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1994–95 FA Premier League

The 1994–95 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the competition, since its formation in 1992 as the top division of professional football in England. Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the FA Premier League from 22 to 20 starting from next season, a total of four clubs were to be relegated.

Transfers
Just before the start of the season, the English transfer record was broken when Blackburn Rovers paid £5 million for 21-year-old Norwich City striker Chris Sutton. But that record was broken again in January when Manchester United paid £6 million for Newcastle United's Andy Cole, in a deal which also saw £1 million-rated Keith Gillespie move to Newcastle. Other significant transfers before and during the 1994–95 season included: Vinny Samways (Tottenham to Everton, £2 million), David Rocastle (Manchester City to Chelsea, £1.25 million), Jürgen Klinsmann (Monaco to Tottenham Hotspur, £2 million), John Scales (Wimbledon to Liverpool, £3 million) and Paul Kitson (Derby County to Newcastle United, £2.2 million).

Summary
The title was won by Blackburn Rovers, whose last title success was in 1914, and also was Blackburn's first major trophy in 67 years (the last being 1927–28 FA Cup). Kenny Dalglish's side secured the championship on the last day of the season despite losing 2–1 at his former club Liverpool, as Manchester United could only manage a 1–1 draw at West Ham. This meant that Blackburn Rovers qualified for the European Cup for the first time in their history, while Manchester United finished second earning a UEFA Cup place. A single point separated the two sides, who for more than half of the season enjoyed a wide gap in terms of point between themselves and the rest of the league, despite the likes of Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Newcastle United looking like title contenders during the first three months of the season.

Also qualifying for the UEFA Cup were Nottingham Forest (who finished third in their first season back in the Premier League), Liverpool (who finished fourth and won their fifth League Cup in the club's first full season following the appointment of Roy Evans) and fifth placed Leeds United.

The number of teams in the league for the following year would be reduced to 20. This was to be achieved by increasing the number of teams facing relegation to four, and reducing the number of teams being promoted from Division 1 to two. Ipswich Town were relegated in bottom place after winning just seven league games and conceding 93 goals. Newly promoted Leicester City also went down, winning just six times in the league and never being outside the bottom two after November. Norwich City, who had been in contention for a UEFA Cup place halfway through the season, suffered a nosedive in form during the second half of the season and were relegated just two seasons after being title contenders. The final relegation place on the last day of the season went to Crystal Palace, who still lost 3-2 despite a strong fightback at Newcastle after being 3-0 down.

Controversial incidents
In January 1995, Manchester United's 28-year-old French striker Eric Cantona (then holder of the PFA Players' Player of the Year award) assaulted a Crystal Palace fan who verbally abused him in his team's 1–1 draw at Selhurst Park. Cantona was banned from football for eight months, fined £20,000 and sentenced to 14 days in prison. The prison sentence was later reduced to 120 hours community service on appeal.

Chelsea midfielder Dennis Wise was convicted of criminal damage and assault, relating to a fight with a taxi driver in London. He was given a three-month prison sentence but the conviction and prison sentence were quickly overturned on appeal.

Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson admitted in November 1994 that he was an alcoholic and was also addicted to cocaine and gambling. He underwent a three-month drug rehabilitation programme before being allowed to resume his playing career.

Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong failed a drugs test in February 1995 but admitted that he had done wrong and returned to action after just four weeks undergoing rehabilitation. Armstrong was Palace's leading goalscorer in 1994–95, helping them reach the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated back to the First Division just one season after winning promotion.

Arsenal manager George Graham was sacked in February 1995 after nearly nine years in charge, when it was revealed that he had accepted an illegal payment of £425,000 from Norwegian agent Rune Hauge relating to the purchases of Norwegian and Danish players Pål Lydersen and John Jensen three years earlier. Graham was later banned from football for one year by the FA.

Teams
Twenty-two teams competed in the league – the top nineteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest (both teams returning to the top flight after a season's absence), and Leicester City (returning after a top flight absence of seven years). This was also Leicester City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic and Swindon Town, who were relegated to the First Division after their top flight spells of four, three and one year respectively. This was the final season with twenty-two teams as all seasons after this one have twenty teams.

Personnel and kits
(as of 14 May 1995)

Hat-tricks

 * Note: 5 – player scored 5 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Player

 * Most yellow cards: 12
 * 🏴 Francis Benali (Southampton)
 * Ken Monkou (Southampton)
 * 🏴 Andy Pearce (Sheffield Wednesday)

 * Most red cards: 2
 * Duncan Ferguson (Everton)
 * 🏴 Vinnie Jones (Wimbledon)
 * 🇨🇿 Pavel Srníček (Newcastle United)
 * 🇮🇪 Andy Townsend (Aston Villa)
 * 🏴 Jason Wilcox (Blackburn Rovers)

Club

 * Most yellow cards: 72
 * Wimbledon

 * Fewest yellow cards: 35
 * Liverpool

 * Most red cards: 8
 * Leicester City

 * Fewest red cards: 0
 * Leeds United
 * Southampton

title: 1994–95 FA Premier League


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Jean-Christophe Lafaille

Jean-Christophe Lafaille (31 March 1965 – 27 January 2006 [presumed]) was a French climber noted for a number of difficult ascents in the Alps and Himalaya, and for what has been described as "perhaps the finest self-rescue ever performed in the Himalaya", when he was forced to descend the mile-high south face of Annapurna alone with a broken arm, after his climbing partner had been killed in a fall. He climbed eleven of the fourteen eight-thousanders, many of them alone or by previously unclimbed routes, but disappeared during a solo attempt to make the first winter ascent of Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain.

Early career
Born in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Lafaille's background was in sport climbing, and as a teenager he climbed extensively at Céüse and played a part in turning it into one of the world's best known climbing venues. In 1989 he became the first Frenchman to solo a climb graded 7c+, and one of the first to climb 8c graded routes.

In the early 1990s, Lafaille qualified as a mountain guide and began mountaineering in the Alps. He made a number of difficult ascents on the Mont Blanc massif, including the first solo climb of Divine Providence on the Grand Pilier d'Angle, one of the hardest routes on the massif.

Self-rescue on Annapurna
On the strength of his climbs in the Alps, Lafaille was invited on an expedition to Annapurna by Pierre Béghin, one of the leading French climbers of the day. The pair attempted the mountain's vast South Face following the monsoon season in October 1992 in Alpine style, with no Sherpa support, pre-stocked campsites or fixed ropes on the upper mountain. They had reached a height of 7,400 metres when bad weather forced them to descend. The pair made a series of abseils down the face, but due to their lightweight approach they had little protective equipment and were often forced to abseil from a single piece of protection to conserve equipment. On the fourth or fifth abseil, Béghin fell to his death when the single cam he was using as an anchor became dislodged from the rock. Béghin had been carrying most of the pair's technical equipment, including all the ropes, and Lafaille was left alone on the face, a vertical mile above safety. With great difficulty, Lafaille managed to climb down the 75 degree face to the pair's last bivouac site, where he found 20 metres of thin rope, allowing him to make short abseils down some of the hardest parts. With no technical equipment to use as anchors he was forced to entrust his weight to tent pegs or, on one occasion, a plastic bottle. He finally reached what should have been the relative safety of the top of a fixed rope which he and Beghin had installed on a steep rock band, but almost immediately he was struck by a falling rock, which broke his right arm. Disabled and helpless, he lay on a ledge for two days in the hope that other climbers would rescue him. However, while there was a Slovenian team attempting a route on a different part of the South Face, they judged that a rescue attempt would be too dangerous to undertake, so help never came. The cruelest thing about the ordeal, Lafaille said, was being able to see life in the valley below, and by night, the flashbulbs of trekkers' cameras. In spite of this, he later agreed that the Slovenians had made the right decision in not trying to save him.

Eventually, with all hope of rescue gone, Lafaille resolved to continue down alone. He initially tried to continue abseiling, but unable to control the rope with only one hand and his teeth he reverted to downclimbing one-handed, and was utterly exhausted when he reached the Slovenian team's base camp. By that time the climbers at the base of the mountain had given up hope for him, and his first wife, Véronique, had already been told that he had died. Reinhold Messner later said that the survival instinct he showed was of the sort which defines the best mountaineers.

Subsequent career
After Annapurna, Lafaille resolved never to climb again, but during his long physical and psychological recovery he began scrambling in the foothills of the Alps, and eventually returned to extreme climbing. In the Alps he carried out an enchainment of nine north faces in fifteen days, skiing from mountain to mountain, and made the first ascent of the Lafaille Route on the Petit Dru, which at the time was considered the hardest route in the Alps, but his most important climbs were in the Himalaya.

A year after his accident on Annapurna, he climbed Cho Oyu, and then in 1994 he climbed a new route, solo, on the north face of Shishapangma. It was the first of many solo ascents of 8000 meter peaks, including consecutive ascents of Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II in four days in 1996, and Manaslu in 2001.

Annapurna remained an obsession for Lafaille, and he would later call his autobiography Prisoner of Annapurna. He returned to the mountain three times. The first time he made a solo attempt on the British line on the South Face, which failed due to poor snow conditions. In 1998 he returned to the same route with a larger team, but the expedition was abandoned when a team member was killed in an avalanche. He finally reached the summit in 2002 with Alberto Iñurrategi via the long, committing east ridge.

