Frequent readers of my blog of course know the trials and tribulation I went through this season as a Chargers fan. Needless to say, this has been a turbulent year, and not the year I was expecting.
All-in-all, though, the season ended well. Started 1-3, then 5-5, but finished the year 11-5, and managed to beat the Titans at home and Indianapolis on the road. The AFC Championship game was in Foxborough, of course, and by the time we showed up our 3 biggest stars were beat up. While disappointing, it's hard to really get down on the Chargers.
We go into next season as one of the youngest, most talented teams in the NFL. We've worked out the initial issues with Norv Turner and his crew. We've brought in Charlie Joiner to coach the WR's, and brought in the same RB coach that Tomlinson had when he started his career.
Above everything else, though, is the fact that Phillip Rivers became a man. Starting the season, he was very uncertain. He got very little protection, he stared down receivers, and he was very jumpy in the pocket. Down the stretch, he came into his own. And then there was the AFC Championship game.
Unbeknownst to the outside world, Rivers had surgery to clean up his right knee - the knee that had a torn ACL. Yes, a torn ACL. The injury that puts a player on the shelf for an entire year. But he was out there, leaving everything he had on the field. He also won the respect of every single player in the locker room because of his guts.
I'm not exactly sure what 2008 will bring. But it certainly looks promising. And really, at the end of it all, isn't that what being a fan is all about - the promise of the future?
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