out on the field. The team needed me, and I had something to prove.
I told the coaches I was good to go. The look on Marty’s face said it all. “You have one more series,” he said. In other words, if I didn’t get something done right then, I would be pulled.
We went out and drove down the field. I threw an eleven-yard pass to Antonio Gates to put us up 14–7. We scored another touchdown on the next series and ended up winning the game 38–17. With a separated left shoulder, going on nothing but adrenaline and painkillers, I threw three touchdowns, with no interceptions. It was one of my better performances in the NFL so far. And even more significantly, I didn’t let my backup see the field.
That year we went 12–4 and won our division. We made it to the playoffs but lost a heartbreaker to the New York Jets in overtime, 20–17. It was my best season to that point, and I won NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
And on top of that, I ended up making the Pro Bowl. Lorenzo Neal called it.
Coming Back Stronger
Chapter Six
Insult and Injury
Things looked good for the Chargers going into the 2005 season. We had almost every starter returning from the previous year, as well as some talented newcomers like Shawne Merriman, our outside linebacker, who made a huge impact on defense and was named Rookie of the Year. We had some games where everything came together and we played well, but in others we just couldn’t get things to click. We lost a lot of close games that year, including one against Dallas on a goal line stand. We also fell to Denver and Pittsburgh on last-second field goals. We had another heartbreaker at Philadelphia, where they blocked one of our field goals and ran it back for a touchdown with about two and a half minutes left. We then drove down to their twenty yard line with a chance to win only to fumble the ball and lose the game. It was just that kind of year. We finished with a 9–7 record and wound up third in our division behind Denver and Kansas City.
To anyone watching, our last game of the season, against Denver, was pretty meaningless. We had no shot at the playoffs. But it mattered to me—I didn’t want to be off the field in any game. Besides, I didn’t have a contract after that season, and there was a lot of speculation from the press and from management about what next year would hold. “Is it time to go in a different direction with Philip Rivers?” Others were saying, “How can you let go of a guy like Drew Brees after he took you to the playoffs the year before?”
Difficult decisions were looming for the team—and for me. And by the end of the game against Denver, those decisions would have even higher stakes.
Coming Back Stronger
Shredding My Shoulder
It took only one play to change the course of my life and my career in the last game of the season on the last day of the year in 2005. It was late in the second quarter and we had been shut out up to that point. We needed someone to make a play, and that someone needed to be me. As I reared back to throw just inside our own end zone, I felt a presence at my back side. It was Denver free safety John Lynch, and he laid a hit on me that knocked the ball out of my hand and onto the ground, spinning to a stop at the one yard line. It was a live ball, but in my eyes it was my ball, and I had to get it back. With no regard for my own safety or future, I committed the cardinal sin for a quarterback. I jumped into the pile for a loose ball. It wasn’t a rational decision—it was the only way I knew how to play the game. Unfortunately I didn’t get the ball, and even worse, after the dust had settled, my right shoulder was out of socket. My arm stuck out to the side as if I were resting it on a fence post.
As I walked off the field on December 31, 2005, my arm numb and motionless, I was staring at the one thing I feared the most: that I might never wear a Chargers uniform again. I wouldn’t know for sure until I heard what the
I told the coaches I was good to go. The look on Marty’s face said it all. “You have one more series,” he said. In other words, if I didn’t get something done right then, I would be pulled.
We went out and drove down the field. I threw an eleven-yard pass to Antonio Gates to put us up 14–7. We scored another touchdown on the next series and ended up winning the game 38–17. With a separated left shoulder, going on nothing but adrenaline and painkillers, I threw three touchdowns, with no interceptions. It was one of my better performances in the NFL so far. And even more significantly, I didn’t let my backup see the field.
That year we went 12–4 and won our division. We made it to the playoffs but lost a heartbreaker to the New York Jets in overtime, 20–17. It was my best season to that point, and I won NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
And on top of that, I ended up making the Pro Bowl. Lorenzo Neal called it.
Coming Back Stronger
Chapter Six
Insult and Injury
Things looked good for the Chargers going into the 2005 season. We had almost every starter returning from the previous year, as well as some talented newcomers like Shawne Merriman, our outside linebacker, who made a huge impact on defense and was named Rookie of the Year. We had some games where everything came together and we played well, but in others we just couldn’t get things to click. We lost a lot of close games that year, including one against Dallas on a goal line stand. We also fell to Denver and Pittsburgh on last-second field goals. We had another heartbreaker at Philadelphia, where they blocked one of our field goals and ran it back for a touchdown with about two and a half minutes left. We then drove down to their twenty yard line with a chance to win only to fumble the ball and lose the game. It was just that kind of year. We finished with a 9–7 record and wound up third in our division behind Denver and Kansas City.
To anyone watching, our last game of the season, against Denver, was pretty meaningless. We had no shot at the playoffs. But it mattered to me—I didn’t want to be off the field in any game. Besides, I didn’t have a contract after that season, and there was a lot of speculation from the press and from management about what next year would hold. “Is it time to go in a different direction with Philip Rivers?” Others were saying, “How can you let go of a guy like Drew Brees after he took you to the playoffs the year before?”
Difficult decisions were looming for the team—and for me. And by the end of the game against Denver, those decisions would have even higher stakes.
Coming Back Stronger
Shredding My Shoulder
It took only one play to change the course of my life and my career in the last game of the season on the last day of the year in 2005. It was late in the second quarter and we had been shut out up to that point. We needed someone to make a play, and that someone needed to be me. As I reared back to throw just inside our own end zone, I felt a presence at my back side. It was Denver free safety John Lynch, and he laid a hit on me that knocked the ball out of my hand and onto the ground, spinning to a stop at the one yard line. It was a live ball, but in my eyes it was my ball, and I had to get it back. With no regard for my own safety or future, I committed the cardinal sin for a quarterback. I jumped into the pile for a loose ball. It wasn’t a rational decision—it was the only way I knew how to play the game. Unfortunately I didn’t get the ball, and even worse, after the dust had settled, my right shoulder was out of socket. My arm stuck out to the side as if I were resting it on a fence post.
As I walked off the field on December 31, 2005, my arm numb and motionless, I was staring at the one thing I feared the most: that I might never wear a Chargers uniform again. I wouldn’t know for sure until I heard what the
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