering,” and a personal favourite, “Dangnabit”.
But beneath his playfully enthusiastic, quirky nature is a competitive edge and gritty toughness perhaps unmatched in the NFL.
Tough as Old Boots
He played that AFC Championship game loss with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament in his right knee.
An injury that required surgery after the season, and would keep almost anyone else off the field and in the trainers’ room.
Given the result, there can be another debate about whether Rivers playing was right for the team, but the fact remains, Rivers showed on that day how much football meant to him, and what he would give to win.
He won over Chargers fans, football fans, and sports fans forevermore.
Phil Rivers clutch moments!
It’s easy to Forget...
There is a case to be made that Rivers was the best quarterback in the league from 2008 to 2010.
While he did not win an MVP Award, he had a quarterback rating above 100.00 each of those seasons, showcasing more consistency than Brady and Manning over that stretch.
Don’t misrepresent that statement.
Brady and Manning will forever be regarded in higher esteem than Rivers. But Rivers was right there with them for an extended period of time in the late 2000s.
After falling in the playoffs three seasons in a row from 2007 to 2009, the supporting cast around Rivers in San Diego seesawed from playoff-worthy to woeful.
Rivers continued to pile up stats, and in 2013 dragged the 9-7 Chargers to the playoffs once more.
The quarterback was surgical as the underdog Chargers topped the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round.
However, as was the case on five other occasions in his career, Rivers exited the playoffs the following week in the divisional round.
Rivers Late-Career Resurgence
Rivers himself suffered dips in his level of ability after 2013. However, if there was any doubt he is deserving of a place in Canton, his late-career resurgence silenced those doubts.
Two more trips to the playoffs in 2018 and 2020 came in seasons Rivers played some of the best football of his career in his mid-to-late thirties.
A down year in 2019, led to Rivers and the now Los Angeles Chargers parting ways after 16 seasons together.
The Colts took a chance the 38-year-old gunslinging quarterback had one last rodeo in him. He repaid the Colts faith in him with a 4-win improvement from the Colts 2019 campaign.
A more consistent quarterback gave Indianapolis the boost they needed to qualify for the playoffs with an 11-5 record.
Only to fall to the surging Bills on the final play of the game after the aforementioned failed Hail Mary attempt.
Philip Rivers Key Stats
Eight Pro-Bowls.
Fifth All-Time in career passing yards.
Sixth All-Time in career quarterback rating.
He led the league in season passing yards (2010), passing touchdowns (2008), passer rating (2008), and completion percentage (2013) at least once in his career respectively.
Should Philip Rivers be in the Hall of Fame?
While the stats speak for themselves, Phil Rivers was more than that as a quarterback.
He was a leader, a one-of-a-kind personality, and whenever he stepped on the field you felt like his team had a chance in the game.
You can’t compare his CV to the likes of Brady and Manning.
That’s not his class. Those guys are in the running for THE best of all time. This debate is about the Hall of Fame.
Rivers was consistently a Top 10 Quarterback in the league and at one time possibly the best.
The lack of individual awards is a major mark on his career, but not one he should be crucified for in what is after all a team game.
He made his teams better, just like the aforementioned greats of the league.
In the sport’s most difficult position, very few play at the level of sustained excellence Rivers reached for as long as he did.
I think five years of reflection for the voters will help him. With time to reflect on his whole body of work, the committee has to understand how special Rivers was.
He wasn’t always perfect, few people are, but he will never claim he was.
Phil Rivers will one day end up with a gold jacket, and dagnabit he deserves it.
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