By 2003, Lafaille had decided to try to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders; but unlike many of the mountaineers who take on this goal, he had no desire simply to climb them by well established routes, in large expeditions and with bottled oxygen. He preferred to continue trying to achieve new routes or solo ascents, or to climb in the more demanding winter season. In 2003, he climbed Nanga Parbat, Dhaulagiri (solo) and Broad Peak in a two-month period. The last of these nearly killed him when he fell into a crevasse and then developed high altitude pulmonary edema. He was rescued by Ed Viesturs and Denis Urubko.

When asked why Lafaille climbed solo, his wife Katia said he did not wish to see another climbing partner die.

In December 2004, he made a solo ascent of Shishapangma. It was intended to be the first winter ascent of the mountain, but he reached the summit on 11 December which was seen as too early to be classed as a true winter ascent. He had now completed eleven of the fourteen eight-thousanders, and needed Everest, Kanchenjunga and Makalu to complete his goal.

Death on Makalu
Lafaille's last climb was one of his boldest. In December 2005, he began a solo attempt to climb Makalu (8462m), the only 8000-metre peak in Nepal not to have seen a winter ascent. It was a goal which would have been considered suicidal a few years previously, but for Lafaille the danger was an important part of the experience. He commented

"'I find it fascinating that our planet still has areas where no modern technology can save you, where you are reduced to your most basic - and essential - self. This natural space creates demanding situations that can lead to suffering and death, but also generate a wild interior richness. Ultimately, there is no way of reconciling these contradictions. All I can do it try to live within their margins, in the narrow boundary between joy and horror. Everything on this earth is a balancing act.'"

Over four weeks in December and January, he hauled loads up the mountain, entirely alone above his advance base camp at 5300m, but was forced to retreat from the col at Makalu La by strong winds, which destroyed his tent and twice blew him into the air. However, after two weeks at base camp the weather improved, and on 24 January he set off up the mountain. His only means of communication was a satellite phone, which he used to speak to his wife several times a day. By the morning of the 27th he was camped on a small ledge around 1000m below the summit, and told his wife that he would try to reach the top that day. He was never heard from again. Alone on the mountain in winter, with no climbers in the world sufficiently acclimatised to reach his high camp, there was no possibility of a rescue attempt. His base camp team gave up hope of him returning alive after he had been missing for a week, and a later helicopter flight over the mountain failed to find any sign of him. His body has not been found and his exact fate is unknown.

Family
At the time of his death, he left his wife, Katia, and 3 children (2 from previous marriage and 1 from Katia, as Ed Viesturs writes in No Short Cuts to the Top).

His son, Tom Lafaille has become an alpinist and ski mountaineer, and has returned to his father's routes in the Himalayas. In 2023, Tom Lafaille made the first successful French ski descent from Broad Peak.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Jean-Christophe Lafaille


text:
Bulawa

The bulava or buława (Polish spelling: buława; Ukrainian spelling: булава [bula'va]) is a ceremonial mace or baton or sceptre.

Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Historically the buława was an attribute of a hetman, an officer of the highest military rank (after the monarch) in the 15th- to 18th-century Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Hetmans typically added an image of a buława to their coats of arms.

Today the buława appears in the rank insignia of a Marshal of Poland.

Ukraine
In the Ukrainian language, a булава (bulava) is a mace or club, in both the military and ceremonial senses. The bulava was one of the Ukrainian Cossack kleinody (клейноди - "jewels"): Bohdan Khmelnytsky bore a bulava as Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host (in office: 1648 to 1657).

Historically the bulava was an attribute of a hetman, an officer of the highest military rank, and of the Otaman of Ukraine or the military head of a Cossack state (Cossack Hetmanate).

The Ukrainian People's Republic of 1917-1920 referred to the General Staff of the Ukrainian People's Army as the "General Bulava".

A ceremonial bulava is now an official emblem of the president of Ukraine, and is housed in Ukraine's Vernadsky National Library.

Ukrainian military heraldry often features bulava-images, particularly as a part of rank insignia for generals and admirals, as well as an element of the insignia of the Ministry of Defence and of the NSDC.

title: Bulawa


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Earl Campbell

Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. Known for his aggressive, punishing running style and ability to break tackles, Campbell gained recognition as one of the best power running backs in NFL history.

Campbell played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he won the Heisman Trophy and earned unanimous All-American honors in his senior season, as well as numerous other accolades. Campbell was selected first overall by the Oilers in the 1978 NFL draft, and had an immediate impact in the league, earning NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Campbell was also named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year in each of his first three seasons, during which he averaged nearly 1,700 rushing yards per season. Campbell won the AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1979 after leading the league in rushing yards and touchdowns.

With head coach Bum Phillips, Campbell's emergence in Houston coincided with the Luv Ya Blue era, a period of sustained success in which the Oilers made three straight playoff appearances. Campbell became the centerpiece of Houston's offense during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was traded to the New Orleans Saints six games into the 1984 season, where he spent his final season and a half before retiring. Campbell was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame (1990) and Pro Football Hall of Fame (1991). In 2019, he was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Campbell's jersey number is retired by the University of Texas and the Tennessee Titans.

Early life and high school
Earl Christian Campbell was born to Ann and Bert "B.C." Campbell, on March 29, 1955, in Tyler, Texas, leading to the nickname, "the Tyler Rose" later in his career. He was the sixth of 11 siblings. Bert Campbell died when Earl was 11 years old. Campbell began playing football in fifth grade as a kicker, but moved to linebacker in sixth grade after watching Dick Butkus, whom he modeled his playing style after. Ann Campbell attempted to persuade Earl not to play football in high school. "I dis-encouraged Earl," she said. "But he always loved football." In 1973, Campbell led the Corky Nelson–coached John Tyler High School to the Texas 4A State Championship (4A then was the largest classification in the state). That season, Campbell was named Mr. Football USA as he was adjudged the national high school player of the year.

While heavily recruited, Campbell narrowed his choices to Houston, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Baylor. After in-home visits from Barry Switzer from Oklahoma and Darrell Royal from Texas, Campbell ultimately chose Texas. Switzer, who unsuccessfully recruited Campbell, said in his 1989 book that Campbell was the only player he ever saw who could have gone straight from high school to the NFL and immediately become a star.

College career
Campbell attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he played college football for the Texas Longhorns from 1974 to 1977.

As a freshman in 1974, Campbell played in all 11 games and had 162 carries for 928 yards and six touchdowns.

In 1975, Campbell was a first-team All-America selection at fullback by the American Football Coaches Association after leading the Southwest Conference with 1,118 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, and 78 points scored.

Leg injuries kept Campbell out of four games during his junior season, and he rushed for 653 yards and three touchdowns in seven games as Texas finished with a 5–5–1 record.

Campbell led the nation in rushing as a senior in 1977, with 1,744 yards and 19 touchdowns. In the third game of the season, against the Rice Owls, Campbell scored four touchdowns during a 72–15 blowout in which Texas kicker Russell Erxleben set an NCAA record with a 67-yard field goal. In his final regular-season game, Campbell rushed for a career-high 222 yards in a 57–28 victory over rival Texas A&M, and the Longhorns finished the regular season undefeated. After clinching the Southwest Conference championship, the top-ranked Longhorns then faced No. 5 Notre Dame, led by quarterback Joe Montana, in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Campbell carried 29 times for 116 yards in the game, but Notre Dame was victorious, 38–10, and claimed the national championship. Texas was ranked fourth in the final AP Poll.

Campbell was awarded the Heisman Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding college player after the season, becoming the University of Texas' first winner of the award. He also became the first recipient of the Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy which was awarded to the outstanding player in the Southwest Conference. The Sporting News and United Press International each named Campbell the college football player of the year. He was a unanimous All-American, being named to the first team by every major selector.

Campbell finished his college career with 4,443 rushing yards and 40 rushing touchdowns in 40 games through four seasons.

Houston Oilers
Campbell was the first overall draft pick in the 1978 NFL draft, selected by the Houston Oilers, who signed him to a six-year, $1.4 million contract. The Oilers obtained the pick from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by trading tight end Jimmie Giles, their first and second round picks in the 1978 Draft, and their third and fifth round picks in the 1979 Draft. "This is a commitment to excellence," said Oilers head coach Bum Phillips. "It takes a great running back to have a winning football team and this kid is a great running back." After rushing for a league-leading and rookie record 1,450 yards, Campbell was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News and Associated Press (AP). He was also named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year by United Press International (UPI), NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the AP, and the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). Campbell's emergence contributed to the start of the Luv Ya Blue era in Houston.

With quarterback Dan Pastorini nursing a mid-season shoulder injury, Campbell carried the Oilers to a five-game winning streak in 1979, which concluded with a 30–24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, in which he rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the season with 1,697 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, leading the league in both categories. Campbell also set NFL records with 11 100-yard rushing games, seven consecutive 100-yard games, and 368 carries. He was named NFL MVP by the AP, NEA, and PFWA. Campbell also repeated as the AP Offensive Player of the Year, and won the Bert Bell Award as the league's most outstanding player.

With his aggressive running style which favored running over players instead of around them, questions began to arise over how long Campbell could stay healthy. "He runs with a lot of reckless abandon," said Ron Johnson, a former running back whose own career was cut short. "You can run like that in college. But you can't do that for 10 years and hope to survive." Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris said, "Knocking over people can look very good but you can't do it forever. Sometimes it's going to be somebody else who knocks you over ... so the most important thing I think isn't to get a few extra yards every time but to make sure you're healthy enough to play." Bum Phillips, though, favored Campbell's running style. "I've been looking for a back like Earl," he said. "I'm not going to change his style. Why would I? You don't want a guy who gets hit and then flops on the ground. Earl does the same thing other backs do, only better."

