Philip Rivers: My only regret is not winning a Super Bowl in San Diego

Rivers got emotional during a speech about the Chargers' move to Los Angeles

For 13 seasons, Philip Rivers played for the San Diego Chargers. Beginning this season, Rivers will play for the Los Angeles Chargers.

On Tuesday night, Rivers became emotional about the Chargers’ move north. At the San Diego Hall of Champions dinner, he reflected on his last 13 seasons in San Diego, revealing his only regret: not winning a Super Bowl.

“It really was special over the last decade,” Rivers said, per ESPN.com. “The only regret I have is not winning it all while we were here. It’s something we always wanted to do and get done for this community and for our team.”

Rivers never took San Diego to the Super Bowl, but he got close. From 2006-09, the Chargers averaged 11.5 wins. They journeyed to the playoffs in all four of those years, but failed to make it past the AFC title game. Since 2009, the Chargers have been to the postseason just once. And in the past two seasons, they’ve gone 9-23.

Still, despite the lack of a ring and recent success, Rivers experienced a remarkable career in San Diego, throwing for 314 touchdowns. Only Drew Brees and Tom Brady have thrown more touchdowns than Rivers since 2006, the year he became the Chargers’ starter.

Oddly enough, Rivers also revealed that he didn’t even really know where San Diego was before he moved there. Via ESPN.com:

Rivers concluded his speech by saying that, having grown up in Alabama, he never would have hand-picked San Diego as an NFL destination, joking, “I didn’t really know where it was on the map.”

Now, he says he’s still going to be playing for San Diego.

“I know it’ll be different, but just know that ... I’ll play like crazy and fight like crazy, as a Los Angeles Charger, just like I did for you guys.” Rivers said.” And I know y’all can respect and understand that. But I hope you also know that I will always be playing for San Diego as well.”

Rivers’ comments aren’t unexpected, but they’re noteworthy because they highlight a dilemma Chargers fans in San Diego will likely be forced to confront in September. If they root for Rivers to win his first championship before he calls it a career (they should), that also means they’ll also be rooting for the franchise that left them behind (they shouldn’t). The best-case scenario? The Chargers do what LaDainian Tomlinson suggested in October, when he said the team should trade Rivers to a contender, and San Diego hops on the bandwagon of whatever team RIvers joins.

“Let’s just call it what it is,” Tomlinson said on NFL Network. “The Chargers are rebuilding right now, OK? They’re rebuilding, guys. And Philip only has about three or four years left. If you keep him there during this rebuilding process, you just wasted his entire career. He will have no chance to win.

“So the best thing to do, possibly, is trade him. Get something for him right now. Trade him to a contender and let this man get a chance to win a championship. That way you still get something for him.”

That probably won’t happen. Despite their horrific 2016 season, the Chargers are likely feeling optimistic about their chances next year given their young talent (Melvin Gordon and Joey Bosa) and the bad luck they experienced last year (injuries and countless blown leads).