The Draw Play

Well time to make all the Chargers fans sad again

Of all the comics I make, I have a few dedicated Chargers fans who constantly get upset anytime I make fun of Rivers, especially in these comics. I can understand why, he is their all star QB and everyone gets a little defensive when someone cracks a joke about your favorite team or player. It’s the biggest fan issue I run into making comics about teams and players, fan bias. When I make fun of someone a fan doesn’t care about, I’m funny. But as soon as I make fun of their team, or their favorite player, I’m “being unfair”. One fan told me “you treat Philip differently then your other works, it shows” but really? Do I? I portray Sean Payton as a raving football obsessed lunatic who may or may not be in love with Drew Brees. I always draw Eli as a wall eyed doofus. I spent a week drawing Culter as a douchebag. If I pick on anybody, I think I’ve been overly mean to the Jets more than anyone else.  I think the Rivers exception comes from the running gag of him suiciding every comic he’s in. To people who are bothered about that, you are looking at it from the wrong angle. Rivers killing himself is just some dark humor, it’s not a character assassination or me “disrespecting” your team. In fact, Rivers is portrayed as the protagonist in each one! I have invented a small internal universe in the Draw Play where all the 2004 QBs hang out. Eli and Ben are bullies and jerks, and pick on Rivers for not having what is essentially a team accomplishment, which is part of the joke. Eli and Ben are the bad guys in these comics. Rivers is just a down on his luck trying to fit in guy. Schaub is…well Schaub is kind of weird.

I’d like to set the record straight on my opinion of Rivers. I love Philip Rivers. I think he’s probably the best QB to come out of the 2004 class. He had a rough couple of years there but the team fixed some personnel issues and he’s back to going all Philip Rivers again. I also love Philip Rivers because he’s quite the character. He never curses, is a total good ol boy, wears Bolo ties, has 7 children, throws silly tantrums, and makes funny faces. He’s ripe for material. He’s far more interesting than say, Matt Ryan. I am in no way attacking or demeaning Philip Rivers in these comics or when I crack jokes, I’m simply having a laugh at his quirks or situation. If the Rivers comics bother you, I would ask that you step back a bit and look at it not from a Chargers fan perspective, but a more distant general NFL fan one. That goes for everyone. Bias is hard to get past, I struggle with it myself, but I try to do things from a general football fan perspective, and not from a personal perspective. Unless that’s the gag.

Finally, as a hilarious anecdote to the angry Chargers fans, the original idea for the Ringless Rivers comics were given to me…by a Chargers fan. (The one depicted in this comic, actually). Early on he requested a comic of me that involved Eli, Ben and JP Losman taunting Rivers for not having a ring. I took that general idea and turned it into the first two Ringless Rivers comics, coining the term Ringless Rivers and sticking Schaub in there for an extra sight gag. The comic became a major fan favorite, so I brought it back, and each one always gets a good response. I don’t anticipate an ending to Ringless Rivers yet, there are many places I can still bring the joke.

I wonder what Dan Marino is like in this universe