After an 11–5 regular-season record in 1979, the Oilers defeated the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round for their first home playoff win since 1960. Houston then won the divisional round game against the San Diego Chargers despite both Pastorini and Campbell missing the game due to injuries. With both back in the lineup, however, the Oilers lost the conference championship game the following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Campbell was held to just 15 yards on 17 carries against Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense.

Campbell had his most productive rushing yardage season in 1980, with 1,934 yards in 15 games—an average of 128.9 yards per game. He finished 70 yards short of breaking O. J. Simpson's single-season rushing yards record set in 1973. Campbell again led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns, and broke his own record for carries, with 373. Over 60 percent of Campbell’s yards came in the fourth quarter. "That's when the tough get going," said Campbell. He had four games of over 200 rushing yards, a single-season record that still stands as of the end of the 2016 season. Campbell also threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to receiver Billy "White Shoes" Johnson against the Steelers for his only career completion out of three attempts. The Oilers again finished with an 11–5 regular-season record, but lost in the Wild Card Round to the Oakland Raiders. For the third straight year, Campbell was awarded the Jim Thorpe Trophy by the Newspaper Enterprise Association as the league's MVP, and named the Offensive Player of the Year by the AP.

Bum Phillips was fired three days after Houston's loss in the wild-card game, and defensive coordinator Ed Biles was given the head coaching job. In 1981, the Oilers finished 7–9 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time with Campbell on the roster. Campbell also did not claim the rushing yards title for the first time in his career as he finished fifth in yards with 1,376 and seventh in touchdowns with 10. The highlight of the season was back-to-back rushing performances of over 180 yards, against the Cincinnati Bengals during Week 5 and against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6. His 39 carries against the Seahawks set an Oilers single-game record. Campbell was invited to his fourth Pro Bowl, but failed to make an All-Pro roster.

A players' strike in 1982 shortened the season to nine games and the Oilers finished with a 1–8 record. Campbell had just two touchdowns and 538 rushing yards, an average of 59.8 yards per game—far below his average of 104.1 per game over the previous four seasons.

Campbell's production improved greatly in 1983 as he had 1,301 yards and 12 touchdowns, and was invited to his fifth Pro Bowl. However, the Oilers finished the season tied for the worst record in the league at 2–14. Unhappy after he was pulled in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, Campbell demanded to be traded. He completed the season with the team but remained adamant with his demand in the off-season. "I'm tired of hearing every week how I'm too dumb, washed up, too dumb to read holes, can't block, can't catch the football," said Campbell. The team's back-to-back dismal seasons also added to his frustration.

In 1984, under new head coach Hugh Campbell, Houston started the season with six straight losses. After rushing for 278 yards total in the first six games of 1984, Campbell was traded to the New Orleans Saints, reuniting him with Bum Phillips.

New Orleans Saints
The Saints received Campbell in exchange for their first-round draft pick in 1985, with which Houston selected cornerback Richard Johnson. The trade came as a surprise in New Orleans; the team already had the young George Rogers, the 1981 No. 1 overall draft pick and that year's Rookie of the Year and rushing champion. With Campbell and Rogers, the Saints now had two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield. In his first game with New Orleans, Campbell carried five times for 19 yards, and continued to have a diminished role in the offense throughout the rest of the season. He rushed for a total of 468 yards and four touchdowns in 1984, and failed to record a 100-yard game during the season.

Campbell’s final 100-yard game was his only one in 1985: a 160-yard outburst against the Minnesota Vikings in which he scored his only touchdown of the season. Campbell finished the year with 643 rushing yards on 158 carries.

Retirement
After considering a return for one more season to reach 10,000 career rushing yards, Campbell retired during the 1986 preseason, feeling that the beating he had taken during his career had taken too much of a toll. "I'm a man; I'm not a little boy," said Campbell. "I believe this is the best thing—not only for myself, but for the Saints." He finished his career having rushed 2,187 times for 9,407 yards and 74 touchdowns to go along with 121 receptions for 806 yards in the regular season.

Legacy and honors
Campbell is widely acknowledged as one of the best power running backs in NFL history, and was highly regarded by his peers. "Every time you hit him you lower your own IQ," said Redskins linebacker Pete Wysocki. Cornerback Lester Hayes of the Raiders said, "Earl Campbell was put on this earth to play football." Cliff Harris, safety for the Cowboys, recalled Campbell as "the hardest-hitting running back I ever played against. He didn't have the elusiveness of an O. J. Simpson. But when you finished a game against Earl, you had to sit in a tub with Epsom salts." Bum Phillips, when asked if Campbell was in a class by himself, quipped, "I dunno. But if he ain't, it don't take long to call the roll."

Campbell is considered one of the greatest running backs in Texas Longhorns and college football history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990, along with fellow Heisman winner Jim Plunkett of Stanford. Campbell became the first Texas Longhorns football player to have his jersey retired by the university, his number 20 being retired in 1979. In 2000, an internet poll of Longhorns fans voted Campbell to Texas' All-Century team. He received the most votes, beating out recently graduated Ricky Williams.

On July 27, 1991, Campbell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others inducted in the 1991 class were John Hannah, Stan Jones, Tex Schramm, and Jan Stenerud. He was introduced at the ceremony by Bum Phillips. Campbell's jersey number 34 was retired by the Oilers in 1987. He was inducted as one of six charter members into the Titans Hall of Fame in 1999, although Campbell declined an invitation to the induction ceremony, stating, "I was a Houston Oiler, not a Tennessee Titan."

In 1999, Campbell was ranked number 33 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 greatest football players, the highest-ranked player for the Houston Oilers franchise. In 2010, NFL Network ranked Campbell the 55th greatest player of all time in The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players, and he was ranked by the sportswriter Max Bertellotti of the Turner Sports Network as the number 3 "power back" of all time, behind Jim Brown and John Riggins.

Campbell was honored at halftime against Ohio State on September 9, 2006, including the unveiling of a 9 ft bronze statue of Campbell in the southwest corner of Royal-Memorial Stadium. The same year, he was featured on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football, an honor that eluded him during his playing days.

In 2019, Campbell was one of twelve running backs selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

On January 13, 2020, Campbell was honored during the College Football Playoff National Championship for the 150th anniversary of college football. ESPN named him the 7th best college football player of all time.

Campbell was declared an official State Hero in 1981 by the Texas legislature, an honor previously bestowed upon only Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett.

A section of roadway in Tyler, Texas, extending from Loop 323 to SH155 was named the Earl Campbell Parkway at its opening in 2012. In 2013, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, an award given to the best offensive player in NCAA Division I with Texas ties, was named in Campbell's honor.

Personal life
While at the University of Texas, Campbell was a member of the honorary men's service organization, the Texas Cowboys. As of 2016, he still actively participates in University of Texas athletics, serving as special assistant to the football team. In 1990, Campbell founded Earl Campbell Meat Products, Inc. which manufactures and sells Earl Campbell's Smoked Sausage and other food products and barbecue sauce. Campbell and his associates also opened a restaurant in 1999 on Sixth Street in Austin called Earl Campbell's Lone Star BBQ, which closed in 2001.

Campbell has two sons: Christian and Tyler. Christian played high school football with Drew Brees, the nephew of his father's former Longhorns teammate Marty Akins, at Westlake High and ran track for the University of Houston. Tyler was a running back for Pasadena City College and San Diego State but was forced to give up the sport due to multiple sclerosis (MS). He returned to Texas after graduation and divides his time between the family business and raising awareness of MS with his father.

Health
Campbell has experienced various physical ailments in his later life. By 2001, at age 46, Campbell could barely close his fist due to arthritis in his hands. He developed foot drop due to nerve damage in his legs, and has difficulty bending his back and knees. Campbell was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2009. Because of his difficulty walking, Campbell uses a cane or a walker, and a wheelchair for longer distances. At first, he maintained the ailments were genetic, but said in 2012, "I think some of it came from playing football, playing the way I did."

In 2009, Campbell became addicted to painkillers prescribed for his spinal stenosis, taking as many as ten OxyContin pills a day with Budweiser. He went through rehabilitation and broke his addiction the same year, and since publicizing the incident in 2013, has spoken out about the dangers of substance abuse.

title: Earl Campbell


text:
Talk:Kamal Jumblatt

Murder
Why is omitted that he was murdered? gidonb 15:27, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, it is mentioned in the third-from-last paragraph that he was assassinated. Judging from the category, it was in 1977.  But both the circumstances and the date would be excellent addtions to the article, which someone knowledgable needs to add to it.  Rlquall 19:17, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Jumblatt Family is originally kurdish and here are the sources
Jumblatt, Kamal (1917-1977), Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party and leader of the Arabist leftist alliance, The Lebanese National Movement.

