The Senior Bowl announced the names for the game's 2022 Hall of Fame class and Philip Rivers is one of this year's five inductees.
Rivers' storied Chargers career essentially began at the Senior Bowl in 2004, when he was coached by the team's staff. The N.C. State QB helped the Marty Schottenheimer-led South team to a 28-10 victory over the North and earned Senior Bowl MVP honors in the process.
The face time with Schottenheimer and the Chargers coaches proved fortuitous, as the team would eventually land No. 17 in one of the most famous draft day trades in NFL history.
Here's what Rivers had to say about the honor per the Senior Bowl website:
"My Senior Bowl experience in 2004 was awesome. I remember the week like it was yesterday. It just so happened that the Chargers' coaching staff was coaching the team I was on, and I think that was huge for me in the draft process, to say the least. I felt like they already had an interest in me but getting to be on that team with those coaches, them being able to see me work day-to-day, being in the huddle and in the meeting room was a huge benefit to me. They were able to feel confident and ultimately made that trade to have me become a Charger and be a Charger for 16 years. The game itself was a blast – we had a heck of a team. I had a lot of teammates that I ended up following and keeping up with because I played with them in that game. It is ironic now that I am back here in Mobile and Baldwin County – Saint Michael, the high school I coach for, plays in the same stadium in Fairhope where we practiced during Senior Bowl week. It was a special week – I remember winning the MVP and enjoying that time with my wife. I am very excited to go into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, and this is a heck of a class with a lot of guys I've competed against over the years, so this is certainly an honor I'm thankful for."
Other inductees for the class of 2022 include former New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk, current Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Von Miller, current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, and former San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Patrick Willis.
The annual induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 26 in Point Clear, Alabama.
