To the shock of many, especially the media members that serve the northeastern United States, Philip Rivers was voted as the best Quarterback in 2010 ahead of Tom Brady (recently named MVP for the season) by the NFL Alumni.
El Capitan completed his third consecutive year with a QB Rating over 100, and earned the respect of former NFL players by playing well despite a litany of on-field and off-field issues following the Chargers around this season.
For much of the season, Rivers was on pace to break the record for the most passing yards in a single season. He finished as one of the league's best QBs statistically despite having Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill for only parts of the season. He also had to fight through injuries to his other WRs (Malcom Floyd, Legedu Naanee and Patrick Crayton all missed significant time), and spent most of the season trying to lead the Bolts back from deficits that were caused by Special Teams gaffes and fumbles by offensive playmakers.
Overall, it was a solid season by Rivers that could've been much better if a few things had fallen into place for him and the rest of the team. I'm glad the former players of the league saw Rivers throw the team on his back and drag them to a winning season, even if it did not end in a playoff appearance and wasn't always the top story on the major sports networks.
Here's a link to all of the awards given out by the NFL Alumni for the 2010 season