The origin of the Joumblatt family is the Kurdish-Syrian Janboulad family dating back to Janboulad Ibn Kassem al Kirdi al Kaisari, known as Ibn Arabou (1530-1580), governor of Aleppo. http://www.cedarland.org/bio.html#kamal

The Turks recognized the status quo, and made terms with the Shehab amir in 1748; but his power was none too well secured against the opposition of the Kurdish Jumblat family, even though he was supported by the Talhuk, A bd al-Malik and Yezbeki families; and it appears that some members of the Shehab joined the Maronite faith in the middle of the 18th century, causing a suspicion of secret apostasy to fall on all the family. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/D/DR/DRUSES.htm

Mr. Jumblatt's ancestors were Kurds, and his friends say he is proud of his roots. Walid Arbid, a professor at Lebanese University, said the Jumblatt family emigrated from Syria to Lebanon during the 17th century at the invitation of Druze leader Fakhredine, before rising to political prominence under the leadership of Sheik Bashir Jumblatt. http://washingtontimes.com/world/20050419-094041-4385r.htm

Ismet Şerif Wanli schreibte, dass es in Libanon seit Jahrhunderten Kurden gelebt haben und zählt vier kurdische Asirets, nämlich die Clan Banu Sayfa nördlich von Tripoli und der Festung Krac. Ein anderes Asiret ist Ras Nahasch, die seit dem 16. Jahrhundert bei Tripoli leben. Dann gibt es noch die Amadischen Scheichs, die aus Amadiya im 17. Jahrhundert in den Libanon kamen. Aus Hakkari kam der Can Polad Asiret. Heute heißen sie Djumblatt. Der Führer der drusischen Gemeinschaft und der Progressiven Sozialistischen Partei Walid Djumblatt sei Kurde. 1925 kamen viele Flüchtlinge nach dem Scheich-Said-Aufstand ins Land. Die Organisation Xoybun wurde in Beirut gegründet. Heute sollen etwa 100.000 Kurden im Libanon leben. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurden

Walid Dcshumblat's Rede bei der Gründung von Kurdistan National Kongreß: Sehr geehrte Kongreßmitglieder, ich habe mich über Ihre Einladung sehr gefreut. Ich habe gewiss hier sein wollen. Ich bin auch ein Kurde aber muß leider arabisch reden, weil ich und meine Familie von Arabern assimiliert wurden.Wie die Kurden, die von Türken und Perser assimiliert wurden. Die Kurden haben schon längst die Demokratie, Freihet und Modernität verdient.Auch wenn wir in ganzer Welt verstreut sind, unser Herz klopft für unseres Heimatsland. Ich freue mich Sie kennenzulernen und hier dabei sein zu dürfen. Ich wünsche Kurdistan National Kongreß viel Erfolg und begrüße alle Beteiligten http://www.kurdistan-post.com/modules.php?name=Sections&sop=viewarticle&artid=271

There were several massacres, notably that of Christians by Druze in Jabal al-Druze in 1825, and of the Druze of Matn by the Maronites in 1845. In 1860 the Druze burned 150 villages and massacred 11,000 Maronites. This led to armed French intervention and an agreement, guaranteed by the Western powers, which resulted in local autonomy for Lebanon under a non-Lebanese Christian governor (Mutassarif).

During this period leadership had passed to the Jumblat family which was of Kurdish origin. http://www.angelfire.com/az/rescon/mgcdruze.html

The Jumblatt family was originally of Sunni Kurdish descent and they later became accepted as part of the Druze community. http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/2667/index.php

WALID JUMBLATT'S surname means ‘the iron man’ in Kurdish, and to many Lebanese today that rings very true. http://www.tharwaproject.com/English/index.php?option=com_keywords&task=view&id=1895&Itemid=0

The Near East shows a pretty smooth gradient going from north to south, with the exception of the Druze. The Druze are a closed society since the 11th century, and may represent an earlier non-Jewish population of northern Palestine and Lebanon. It is also known that certain Druze clans were of "Yemeni Arab" origin (as were many clans of the Palestinians), and other clans were of "Kurdish" origin (e.g. Jumblatt), perhaps coming from the North, closer to the Caucasus. http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GENEALOGY-DNA/2003-07/1057145080

History of the Joumblatt family: The origin of the Joumblatt family is Janboulad (meaning "the iron heart" associated with the courage).

Originally, the family roots come from the Janboulad al Kirdi al Ayoubi, known also as Ibn Arabi, governor of the Maarat Naaman country (Syria). But the first grand father is Janboulad Ibn Kassem al Kirdi al Kaisari, known as Ibn Arabou (1530-1580), governor of Aleppo and owner of Maarat, Kalas and Iizaz. He became famous as he had succeeded in bringing stability and prosperity to his country. www.moukhtara.org/jumblat.htm

Le mot Joumblatt est d'origine kurde. Il se compose de deux syllabes: Djam (âme) et Bulad (acier). A l'origine étymologique du nom des Joumblatt s'ajoute une ethnie également kurde, de descendance Ayoubide. Cependant, l'avis des historiens reste partagés. En effet, la publication dernièrement d'un manuscrit à Mossoul, en Irak, prouve que les membres de cette famille sont des descendants Abassides proche des Omeyyades. http://www.dm.net.lb/chronique/saga_1.html

Comment définiriez-vous les liens qui vous unissent à la communauté druze ?

Notre famille, d'origine kurde, est installée au Liban depuis le XVIIe siècle. Nous étions l'une des plus grandes familles féodales du Mont-Liban et nous avons toujours eu un rôle politique important. Et puis mon père a changé le cours de notre histoire familiale en créant en 1949 le Parti socialiste progressiste. http://www.institutkurde.org/info/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1120310991&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

--82.141.54.55 06:04, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

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The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page have been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 17:36, 23 November 2019 (UTC)
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catholic ??
the paragraph about him being a secret Catholic is written like it is a fact please change to show that this is what cammile chammoun said... 213.57.124.197 (talk) 21:20, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Kamal Jumblatt


text:
Shemshak

Shemshak is a city in Rudbar-e Qasran District of Shemiranat County, Tehran province, Iran. A suburb of Tehran, Shemshak was established upon the merger of the former villages of Darband Sar, Darrud, Jirud, Sefidestan, Shemshak-e Bala, and Shemshak-e Pain.

Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the population (as the total of its constituent villages before the merger) was 2,383 in 702 households, when it was in Rudbar-e Qasran Rural District. The following census in 2011 counted 1,901 people in 644 households. The 2016 census measured the population as 3,423 people in 1,197 households, by which time the villages had merged and Shemshak was elevated to the status of a city.

title: Shemshak


text:
Direct material total variance

In variance analysis (accounting) direct material total variance is the difference between the actual cost of actual number of units produced and its budgeted cost in terms of material. Direct material total variance can be divided into two components:
 * the direct material price variance,
 * the direct material usage variance.

Example
Let us assume that standard direct material cost of widget is as follows:
 * 2 kg of unobtainium at $ 60 per kg ( = $ 120 per unit).

Let us assume further that during the given period, 100 widgets were manufactured, using 212 kg of unobtainium which cost $ 13,144.

Under those assumptions direct material total variance can be calculated as:

Direct material total variance can be reconciled to direct material price variance and direct material usage variance by:

See direct material usage variance and direct material price variance for computations of both components.

title: Direct material total variance


text:
Makrysi

Makrysi (Greek: Μακρύσι, before 1927: Σιάλεσι - Sialesi ) is a village and a community in the municipality of Megalopoli, Arcadia, Greece. It is situated on a hillside on the left bank of the river Elissonas, at 496 m elevation. It is 3 km northwest of Mallota and 3 km northeast of Megalopoli town centre. The community consists of the villages Makrysi and Kato Makrysi. Kato Makrysi is situated at 450 m elevation. Zacharias Barbitsiotis, an anti-Ottoman insurgent defeated the Turks in Sialesi in the 1780s.

title: Makrysi


text:
Anna Botsford Comstock

Anna Botsford Comstock (September 1, 1854 – August 24, 1930) was an acclaimed author, illustrator, and educator of natural studies. The first female professor at Cornell University, her over 900-page work, The Handbook of Nature Study (1911), is now in its 24th edition. Comstock was an American artist and wood engraver known for illustrating entomological text books with her husband, John Henry Comstock including their first joint effort, The Manual for the Study of Insects (1885). Comstock worked with Liberty Hyde Bailey, John Walton Spencer, Alice McCloskey, Julia Rogers, and Ada Georgia as part of the department of Nature Study at Cornell University. Together they wrote nature study curricula to develop a curiosity for, and education about, the surrounding natural world. Comstock also was a proponent for conservationism by instilling a love and appreciation of the natural world around us.

Early life and education
Anna Botsford Comstock was born in a log house in Otto, New York to Marvin and Phebe Irish Botsford. At the age of three, the family moved to a frame house on a farm with both a horse and cattle barn. A self-providing family, they raised their own vegetables, had fruit orchards, raised cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry. As the only child of the family, education was important both in a school house and at home where Comstock and her Quaker mother spent time together examining the wildflowers, birds, and trees. Phebe Botsford shared her passionate love of nature with her daughter, Anna, taking her into the nearby woods and fields. Here Anna learned "...the popular names of sixty or more common flowers; she taught her a dozen constellations..."

In 1871, as there was no high school in Otto, Comstock attended the Chamberlain Institute and Female College, one of two seminaries under the direction of the Methodist Church in Randolph, New York. It was here where Comstock first met the acquaintance of Martha Van Rensselaer, "...never dreaming how closely she would be associated with me in later life." Comstock's years at Chamberlain enhanced her love of literature, oration, and language. She graduated June 1873 giving her Salutatory speech, before her peers, in Latin. Comstock returned to Otto to teach school for a year in which she thoroughly enjoyed. The following summer of 1874, with her parents, Anna traveled westward to visit family. The trip postponed her start at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, until November 1874 at the start of the second term.

Cornell University
Anna Botsford enrolled at Cornell in 1874, and faced a variety of challenges. Upon arriving at Cornell, Comstock found that she had to take several examinations in order to enter, and particularly needed tutoring in German. She also lived at a boarding house with several other students, and maintained an active social life. Botsford's course work included both botany and zoology with corresponding laboratory periods in both. When she returned to Cornell in 1875, she was part of the first group of thirty-three young women to move into the newly built Sage College on campus.

