If Von Miller Has Any Say Then We WILL Begin To Appreciate Philip Rivers More

FTW- According to Ravens safety Eric Weddle, Von Miller went on a seven-minute rant during Pro Bowl week about how Rivers is one of the league’s best passers…

“I’ll give you guys a really inside story. It happened two nights ago. We were all hanging out at the bar. It was me, Philip, Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, Harrison Smith and a couple other guys. And Von comes up — and we’re just talking about games and experiences — and Von goes on this seven-minute dissertation of how much he loves, respects and admires Philip and thinks he’s one of the best quarterbacks in this league.

“And he goes off and says, ‘Look who he played with and [he still] beat us!’ He’s just like, ‘That guy right there is amazing.’

“Honestly to players, players know, like, players know you come here, and you could have a couple games … but they know how good you are. Really, at the bottom line, who you play with, what you’re playing with, the team, the scheme — they know. So it was a perfect example of one of the best players in this league — [one of] the greatest people — was literally talking to Phil and telling him how much he thinks he’s the best quarterback in the league. And he was really being honest about it. It was awesome just to see that.”




I got to be honest, I don't even know why I consider this newsworthy. In fact, it probably isn't. It really shouldn't come as much of a surprise that one great player in a league full of great players has a massive amount of respect for another great player whose failures are - at the very least - partially conjecture. 

That said, it's hard to keep your ears from perking up when the word "dissertation" gets thrown around in reference to the thoughts of a professional athlete. Especially when they are directed at someone who definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves. Anyone that watched a Chargers game this year knows that their 5-11 record doesn't accurately portray the abilities of the man they have under center. I know I am guilty of it as well, but it's nice to take a break from the "Philip Rivers has twice as many children as memorable playoff performances" jokes and acknowledge that the other FIFTY-TWO men on his roster might need to shoulder some of that blame. 

Ignoring facts in lieu of circumstantial evidence to support overblown narratives is approximately half the fun of following football, but sometimes we need to reminded of exactly what we are doing in the process. There's no better person to provide us with the realization that Philip Rivers is actually like reallllly good at what he does than the man whose paid handsomely to line up across from him and attempt to leave an outline of his body in the dirt. No one has more of a reason to be overly critical of a quarterback than the defensive end on a division rival so maybe the Chargers signal caller is a little more than the sum of his losses. I'm not sure I would agree so profoundly with that sentiment that I could give you an entire thesis on the legitimacy of it, but I'm certainly not going to argue with the sack master himself.


​P.S. I love that even while giving the most selfless of praise to an opponent, Von Miller still managed to pat himself on the back by acting like beating a 9-7 Broncos team is the equivalent of raising enough children for your family to field an entire side of the ball....

‘Look who he played with and [he still] beat us!’ He’s just like, ‘That guy right there is amazing.’