Can Philip Rivers Make Colts Fans Forget His Sneer?
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s been 12 years, but Philip Rivers’ unnerving facial expression and trash-talking nature still come to mind.
Especially now that he’s become the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback for 2020, agreeing to a one-year deal for a reported $25 million on Tuesday. Isn’t it ironic that “the sneer” is back in Indy?
Or was that detesting look more of a smirk?
If you’ve been following the Colts for a long time, as many fans have, you can’t forget an AFC Divisional playoff game at the RCA Dome on Jan. 13, 2008. Rivers got hurt and was walking to the locker room for an examination.
Always the competitor, as fiery as they come, Rivers fired back at fans who weren’t exactly wishing him well. When the final Colts pass fell incomplete and the Chargers had prevailed in a 28-24 upset, Rivers turned toward fans behind the visitor’s bench and, once again, “exchanged pleasantries.”
That’s Rivers. He’s not going to back down from any fight.
And as much as it pains some to accept that now, it’s what an NFL team needs. After going 7-9 last season and missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, it’s what the Colts desperately need. A bit of attitude, a side order of snark.
Granted, Rivers turns 39 in December. He’s played 16 seasons, so questions about how much he has left are legitimate.
But say this for the Colts: They aren’t standing pat with quarterback Jacoby Brissett. They considered an aging Rivers a better option as a “bridge” quarterback. The Colts have basically bought a one-year extension on finding a future quarterback.
So have it, Mr. Rivers. Take your best shots. That’s what you’re known for as a gunslinging passer. It’s also what we didn’t see enough of from Brissett.
Some fans will be quick to say, “Anything is better than Brissett.” Others will say that $25 million is too much to spend on Rivers at his age, at the end of a career in which he’s earned eight Pro Bowl honors and passed for 59,271 yards and 397 TDs, which both rank sixth in NFL history.
More numbers to consider: Rivers has a career win-loss record of 128-107, which includes 6-2 against the Colts and 2-0 in the playoffs against the horseshoe helmets.
That said, it’s understandable if some fans grumble at the thought of giving Rivers a chance.
What else can be said about him? A longtime and respected Los Angeles writer gushed about Rivers at the recent NFL Scouting Combine. Yeah, gushed. He said Rivers is the ultimate team guy, a true leader, someone the locker room will follow. The writer praised Rivers as one of the scribe’s “top-five locker room guys of all time.”
Yeah, that’s saying a lot.
But the respected writer was adamant that Rivers is the kind of guy you want on your side, the kind of intense fighter who plays each game like it’s his last, nothing to lose and always go out swinging.
What about all that trash talk?
A 2019 ESPN story cited how Rivers is “renowned for his uncanny ability to talk trash without cussing during tense moments on the football field.” Hey, he’s the father of nine children — ranging in age from 16 to a daughter born last March. So keeping it clean even in a ferocious work environment has to mean something in assessing a man’s character, right?
Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said recently, “Philip Rivers might be the funniest trash talker ever. He don’t mean no harm. LOL.”
After all he’s done in a career that will one day be considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, what Philip Rivers does for the Colts is all that matters now.
Sneer, smirk or whatever words come out of that trash-talking mouth, take your best shots and give Colts fans a reason to cheer.
