Philip Rivers Made 97 of 100 Free Throws to Win a Bet, Says Colts HC Frank Reich

Philip Rivers retired last week after 17 years in the NFL, but his athleticism and competitiveness went beyond the football field.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich highlighted this in a story provided to NBC Sports:

"A bunch of us were talking free-throw shooting. Philip said, 'I'm over 90 percent.' We're all like, 'No way.' So we made a wager: shoot 100 free throws, and he had to make at least 80. He went out there on the hoop we had at camp, and he made 97. We were blown away. But that wasn't enough. He figured, 'I'll show you.' Those guys went out there 10 straight days to shoot free throws, 100 a day. And he made, like, 946 out of 1,000. He didn't even have to do that—he already won the bet. But that's Philip."

Stephen Curry is the NBA's all-time leader with a 90.6 free-throw percentage, so Rivers' mark of 94.6 is pretty impressive regardless of the situation.

Reich coached Rivers this past season with the Colts and spent three seasons with the veteran as quarterback coach and offensive coordinator with the Chargers. He called Rivers "one of the great competitors ever."

This was seen in an NFL career that put him in the top five of league history in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, but, apparently, he fought hard to win in other areas as well.