LOS ANGELES -- John Ramsdell was the man at Philip Rivers' side when Rivers first became a starting NFL quarterback. One of Ramsdell's biggest contributions was a simple message that became increasingly profound over time, a mantra to which Rivers now clings: "If your whole happiness is based on whether you win a Super Bowl or not, then you have a chance to be a miserable person."
Ramsdell, the Chargers' quarterbacks coach from 2006 to 2012, was trying to explain how championships are too fickle, random and serendipitous to define success.
Rivers didn't fully understand that idea until he began to experience it.