During the winter semester of 1875, she took an entomology class with John Henry Comstock, who was just two years into his career as a university lecturer. Their friendship bloomed into a romance and marriage (October 7, 1878) and she quietly withdrew from student life to that of the responsibilities of a young professor's wife at the fledgling university. The new Mrs. Comstock illustrated her husband's entomological papers and assisted him with the details of his research and work as an entomologist to the U. S. Department of Agriculture (1879–1881) in Washington, D.C.

Upon their return to Ithaca and academic life at Cornell in 1881, Comstock was determined to "...go back to the University and take the course in science which my husband had taken, and get my degree." Comstock received her diploma from the hands of Cornell President Andrew D. White in June 1885. Comstock became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority (November 4, 1882), and she was one of the first women elected to the honorary society of Sigma Xi at Cornell in 1888.

Career

Throughout her life, Comstock illustrated her husband's lectures and publications on insects. She had no formal training in this illustration; she would study an insect under a microscope then draw it. While her husband was chief entomologist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1879 to 1881, she prepared the drawings for his 1880 Report of the Entomologist on citrus scale insects. She then reentered Cornell and received a degree in natural history in 1885. She studied wood engraving at Cooper Union, New York City, so she could prepare illustrations for her husband's book Introduction to Entomology in 1888. Also in 1888, she was one of the first four women admitted to Sigma Xi, a national honor society for the sciences.

Comstock made engravings for the more than 600 plates used in the Manual for the Study of Insects (1895), Insect Life (1897), and How to Know the Butterflies (1904), the first written by her husband and the latter two co-authored by them. Her engravings appeared in the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, and in the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1900. She was the third woman to become a member of the Society of American Wood-Engravers, and has been recognized as its most prolific producer of original (as opposed to reproductive) images.

Anna Botsford Comstock both wrote and illustrated several books, including Ways of the Six-Footed (1903), How to Keep Bees (1905), The Handbook of Nature Study (1911), The Pet Book (1914), and Trees at Leisure (1916). She also wrote the novel Confessions to a Heathen Idol (1906). The horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey and her husband both told her they expected The Handbook of Nature Study to lose money, but it became a standard textbook for teachers and was later translated into eight languages, with over twenty printings. It is still in print.

Comstock is most famous for being one of the first to bring her students and other teachers out-of-doors to study nature. In 1895, she was appointed to the New York State Committee for the Promotion of Agriculture. In this position, she planned and implemented an experimental course of nature study for the public schools. The program was approved for statewide use through the extension service of Cornell. She then wrote and spoke on behalf of the program, helped train teachers, and prepared classroom materials. Starting in 1897, she taught nature study at Cornell. Comstock was the first female professor at Cornell. After being appointed assistant professor of nature study in 1898, she was demoted to lecturer due to opposition from trustees over the appointment of a woman. She again became an assistant professor in 1913. She was finally recognized as a full professor in 1920. (In 1911, Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose became the first women with full professorships at Cornell.)

Comstock edited Nature-Study Review from 1917 to 1923, and she was on the staff of Country Life in America.

Later life and legacy
In 1922, Comstock retired from Cornell as professor emerita but continued to teach in the summer session. In 1923, the League of Women Voters chose Anna Botsford Comstock and her Cornell colleague, Martha Van Rensselaer, as two of the twelve greatest living American women to have "'contributed most in their respective fields for the betterment of the world.'" In 1930, she received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Hobart College.

Comstock died in Ithaca, New York in 1930. In 1988, she was inducted into the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Hall of Fame.

Comstock Hall, a residence hall at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, was named in her honor.

Memoir
Comstock's memoir was posthumously published by heir Glenn Herrick in 1953, edited by him and Ruby Green Smith, titled The Comstocks of Cornell: John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock. Herrick and Green heavily edited the original manuscript, removing elements considered irrelevant and removing suggestions of controversy; they also emphasized John Henry's accomplishments over Anna's. In 2020, a new edition of Comstock's memoir was published, based more closely on the 716 surviving pages of Comstock's original manuscript in the Cornell University Archives. The new edition, based on six years of research, attempts to convey "a better sense of what Anna was truly like" by presenting what survives of her actual writings, including accounts of her "marriage, travel, teaching, and scientific study". The new edition of The Comstocks of Cornell: John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock; A Complete Biography was published in 2020 by Cornell University Press.

title: Anna Botsford Comstock


text:
Talk:Feliks Kazimierz Potocki

Untitled
Szczęsny bylo jego przezwiskiem?--Emax 15:35, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Feliks Kazimierz Potocki


text:
Philip Rivers

Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack and was selected fourth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the New York Giants, who traded him to the San Diego Chargers during the draft. Rivers was a member of the Chargers for 16 seasons and played his final season for the Indianapolis Colts. Since 2021, he has served as the head football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School.

After spending his first two seasons as a backup, Rivers served as the Chargers' starting quarterback from 2006 to 2019. During his tenure, he was named to eight Pro Bowls while leading the team to six postseason appearances and four division titles. Rivers also helped the franchise win their first playoff game since 1994 and reach the AFC Championship Game in the 2007 season. With the Colts in 2020, he reached the playoffs a seventh time. He was less successful in the postseason, however, and never made a Super Bowl appearance.

Rivers retired fifth all-time in passing yards and touchdowns, both of which are the highest-ranking among quarterbacks without Super Bowl appearances. He is also second all-time in consecutive regular season starts by a quarterback, having started every regular season game between 2006 and 2020. Rivers is considered among the greatest quarterbacks to have never played in a Super Bowl.

Early life
Rivers was born in Decatur, Alabama, where his father, Steve, was the head coach of Decatur High's football team and his mother, Joan, was a teacher. As part of a fifth-grade project, he had to make a poster about his dreams and aspirations. On the poster, he pasted his face over that of a Minnesota Vikings player who had appeared on a cover of Sports Illustrated. Rivers' first start in an official game came in the seventh grade, in 1994. He has worn the number 17 jersey since the ninth grade, in honor of his father, who wore the same number in high school. After his dad got the head coaching job, Rivers played high school football at Athens High School in nearby Athens.

As Rivers' senior season unfolded, he established himself as the best prep passer in the state. Although he had offers from Auburn and Alabama, neither projected him as a starting quarterback. Rivers rejected them in order to go to a program where he would have more playing time. The first college to seriously recruit Rivers as a quarterback was North Carolina State. Joe Pate convinced Rivers and his parents to consider graduating from high school in December 1999.

College career
After high school, Rivers attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he played for coach Chuck Amato's Wolfpack football team. Rivers enrolled in January and suited up for his first practice as a college quarterback in the spring of 2000.

2000 season
As a freshman in 2000, Rivers led NC State to an 8–4 record, including a win against Minnesota in the MicronPC Bowl. Four of the Wolfpack's victories were comebacks. In his debut, a 38–31 double-overtime win over Arkansas State, he passed for 397 yards and three touchdowns. He directed a 74-yard game-tying drive as time expired. A week later, he threw for 401 yards in a 41–38 win against Indiana. The performance was highlighted by a timely 47-yard pass to future first round pick Koren Robinson with under a minute to go. Against Duke, NC State trailed 31–28 late in the fourth quarter when Rivers scored a rushing touchdown on a seven-yard run. Rivers threw for a season-high 413 yards to go along with three touchdowns and one interception For the season, Rivers passed for 3,054 yards and 25 touchdowns. He broke a half-dozen school passing marks, was ACC Rookie of the Week a record eight times, and earned honors as the conference Freshman of the Year. For the first time since Roman Gabriel ran the Wolfpack offense in the early 1960s, NC State had an All-American caliber quarterback.

2001 season
As a sophomore in 2001, Rivers connected for 2,586 yards and 16 touchdowns. His 65.2 percent completion mark led the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Wolfpack finished the 2001 campaign at 7–4 and made a return trip to the Tangerine Bowl. The quarterback had a good game against Pitt in a 34–19 loss, passing for 189 yards and a touchdown.

2002 season
In 2002, Rivers led the Wolfpack to victories in their first nine games, which led to a number #10 ranking in the AP Poll. It was the best start in the school's history. The season took a disappointing turn however when they lost three consecutive ACC contests, but NC State defeated Florida State by a score of 17–7 in their season finale, and received an invitation to play against Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. Once again, Rivers delivered an MVP performance in the most important game of the year, pacing the Wolfpack to a dominating 28–6 win over Notre Dame. In the victory, Rivers was 23-of-37 for 228 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. The game would set up a remarkable year for Rivers in 2003.

2003 season
As a senior in 2003, Rivers threw for 4,491 yards and 34 touchdowns in 12 games, capping his career as the most productive and durable quarterback in ACC history.

In the 2003 season, Rivers passed for over 300 yards eight times and 400 yards four times to go along with 29 touchdowns in the regular season. He led the ACC in passing attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns. NC State finished with a 7–5 record to qualify for a bowl game.

Rivers's time at NC State had a positive ending, leading the Wolfpack to a 56–26 win over Kansas in his third Tangerine Bowl. In the victory, he threw for a career-high 475 yards and five touchdowns. Philip earned his second straight bowl MVP award. At the end of the season, Rivers was named ACC Player of the Year for the 2003 football season and ACC Athlete of the Year for 2003–04. He was considered a Heisman candidate during the season, but he was not invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation, where he finished in seventh place.

