Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has heard those of you out there comparing his career to Tony Romo's.
"We're not deaf or blind to those comparisons," Rivers told KLSD-AM in San Diego this week (via ESPN.com). "I've heard that many times over the years. I think from a statistical standpoint yes, and from the standpoint that neither one of us were able to -- at least so far on my end -- have gotten our teams to a championship.
"But both of us have been a part of a lot of good teams, and a lot of wins. And we both started the same year when we took over the reins. I see the similarities. I've always kind of respected Tony from afar."
The conversation was about Rivers, 35, potentially following Romo into broadcasting ("It's so funny because I enjoy talking football and doing all of that. I just don't think I'll ever go that route," he said). I think, however it provided a window into how much longer Rivers plans on playing than the now-retired Cowboys quarterback.
Rivers is already more than 10,000 yards ahead of Romo in all-time passing yards, has 66 more touchdown passes, 19 more wins and three more playoff appearances, but has a similar drive to that of a late-career Peyton Manning. Rivers is approaching the cultural minutiae that comes with a new coaching staff and seems vested in the new message being passed around by first-year head coach Anthony Lynn.
"I think you've heard me and we've all had to go with this big change for us and essentially market ourselves -- how are you going to win over L.A. and all of that stuff. And I think we've all talked about winning," he said. "You've got to win, you've got to win."
Winning, and putting the Chargers into another conference title game -- completely possible with this roster, by the way -- would put Rivers into a category unreachable by Romo by comparison. Since he already hears you lumping the two together, it might be a good reason to fend off retirement, whether that be broadcasting or something else.
