Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers got extremely close to, if not on the wrong side of, the line that warns football players not to get between a teammate and his money. The subject of the remarks, Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, noticed. And reacted.
“Wild right!” Gordon said in response to Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu’s one word response (“DAMN”) to our tweet linking to the article containing Rivers’ remarks.
Meanwhile, some have suggested that Rivers’ remarks were twisted in our tweet that characterized him as saying, “We love Melvin Gordon, but running back is a deep position for us.” Here’s what Rivers said: “It certainly is a deep position for us, and those guys all love to play and work hard. We love Melvin, but we’re going to go with what we’ve got. It’s a pretty dang good group.”
Actually, the exact words used by Rivers -- “We love Melvin, but we’re going to go with what we’ve got” -- are stronger than the “We love Melvin, but running back is a deep position for us” tweet. “We’re going to go with what we’ve got” is basically an indication that the on-field leader of the team isn’t bothered by the fact that Gordon isn’t there. So why should the team blink?
Rivers has taken limited flak for his comments. Imagine what the reaction would be if Dak Prescott said the same thing about Ezekiel Elliott, or if Ben Roethsliberger had uttered the same on his radio show last year about Le’Veon Bell. Or if Aaron Rodgers were to say it about a running back in Green Bay who was actually good enough to hold out.
Regardless, Gordon saw what Rivers said, and it’s another fence that will needed to be mended if/when Gordon wants back through the front door.