Legacy
During his collegiate career, Rivers shattered almost every NC State and ACC passing record. He started 51 straight games and completed a conference record 1,147 passes in 1,710 tries, with 95 touchdowns. His career culminated with an NCAA record 51st consecutive college start. The Wolfpack went to four consecutive bowl games under the leadership of Rivers, winning three of them. Rivers finished his career at NC State with 13,484 passing yards, 13th all-time among Division I quarterbacks (he finished in second place at the end of his collegiate career). He also threw 95 touchdown passes, which tied him for eighth all-time with Kliff Kingsbury and Brady Quinn. Rivers' number was retired before his final home game at North Carolina State.

Professional career
Rivers was projected to be an early first-round pick in the 2004 NFL draft. However, despite Rivers' record of success in college and high accuracy (72 completion percentage for his senior season), questions about his lack of arm strength and his unorthodox side-arm throwing motion were concerns for some NFL general managers. The pre-draft consensus was that Rivers could be selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 11th pick. The San Diego Chargers coveted Eli Manning and wanted to select him with their first round pick, which was also the first overall pick of the draft. However, after Manning indicated before the draft that he would not sign with them, Rivers was their first alternative because the Chargers' head coach at the time, Marty Schottenheimer, had coached him at the Senior Bowl and he liked what he saw. The Chargers agreed to a draft day deal with the New York Giants. San Diego selected Manning first, then traded him to New York for Rivers, selected fourth by the Giants, plus draft picks later used by the Chargers on future Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding.

Rivers was one of 17 quarterbacks taken in the 2004 NFL Draft, along with Manning and the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger. All three would enjoy lengthy and successful careers with the teams that signed them and have been compared favorably to the 1983 NFL draft, which included Hall of Fame quarterbacks John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino. Unlike Manning and Roethlisberger, who each have two championship titles, Rivers did not reach the Super Bowl during his career. Nevertheless, he is the highest in touchdowns, completion percentage, TD–INT ratio, passer rating, and Pro Bowl honors of the three. Rivers also retired with the most passing yards and pass completions.

2004 season
In August 2004, Rivers signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract with the San Diego Chargers that included $14.5 million in signing bonuses. However, due to a protracted contract negotiation with the San Diego Chargers, Rivers only reported to the team during the last week of training camp, and incumbent Drew Brees retained his starting job. Rivers began the season as the Chargers' third quarterback option, behind Doug Flutie, and ahead of the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, Cleo Lemon. Unfortunately for Rivers, Brees went on to have a then-career year and was named to the NFL Pro Bowl while winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Rivers received very limited playing time, playing in only two games. He only threw passes in the second half of the last game of the 2004 season, a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, by which time the Chargers had already clinched a home playoff spot and the AFC West division title. In the victory, he threw his first touchdown pass to fellow rookie Malcom Floyd. He was not on the active roster for San Diego's Wild Card Round playoff loss to the New York Jets.

2005 season
Rivers was promoted to second on the Chargers quarterback depth chart after Flutie was released. Rivers was unable to beat out Brees for the starting quarterback job in the Chargers' 2005 training camp and preseason. In the Chargers' final game of the 2005 season, at home in Qualcomm Stadium, Rivers entered the game after Brees dislocated his right shoulder late in the second quarter due to a hit from Denver Broncos safety John Lynch. Rivers completed 12 of 22 passing attempts for 115 yards with one interception and two fumbles. The Chargers lost to Denver, 23–7. However, Rivers led the Chargers on their only scoring drive that game, which culminated in a four-yard touchdown run by running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

2006 season
After the 2005 season, Brees was not re-signed (partly due to the injury suffered in the Denver game) by the Chargers. Instead he signed a large contract that included sizeable guaranteed money with the New Orleans Saints, during the 2006 free agency period. Many doubted the Chargers' decision to change quarterbacks as they were a Super Bowl contender, believing that Rivers' inexperience would hinder them. Rivers was named the Chargers' starter going into training camp. Expectations were high for Rivers due to the large amount of talent on the Chargers' offense and the performance of his peers from the 2004 draft (Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger) as starters.

Football Outsiders projected that Rivers would become an NFL star before the 2006 season due to his spectacular completion percentage in college (72% as a senior). After just five NFL starts, Rivers was named the second best NFL quarterback under 25 years of age by Sports Illustrated.

On September 11, 2006, Rivers made his first NFL start against the Oakland Raiders. Rivers managed the game well despite only passing 11 times, but completed 8 passes, one for a touchdown, in a 27–0 rout of the Raiders. After his first game, Rivers led the league in quarterback rating with 133.9.

The fifth week of the season, the reigning Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers came to town, and Bill Cowher's defensive game plan revolved around stopping running back LaDainian Tomlinson. This game marked a turning point for Rivers, who, aided by head coach Marty Schottenheimer's opening of the playbook, led the team in a come-from-behind victory, throwing 24-of-37 for 242 yards and two touchdowns, winning 23–13.

On November 12, 2006, Rivers had the best game of his short career and led the Chargers to an improbable comeback on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. Down 28–7 at halftime, Rivers led the Chargers on six drives culminating in touchdowns. After driving in for the Chargers first touchdown after halftime, Nick Hardwick, the Chargers' center, reminisced about Rivers, mimicking his southern drawl, "He's yelling 'Y'all don't think we're out of this' to the Bengals. When he said that, I said, 'Shoot, I guess we ain't out of this. Right on.'" He threw for 337 yards and three touchdown passes, while LaDainian Tomlinson scored three of their four rushing touchdowns. San Diego outscored Cincinnati 42–13 in the second half, winning the game 49–41, matching the largest comeback in franchise history from 23 years before for the Chargers.

The following week, against what was considered at the time to be a strong Denver Broncos defense, the Chargers became the first team in NFL history to win back-to-back road games after trailing by 17 or more points and also the first team to win four straight when allowing at least 27 points in each game. Rivers led several 4th quarter comebacks in 2006, and posted the league's highest 4th quarter quarterback rating. His performance over the season led to his selection to the 2007 Pro Bowl. Rivers helped lead the Chargers to the highest-scoring offense in the NFL. After a 14–2 season the Chargers had home field advantage and were set to play the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. However, the Patriots won that game 24–21, and Schottenheimer was fired amid conflicts with team president Dean Spanos.

2007 season
Norv Turner took over as head coach of the Chargers in 2007. After a 1–3 start, the Chargers turned their season around, finishing 11–5 and winning the AFC West for the second straight year. Rivers finished the season with 3,152 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.

The Chargers won their first two playoff games since the 1994 season, beating the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card Round and the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round before falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game 21–12. In the 2007 AFC Championship Game, Rivers' was lauded by his teammates and the press for playing the entire game with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which later required surgery and was ranked among the NFL Top 10 Gutsiest Performances. Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel said "I don't think anyone will ever accuse Philip Rivers of being soft." Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune said, "To go out there and put his knee, and ultimately his career, on the line. It has to go down as one of the gutsiest performances."

2008 season

In 2008, Rivers led the NFL in multiple categories including touchdown passes (34), passer rating (105.5), yards per pass attempt (8.4), and adjusted yards per attempt (8.8). In Week 2, against the Denver Broncos, he had a season-high 377 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the 39–38 loss. On December 28, 2008, Rivers set the Chargers team record for touchdown passes in a season with 34, a record previously held by Dan Fouts, who had 33 in 1981. After a 4–8 start, Rivers threw 11 touchdown passes and one interception to win the final four games of the season, winning the AFC West division on a season-finale 52–21 tie-breaking win over the Denver Broncos. On January 3, 2009, in the Wild Card Round, the San Diego Chargers defeated the Indianapolis Colts to advance to the AFC Divisional Playoff. Rivers led the Chargers down the field down three points with under two minutes left. He set up Nate Kaeding for a game-tying field goal that would lead to overtime, where the Chargers would go on to win 23–17, thanks to a Darren Sproles touchdown. In the Divisional Round 35–24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rivers played well, throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked four times and threw an interception. They possessed the ball for only 17 seconds during the third quarter and had only 15 yards rushing.

2009 season
On August 24, 2009, Rivers signed a six-year, $92 million contract extension with the Chargers, with approximately $38 million guaranteed. Rivers was voted into his second career Pro Bowl on December 29. He ended the season with a passer rating of 104.4, the third highest in the NFL, after passing for 4,254 yards, 28 touchdowns, and only nine interceptions. For the second consecutive year, he led the NFL in yards per attempt (8.8) and adjusted yards per attempt (9.1). He led the Chargers to the second seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, tied for second best in the NFL. In the Divisional Round, Rivers was 27–40 for 298 yards while rushing and throwing for a touchdown and was intercepted twice in the 17–14 loss to the New York Jets.

