Throughout Phillip Rivers' 17-year career, he gave the NFL all he had. Holding nearly every single record possible for a Chargers quarterback, he had a very impressive career. The Pro Football Hall of Fame requires the most prolific resume and they are strict on who they let in. Whether Phillip Rivers will get into the Hall when he is eligible is beyond me, but I am simply here for the argument.
Of course, when someone brings up Phillip Rivers, the name Eli Manning follows shortly after. The quarterbacks were drafted in the same class and were traded for each other 45 minutes after Eli Manning was drafted number one. I am not here to compare Eli and Phillip; rather, just to highlight Phillip. They had two very different careers. Headlining the Phillip Rivers argument is the statistics. Rivers is now fifth all-time in both passing yards and passing touchdowns—with 63,440 and 421, respectively. He boasts a 421 touchdown to 209 interception ratio, which is very solid. Rivers also holds eight career Pro Bowl nominations and has never missed a start in 16 years. His toughness and durability made him the quarterback he was; remember him playing through a torn ACL in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots?
Of course, people want to talk about rings, and understandably so. A lot of people that are in the Hall of Fame are proven winners with the Super Bowl bling to prove it. Of course, some are not, though—players like Dan Marino, Randy Moss, and Larry Fitzgerald, who are obviously not comparable to Rivers. Rivers had zero Super Bowl appearances, which is one of the reasons his trip to Canton could be halted. Personally, I cut him some slack on this one, and that may just be me. Out of all of the Super Bowls that Phillip Rivers has been in the NFL for, 14 of the 16 have featured an AFC quarterback named Roethlisberger, Manning, or Brady. I totally understand that Rivers, at some point, should have gotten to the mountain top as a Super Bowl starter, but just look at the guys he competed against every single year in the AFC. Sure, Joe Flacco and Patrick Mahomes did it—with two of the best playoff quarterback statlines in NFL history.
I'm certainly not going to die on a hill arguing for Phillip Rivers to be in the Hall of Fame, but it wouldn't be the biggest shock to me either if Canton called his name after he is eligible. I think it is also notable to say that I wouldn't expect him to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Now DADGUMMIT, go watch some Phillip Rivers highlights and enjoy the shit-talking phenom.
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