Philip Rivers happy Peyton Manning ended up playing for Broncos

Rivers is pumped about getting to see Peyton more often. (US Presswire)

It feels like years ago, but it was only in March that the world was going bananas waiting to find out where Peyton Manning would end up playing. He eventually landed with the Broncos, but before he did, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers stated that he wanted Peyton to come to Denver and compete in the same division.

Rivers wasn't just paying lip service -- he reiterated that comment on NFL Network's Total Access Wednesday night, calling himself "crazy" before

"I was probably one of the few people that was crazy enough to say it, but I was hoping he was going to Denver," Rivers said. "And I say that with all respect. Certainly going to make it even tougher, you look at Indianapolis when he was there, they went like 10 straight years winning 10 games or more, so we certainly can't expect that 8-8 will get us in."

Now, it's worth noting that Rivers has enjoyed more success against Manning and the Colts than most people. His Chargers are 4-1 against Manning, with Rivers completing more than 70 percent of his passes. Two of those four victories came in the playoffs, as Rivers knocked Manning out of the postseason during both the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Ultimately, it comes down to Rivers being a hyper-competitive type of guy and wanting to live up to the old "you gotta beat the best to be the best" adage.

"I always believe, why wouldn't you want to play the best?" he added. "And to get two times to play the best, I got my hands full, we got our hands full with the Bronco defense. To me, any time you're playing a Peyton Manning-led football team, there's a challenge -- but that's what you dream about growing up as a kid."

That seems crazy to think about, considering that Rivers and Manning are in the same basic (read: elite) group of quarterbacks. But it's true, as Rivers started in college a year after Manning turned pro. So while he was becoming (arguably) the greatest quarterback in ACC history, he was probably thinking about getting a shot to play (arguably) the greatest quarterback in SEC history at the professional level.

Rivers has already had a few shots at Manning and he's done well in those chances. Now we'll see how he fares having to play Peyton twice a year.

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