2010 season
Rivers led the league in passing yards, throwing for a career-high 4,710 yards. The Chargers started off the year slowly again at 3–5 and finished a disappointing 9–7 and their four-year reign as AFC West champions ended while they missed the playoffs. In Week 3, against the Seattle Seahawks, Rivers threw for 455 yards and two passing touchdowns in a losing effort 20–27. These 455 yards broke the franchise single-game record for most passing yardage, previously held by Dan Fouts, who had 444 in 1982. Rivers recorded 431 and threw two passing touchdowns, but lost to the Oakland Raiders in Week 5. In Week 8, Rivers threw for 305 yards, with two passing touchdowns and one interception in a 33–25 win against the Tennessee Titans, extending his active player-leading streak to 21 games with a touchdown thrown and giving him the record for most passing yards (2,649) ever after 8 games, passing Fouts' previous record (2,580). Rivers threw for four passing touchdowns, two to backup tight end Randy McMichael and the other two to rookie receiver Seyi Ajirotutu in a comeback 29–23 victory over the Houston Texans. The Chargers' top receivers Gates (torn plantar fascia), Vincent Jackson (suspended), Malcom Floyd (hamstring), and Legedu Naanee (hamstring) did not play in the game. Rivers lost his first ever game in December, a 13–28 loss at home against the Raiders. Rivers was invited to the 2011 Pro Bowl, his fourth invite overall, and started in place of an injured Tom Brady. It was the first time he played in a Pro Bowl, twice missing previous games due to injury and once for the birth of his child in the 2010 Pro Bowl. Rivers was named the quarterback in the 2010 NFL Alumni Player of the Year Awards over Brady, who was unanimously named The Associated Press 2010 Most Valuable Player. He was ranked 26th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011.

2011 season
Entering the 2011 season, Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune called Rivers a "better quarterback" than Fouts, a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback. Canepa cited Rivers "[completing] passes to an astounding 17 different receivers" in 2010, amid the injuries to Chargers receivers, and his then 55–25 record as a starter compared to 86–84–1 for Fouts. He also noted, "Fouts made more mistakes than Rivers." Rivers had completed 63.7 percent of his 2,455 passes with 58 interceptions and a 97.2 passer rating, while Fouts was successful on 58.8 percent of his 5,604 attempts with 242 interceptions and an 80.2 rating. Rivers had never thrown more than two interceptions in a game, including seven playoff games. His passer rating was the highest in league history, and he had the second-best touchdown-to-interception ratio of all-time (136/58).

Rivers and the Chargers started out the season with a 24–17 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Rivers had 335 passing yards and two touchdowns thrown to fullback Mike Tolbert but also threw two interceptions. Rivers and the Chargers lost 35–21 in Foxboro to the New England Patriots in Week 2. Rivers threw for 378 passing yards and had two touchdown passes to Vincent Jackson but also threw two interceptions again. Rivers threw two interceptions for the third game in a row as the Chargers held off the winless Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, 20–17. In Week 4, the Chargers beat the winless Miami Dolphins 26–16, and Rivers threw a 55-yard touchdown to Vincent Jackson. In Week 5, Rivers threw for 250 yards and a touchdown pass to Malcom Floyd. He added a rushing touchdown as well. Despite two turnovers by him, the Chargers held off the Denver Broncos by a score of 29–24.

Rivers struggled in Week 7 after the bye. Rex Ryan's New York Jets limited Rivers to 179 passing yards and two interceptions. He did throw a touchdown to Antonio Gates, his first of the year. The Chargers lost 23–20 to the Chiefs in overtime on Halloween. Rivers put up 369 yards, but had two interceptions and a crushing fumble. This fumble occurred while Rivers was kneeling to set up a potential game-winning field goal with the game tied at 20. The Chiefs went on to win 23–20 in overtime. This loss, more specifically the fumbled kneel, was seen as the first domino to fall at the end of the season, as the Chargers, Raiders, and Broncos all finished 8–8, but the Broncos won the AFC West over both San Diego and Oakland due to tiebreakers. Rivers' poor performance during the 2011 season led to media speculation that he may have been suffering from an undisclosed injury. His former teammate, LaDainian Tomlinson, speculated that Rivers might be distracted by the burden of being the Chargers' star player. Rivers had 385 yards passing and added four touchdowns, but threw three interceptions against the defending champion Green Bay Packers. Rivers threw for 274 passing yards and an interception and a fumble in a 24–17 Week 10 loss against the Oakland Raiders. He did however, throw two passing touchdowns to rookie Vincent Brown. Rivers threw for 280 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 31–20 loss to the Chicago Bears. He added 2 more interceptions thrown. The touchdown passes went to Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson. The Chargers lost 16–13 in overtime to Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Rivers threw for 188 yards and a touchdown to Antonio Gates. The Chargers finally won a game in Week 13, dominating the Jacksonville Jaguars 38–14. Rivers finished with 294 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Rivers and the Chargers dominated the Buffalo Bills in Week 14, winning 37–10. Philip threw for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 to Antonio Gates, and the other to Patrick Crayton. Rivers and the Chargers dominated the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. Philip had 270 yards and a touchdown to Malcom Floyd in a 34–14 stomping. Rivers and the Chargers struggled in Week 16. On Christmas Eve, the Chargers fell 38–10 in Detroit to the Lions. Rivers had 299 passing yards and a touchdown, but two interceptions.

Rivers concluded the season by throwing for 310 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, which were received by Floyd, Jackson, and Gates, in a 38–26 win against the Raiders, ending the Raiders' playoff hopes that season. He was named to the Pro Bowl for his 2011 season. He was ranked 61st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012.

2012 season
The Chargers began the 2012 season with a 3–1 record for the second consecutive season. In a 37–20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, Rivers started his 100th career game, which was also his 100th consecutive start. On November 1, in the second game against the Kansas City Chiefs, he was 18-of-20 passes to earn a career-high 90% completion percentage in the 31–13 victory. Rivers became the seventh fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 25,000 career yards. With a weak offensive line that season, Rivers was frequently forced to scramble and was sacked 49 times and hit on 70 other plays, contributing to his 22 turnovers—47 over the previous two seasons. Rivers finished the season with 3,606 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. The Chargers' 7–9 record was the first losing season in Rivers's career, and the team's first since 2003. They missed the playoffs for the third straight season, leading to the firing of Turner and general manager A. J. Smith.

2013 season

Rivers's combined 35 interceptions the two previous seasons led many to wonder whether he was injured or if his career was on the decline. Only two offensive coaches returned in 2013 in an overhauled coaching staff led by new head coach Mike McCoy, and a revamped offensive system had Rivers release the ball earlier and taking what opposing defenses conceded. In their Week 2 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, he threw for 419 yards and three touchdowns. In their Week 4 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Rivers set an NFL record for completion percentage (83%) for a quarterback who also threw for over 400 yards (401), three touchdowns, and one interception. In Week 7, Rivers surpassed 30,000 career yards passing. Rivers was also selected to the Pro Bowl for the fifth time in his career. In Week 17, against the Kansas City Chiefs, Rivers led a fourth quarter and overtime comeback to win the game, and clinch the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs.

During the Chargers season-ending four-game winning streak, Rivers completed 67.3 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and a 142.6 rating. He finished the season completing 378 of 544 passes (69.5 percent) for 4,478 yards, 32 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions; his 105.5 passer rating tied his career high from 2008. With the Chargers having a capable running attack, an adjusted offensive line, and an improved defense, Rivers was not pressured to force his throws, and he led all quarterbacks in the league with a 49.4 third-down conversion rate when passing. He led the Chargers to a 27–10 win in the Wild Card Round against the Cincinnati Bengals before losing to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round, 24–17. He was named Comeback Player of the Year by both Associated Press (AP) and Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA). He was ranked 34th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014.

2014 season

The Chargers in 2014 lost their final game of the season when a win would have qualified them for the playoffs. Rivers was sacked a career-high seven times in the loss. For the season, he was voted by the Chargers as their MVP after finishing with 4,286 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. It was the sixth season in which he passed for over 4,000 yards. During Weeks 2–6, he became the first NFL player ever to have a passer rating over 120 for five consecutive games. Later in the season, Rivers suffered from sore ribs and a back injury, but he denied that they affected his performance. His 71.2 rating in December was his lowest in a single month since November 2007 (68.8). He finished the 2014 season with 4,286 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 18	interceptions. He was ranked 43rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.

2015 season
On August 15, 2015, the Chargers and Rivers agreed to a four-year, $84 million contract extension. Rivers started the 2015 season with 403 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 33–28 victory over the Detroit Lions. On September 20, Rivers threw his 255th touchdown pass as a Charger, passing Dan Fouts as the franchise leader in touchdown passes. On October 18, in a game against the Green Bay Packers, Rivers set franchise records with 503 passing yards, 43 completions, and 65 attempts. In Week 12, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 300 passing yards and season-high four passing touchdowns. The Chargers finished with a 4–12 record, last in the AFC West, their worst record since 2003. The Chargers went winless against divisional opponents for the first time since 1984. However, the Chargers did manage a 30–14 victory. against the Miami Dolphins during Week 15 at home. After the game, Rivers and several other Chargers players returned to the field to sign autographs for the fans, as they were unsure if it would be the team's final time playing in San Diego. Rivers would gift the shoes he wore to two fans in the stadium to show his appreciation. The team would ultimately stay in the city the following season.

Despite the disappointing season, Rivers set career highs and franchise records with 437 pass completions on 661 pass attempts and 4,792 passing yards, which ranked second among NFL quarterbacks in 2015. He finished 11 yards short of breaking the franchise single-season passing yards record held by Fouts. Rivers was invited to the 2016 Pro Bowl as an alternate but declined the invitation, citing personal reasons. He was ranked 46th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

2016 season

Rivers and the Chargers started the 2016 season with a 1–4 record. In that stretch, Rivers passed for four touchdowns in two separate games. On October 13, 2016, in Week 6, Rivers passed Fouts to become the Chargers' all-time passing yards leader. In Week 7, against the Atlanta Falcons, he had a season-high 371 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the 33–30 victory. Following the win over the Falcons, the Chargers alternated losses and wins until Week 13, where they had a five-game losing streak to end the season. Rivers finished the season with nine consecutive games throwing for at least touchdowns. Despite throwing for 33 touchdowns, Rivers threw a career-high and league-leading 21 interceptions and completed only 60.4 of his passes, the second worst of his career. Rivers posted a rating of 87.9, also the second worst of his career. These struggles resulted in the Chargers finishing 5–11 and last in the division for the second straight year. He was ranked 73rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.

