North Carolina State University Athletics
Rivers Named ACC Male Athlete of the Year
7/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 23, 2004
A former rookie of the year in the ACC and last season's player of the year for football, NC State quarterback Philip Rivers received another prestigious honor on Thursday when he won the Anthony J. McKevlin Award, given to the ACC's male athlete of the year. The Athens, Alabama native finished his career as the league's all-time leading passer and ended up No. 2 on the all-time NCAA passing list. Rivers, the fourth pick in April's NFL Draft, is due to begin training camp with the San Diego Chargers on July 30.
The McKevlin Award is named for a former editor of the Raleigh News and Observer.
Rivers recorded 38 votes, ahead of Wake Forest golfer Bill Haas who tallied 17 votes. Rounding out the voting for the McKevlin Award was Duke basketball player Chris Duhon who received two votes and Virginia wrestler Scott Moore who collected one vote.
As a senior in 2003, Rivers was named a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Johnny Unitas Award, the Hossman Trophy and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, after being tabbed the unanimous selection for 2003 ACC Player of the Year. The native of Athens, Ala., was a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection, having led the conference in every passing and total offense category.
Rivers set the ACC single-season records for total offense, total offense per game, touchdown responsibility, passing yards, TD passes, completion percentage, pass completions and pass attempts and was the national leader in completion percentage and passing efficiency. He closed his career with a remarkable performance against Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl, hitting 37-of-45 passes for a career-high 475 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions and rushed for 20 yards.
Rivers broke school bowl game records and Tangerine Bowl records for passing yards, pass completions, TD passes, completion percentage and total offense, en route to earning MVP honors. Rivers owns school and conference records for career passing attempts (1,710), pass completions (1,087), touchdown responsibility (112), 300-yard passing games (18) and 400-yard passing games (7).
