Philip Rivers will participate in the Pro Bowl in large part because he wants to play one more game _ at least in his mind _ as a San Diego Charger.
"I made this team as a San Diego Charger," Rivers said. "That's cool."
Rivers and the team's other representatives will be announced as Los Angeles Chargers at the Pro Bowl. But Rivers said that won't be what he is thinking. This, he said, will give him a chance for closure the regular-season finale did not.
"We walked off the field after that Kansas City game and we thought it might be the end, but we didn't know," he said. "This will be the last game I play as a San Diego Charger."
The Chargers quarterback, who has twice skipped the NFL's all-star game in the past, was voted a second alternate to the Pro Bowl this season. He accepted the invitation to play this week as quarterbacks participating in the playoffs withdrew.
Rivers will join Chargers teammates Melvin Gordon and Casey Hayward in the game, which will be played Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
Rivers said he looks forward to playing with former teammate Eric Weddle, who left the Chargers after eight seasons to sign with the Baltimore Ravens. Weddle was also a second alternate who joined the team this week.
Rivers declined to play in the Pro Bowl in 2006 due to injury and in 2009 skipped the game for the birth of one of his daughters.
He has a father-daughter dance to attend in San Diego on Friday. He will take a red-eye to Orlando on Tuesday, participate in the "skills challenge" and other events surrounding the game, fly back from Florida for the dance and return to play in Sunday's game.
