For those of you who haven’t heard of Philip Rivers, he is the quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers (formerly San Diego Chargers). Now I know that the Chargers aren’t the best team in the league, and I may be a bit biased because I’m a Chargers fan, but Philip Rivers is truly something special.

And no, this has nothing to do with his looks. Although he is a good looking guy. And I did love the stache!

For those familiar with the NFL, you probably know Philip Rivers as the trash talking quarterback who can’t take his team to the Super Bowl. Or the guy who has nine children and doesn’t cuss. If I had a dollar for every “he hates blah blah blah more than condoms” joke I see on the internet, I’d be a millionaire.

Jokes against him aside,  there are three valuable reasons why we should all respect and admire this hard Sagittarius. And spoiler alert, they all have to do with being who you are and owning it!

He is unique

Philip Rivers is not just a unique quarterback in the sense that he’s probably the most underrated in the league. Although he normally doesn’t get drafted until a later round in most fantasy football leagues, he is the most consistent quarterback. Sure, he doesn’t always have big games like Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, but he will either get you 400 yards and two touchdowns, or four touchdowns and 200 yards. Any good fantasy player knows that consistency is key. Also, he’s never missed a game in his career and holds his fair share of all time records in the NFL.

Stats aside though, he is a Catholic from Alabama who doesn’t preach at people.  Being a southern Catholic alone is pretty darn unique. He doesn’t cuss. He trash talks opponents on the daily and shouts calls to throw the other team off. He stands alone most of the time. Watch a game and you’ll see that he is always doing his own thing on the sideline. He speaks his mind even if it’s not what people want to hear. He is intelligent. He defends his teammates and he isn’t afraid of anyone. I have yet to see him shy away from anyone out of fear. He wears a bolo tie, mainly to snap back at a dress code that tells him what to do (because you can never tell a Sag what to do). I literally cannot think of another quarterback that is this unique as a person. And not even just a quarterback, but any person in general.

He isn’t afraid to be himself

NFL fans have a habit of poking fun at Philip Rivers. Most of the time it’s because he has nine children. Other times it’s because he’s the only one from his quarterback class who hasn’t won, or let alone gone to a Super Bowl (both Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger have each won). And you know what? He doesn’t care that people say this stuff about him. He doesn’t let people stop him from being himself. He doesn’t let the constant jokes about him having nine children stop him from having and caring for his children. He doesn’t care that people hate him for trash talking because he continues to trash talk during most games he plays.  He doesn’t let people who call him a cry baby when he complains about calls prevent him from standing up for what he believes to be an unfair call. He doesn’t let a Super Bowl ring define his career.  

He doesn’t change who he is or how he acts to make people comfortable with his presence. He is himself and he owns it. In true Sagittarius style! This man teaches us that we should all aspire to live the life we want to live, even if it doesn’t fit into the tiny box that society has created for us. 

He is passionate

For some odd reason, people think passion is a negative quality. But I think the masses only look down on passionate people because they themselves have nothing that they’re passionate about. There is no denying that passionate people are intense and intensity is scary for docile people. But once again, he doesn’t care. He is passionate about the game he plays. He plays until the game is over, which is great, for the most part, for fantasy owners. He wants to win and has no shame about that. And he shouldn’t be shamed just because people say he is too passionate. He should be admired for caring that much about something. Most people don’t even care about anything.

Philip Rivers truly is an individual, and it’s difficult to be an individual in a society that crucifies outsiders. He’s a hidden gem in a society where most people are too insecure to be themselves out of fear that others won’t accept them. He teaches us that it’s OK to be yourself. It’s OK to be passionate. And it’s OK to live the life you want to live even if others ridicule you for it. Because even though people make fun of him simply for being himself, he still gets paid millions of dollars to play the game he loves. And that is truly something special.