Even if he hasn’t been gone long, Philip Rivers was back home for a night, so you’ll have to pardon him if that hit him.
The quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers was back in San Diego Tuesday night, to see teammate Nick Hardwick honored at the San Diego Hall of Champions dinner. And though he has a new professional address, it’s clear the bonds he created at the old one run deep with him, as he got emotional as he spoke.
“I hope you’ll always see me as a [San Diego Charger],” Rivers said, via Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “My time here and my love for San Diego will always be great. I’ll be forever grateful for my time there.”
“But,” he went on, “at the same time, I hope the people understand here, too, that I do have to move forward and get excited about where we’re headed.”
Rivers told the crowd how grateful he was for his 13 years there, about how people would come up to him in grocery stores to thank him.
“I certainly appreciated San Diego’s passion for us on the field and just in general the people in the community, and their support,” he said. “And, I’d like to think that they appreciated the passion I played with.
“I feel like the people here see the real me.”
It will probably be harder for him to create the same kind of bond in Los Angeles, as the Chargers try to establish themselves as the second football team while playing in a half-scale soccer stadium. But they will at least have the benefit of a guy who appears to put his entire personality into wherever he is.