2017 season
Rivers and the Chargers started the 2017 season with some tough results. In Week 1, against the Denver Broncos, he had 192 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in a narrow 24–21 loss. The game was lost when Chargers' kicker Younghoe Koo missed a game-tying field goal. In the next game, a narrow 19–17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, he had 331 passing yards and a touchdown. Rivers struggled in the next game, a 24–10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, with three interceptions. The Chargers' hard luck continued in the next game, a narrow 26–24 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. In the loss, Rivers had 347 passing yards and two touchdowns. After their 0–4 start, the Chargers put together a three-game winning streak. Following those two victoreis, the Chargers dropped their next two games before starting a four-game winning streak in Week 11. During that winning streak, in Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys, Rivers finished with 434 passing yards and three passing touchdowns as the Chargers won 28–6. It was the first time the Chargers played on Thanksgiving since 1969. His performance in Week 12 earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Rivers was named to his seventh Pro Bowl along with his top receiver Keenan Allen. In Week 17, Rivers became the ninth quarterback in NFL history to reach 50,000 career passing yards. In that game, he completed 28 of 37 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns in a 30–10 win over the Raiders, earning him his second AFC Offensive Player of the Week of the season. Overall, Rivers had 4,515 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and ten interceptions in the 2017 season. He helped lead the Chargers to a 9–7 season. Despite having their first winning season since 2014, the Chargers failed to make the playoffs. He was ranked 56th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

2018 season
On September 9, 2018, Rivers threw for 424 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening 38–28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, eclipsing 400 yards in a single game for the 10th time in his career. The 424 yards was the most Rivers has thrown for in any of his season openers. He helped lead the Chargers to first win of the season in the following game against the Buffalo Bills. After a 35–23 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3, Rivers helped lead the Chargers to a four-game winning streak where he threw for over 300 yards twice and had nine passing touchdowns to two interceptions. After a 29–27 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Rivers passed John Elway for eighth-most passing yards in NFL history. In Week 9, against the Seattle Seahawks, Rivers made his 200th consecutive start. In a Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos, he passed for 401 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. In Week 12, against the Arizona Cardinals, saw Rivers tie Ryan Tannehill for most consecutive completions, with 25. Unlike Tannehill, he did it in one game and finished with an NFL-record one incompletion in 29 attempts, for a record 96.55%. He finished the game with 259 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 45–10 rout of the Arizona Cardinals, earning AFC Player of the Week honors. On December 13, in a game against the Chiefs, Rivers led the Chargers back from a 14-point deficit to win the game by a score of 29–28 on a two-point conversion to wideout Mike Williams. It was the Chargers first win against the Chiefs after nine straight losses and secured their first playoff berth since 2013. Philip Rivers eclipsed 4,000 yards, becoming the third quarterback in NFL history to reach 4,000 yards in 10 seasons or more, joining Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Overall, Rivers finished the 2018 season with 4,308 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The Chargers finished with a 12–4 record and returned to the playoffs for the first time since the 2013 season. As the #5-seed, the Chargers faced off against the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round. Rivers passed for 160 yards as the Chargers defeated the Ravens by a score of 23–17. In the Divisional Round against the New England Patriots, Rivers passed for 331 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception as the Chargers fell 41–28. He was ranked 17th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.

2019 season
In the 2019 season, Rivers had eight games with over 300 passing yards and seven total with a passer rating over 100. However, the Chargers faced numerous close losses. In Week 1, Rivers helped lead the Chargers to an overtime victory over the Colts. He, along with Austin Ekeler, helped lead them to the game-winning touchdown drive. In a low-scoring duel with the Lions in Week 2, Rivers had a chance to lead the Chargers on a game-winning touchdown drive but threw a late interception near the redzone. In Week 3, down 7 late in the fourth quarter, Rivers drove deep into Texans' territory with five pass completions but was unable to reach the endzone in the loss. In Week 4, in a 30–10 victory over the Dolphins, Rivers, with a 131.9 passer rating, and the Chargers played their most complete game to that point of the season. Following the victory over Miami, the Chargers went on a three-game losing streak with all three games being lost by a touchdown or less. Following two victories over the Bears and Packers, the Chargers went on another three game losing streak with all losses being by a touchdown or less. The Chargers ended their losing streak with a 45–10 victory over the Jaguars. Rivers posted a 154.4 passer rating with three touchdown passes in the victory. The Chargers lost their last three games.

Rivers finished the 2019 season with 4,615 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions—which were the third most in the NFL. His 23 turnovers played a part in the Chargers' 2–9 record in contests decided by a touchdown or less, and the team ended with a 5–11 overall record. On February 10, 2020, the Chargers and Rivers mutually agreed that he would not be re-signed and would enter free agency.

Indianapolis Colts

On March 21, 2020, Rivers signed a one-year, $25 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts.

Rivers played his first game with the Colts on September 13, 2020, finishing with 363 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions as the Colts lost 27–20 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He earned his first victory with the Colts in a Week 2 28–11 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. He passed for 371 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the 31–27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, which he led the Colts back from down 24–7.

In Week 10, against the Tennessee Titans, Rivers threw for 308 yards and a touchdown during the 34–17 win. During the game, Rivers passed Dan Marino to become fifth on the all-time passing yards list. During the game against the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, Rivers ruptured his plantar plate, which was later reported to require offseason surgery, though he would play through the remainder of the season with the injury. In Week 17 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rivers passed Dan Marino in passing touchdowns, putting him at fifth all time. He finished the 2020 season with 4,169 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Rivers recorded his 12th season with at least 4,000 passing yards, tying him with Tom Brady and Drew Brees at the time for second-most in NFL history.

In the Wild Card Round against the Buffalo Bills, Rivers threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns as the Colts lost 27–24. It was the first time in Rivers' career that he lost in the Wild Card Round.

On January 20, 2021, Rivers announced his retirement from the NFL after seventeen seasons, saying "It's just time. It's just right." He announced his intention to retire with the Chargers, and reaffirmed his plans to become the head coach of the St. Michael Catholic High School football team in Fairhope, Alabama.

NFL records

 * Consecutive completions (25) November 25, 2018 (tied with Ryan Tannehill and Nick Foles)
 * Consecutive games with a passer rating above 120: 5

Career

 * Games played: 228
 * Wins: 123
 * Pass completions: 4,908
 * Pass attempts: 7,591
 * Passing yards: 59,271
 * Passing touchdowns: 397

Season

 * Completion percentage (16 starts): 69.5 (2013)
 * Passer rating (16 starts): 105.5 (2008 and 2013)

Game

 * Pass completions: 43 (October 18, 2015, against the Green Bay Packers)
 * Pass attempts: 65 (October 18, 2015, against the Green Bay Packers)
 * Completion percentage (min. 20 attempts): 96.8% (28/29 on November 25, 2018, against the Arizona Cardinals)
 * Passing yards: 503 (October 18, 2015, against the Green Bay Packers)

Postseason

 * Career passing yards: 2,656
 * Career pass attempts: 355
 * Career completions: 211
 * Career completion percentage (min. 50 attempts): 59.4%
 * Career Quarterback rating (min. 50 attempts): 84.2
 * Passing touchdowns, game: 3 (done 3 times) (tied with Dan Fouts)
 * Completion percentage, game (min 15 attempts): 75% (12 for 16, January 5, 2014, in the Wild Card Round against the Cincinnati Bengals)
 * QB rating, game (min 25 attempts): 115.8 (January 12, 2014, in the Divisional Round against the Denver Broncos)

Awards and honors

 * 8× Pro Bowl selection (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018)
 * NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2013)
 * NFL passing touchdowns co-leader (2008)
 * NFL passing yards leader (2010)
 * NFL passer rating leader (2008)
 * NFL completion percentage leader (2013)
 * PFWA NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2013)

Personal life
Rivers, a devout Roman Catholic, married his junior high school sweetheart, Tiffany, in 2001. She converted to Catholicism. They have seven daughters and three sons.

Rivers is a social conservative; during the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, he endorsed former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

In 2011, he was named one of three finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for his work with the Rivers of Hope Foundation, an endeavor he and his wife oversaw from 2010 to 2012 to help foster children. The foundation raised more than $1,000,000 for the cause through football camps, a 5K Fun Run and personal contributions from Rivers. The foundation supported the San Pasqual Academy, a residential education campus designed specifically for foster teens.

Rivers comes from an athletic family. He, his father Steve, and his younger brother Stephen have all played college football. Steve played linebacker at Mississippi State in the 1970s. Stephen committed to play college football at Louisiana State University (LSU) after attending Austin High School and Athens High School. On June 5, 2014, he transferred to Vanderbilt University and was eligible to play immediately, but wound up transferring to Northwestern State University for the 2015 season.

Rivers received an honorary degree, doctor of humane letters, and addressed the class of 2014 at the 125th annual commencement ceremony of the Catholic University of America (CUA) on May 17, 2014.

In 2014, Rivers was part of a campaign to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego.

On August 26, 2021, Rivers won his first game as a high school football head coach, leading the St. Michael Catholic Cardinals to a 49–0 victory. Rivers was inspired to coach by his father, who was his high school football coach. His oldest son, Gunner, is St. Michael's starting quarterback in the 2023 season.

title: Philip Rivers