Philip Rivers, the San Diego Chargers' resident Pro Bowl passer and straight shooter, has had enough of the NFL lockout.
In Rivers' mind both the players and owners have everything to lose in the current stalemate, and he believes he echoes the sentiments of a majority of his helmet-wearing brethren.
"I'm about to reach my limit, I'm going stir crazy," Rivers told cbssports.com recently. "I think it's just unfortunate we've come to this. The game is at an all-time high. I'm not talking about revenue. I'm talking about popularity. We're essentially putting all of that at risk. I don't mean just players. I mean owners, everyone. I didn't think we'd ever be here. I'm still shocked we're at this point.
"I grew up loving football as a game and I still do. The business side of it never appealed to me but I can't be a hypocrite. The business side has been beneficial to me, but I always hated this part of it. It's not me. I don’t think it's a lot of players. Most players just want to get back to football."
Rivers has been a fixture this offseason at the Chargers' informal player-run practices, which are a small consolation to the real thing.
"When I see Chargers fans, many of them ask me the same question," Rivers told the website. "They say, 'We're playing football this year, right?' I tell them I really don't know and I'm getting a little worried.
"The bottom line is that I don't know what's going to happen. Players don't know if we're playing this year. As players we want to know but we don't. There's very little of this we can control. So you sit tight, work out and hope for the best. But I think every player in the league feels the way I do. We're all frustrated."
Rivers deals with it by working out, spending time with his family and planning this Saturday's Philip Rivers 5K Walk and Fun Run, which benefits his Rivers of Hope Foundation. The foundation works with foster care and adoption programs in San Diego County.
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