Philip Rivers on Justin Herbert: ‘They got that one right’

Philip Rivers’ time with the Chargers came to end following a very underwhelming 2019 season where the team struggled to close out numerous games en route to an abysmal 5-11 record. Such an underperforming season by the franchise only spurred on Rivers’ exit from the team and the search for the next franchise quarterback was on.

Luckily for the entire Chargers fan base, that wait last all but one offseason. Justin Herbert was selected with the sixth-overall pick and has enjoyed one of the most-productive two-year stretches to begin a career for any quarterback history.

Since his retirement, Rivers has enjoyed fulfilling his other childhood dream of coaching football at the high-school level, just like his father. But apart from coaching and rooting on the players he spends his summers and falls with these days, he’s still vehemently supporting his former team and the remaining players left on the roster from his final days in Los Angeles.

“Keenan Allen is there, Ekeler is there, Derwin James … there’s still a handful of guys that I played with,” Rivers told Crane and Company. “It makes you want to pull for those guys. They’re definitely going to have a shot [at a deep playoff run].”

While Rivers was in Mobile, Alabama for his induction into the Reese’s Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, he fielded a number of questions about his career, including several about his successor with the Chargers.

“I pull like crazy for the Chargers and I pull for Justin Herbert in particular, just because I think it’s awesome that I was able to be there for 16 years, hopefully he can be there for another 16. I always thought it’s cool you look at the Packers, you can say, ‘Who’s been their quarterback the last 40 years? [Brett] Favre and [Aaron] Rodgers.’ You don’t want it to go the Browns’ version, with 30 starters in the last 25 years. With Herbert, it was time for me to be done there, and then they nailed that pick.”

After starring at North Carolina State, Rivers played in the 2004 Senior Bowl prior to being drafted a few short months later. He was inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame alongside a number of notable alumni from the all-star showcase, including the Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey, the Bills’ Von Miller, and former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis.