Michael Ventre

Men understand the concept of trophy wives. Even if they don’t succumb to the temptation themselves, they probably know someone who has:

A guy, in his 40s or 50s, grows tired of the faithful woman he once walked down the aisle with, who bore his children, who nursed him when he was sick, who toiled and sacrificed, so he callously throws her aside and snags a shapely young seductress who makes him feel alive again.

What such a man probably needed more than a trophy wife is therapy, but that’s an issue for another day.

Because the trophy wife is so prominent in the male mindset, it’s no surprise that the idea often appears in other areas of life.

In this case, football.

The San Diego Chargers now have a trophy wife. His name is Philip Rivers. He’s 6-5, 228 pounds and looks good in the pocket. It’s not hard to understand how grown men could swoon in his presence.

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The Chargers had a long-suffering and neglected companion before Rivers. His name was Drew Brees. He looked pretty good in the pocket, but by comparison with Rivers, he was frumpy. The Chargers flirted openly with Rivers, even while Brees was standing right there. Eventually the whole situation became too weird and uncomfortable.

The parties divorced. Brees moved to New Orleans, where he is being fawned over and lavished with compliments. And the Chargers are giddy about their catch, showing him off whenever they get a chance.

But one thing about a trophy wife: There’s always the danger she could be an airhead. She could turn out to be dumber than a box of rocks, and just as useless. And expensive to keep around.

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On Sunday, the Chargers will find out if their trophy wife is as valuable as she is vivacious. Rivers, in his first season as a starter, will now try to win his first playoff game as the Chargers host Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

But this weekend, it may not be enough for the trophy wife to show up looking hot. The Chargers would also benefit if Brees stumbled and broke a heel, or in football parlance, if he went out in a huge game and pulled a Troy Smith.

That would ease their collective conscience about the whole trophy wife thing.

Brees came to the Chargers in 2001 and became their starter the following year. He was a second-round draft pick out of Purdue, and was always looked upon this way: He’ll do for now. Even though he performed at a relatively high level for most of his time with the team, he was perceived as a 6-foot overachiever with more confidence than ability. The Chargers never loved him, no matter what he did.

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Meanwhile, in 2004 the Chargers landed Rivers out of North Carolina State. They had wanted Eli Manning, but he jilted them for the bright lights of New York City, or at least the bright lights of the Meadowlands; hey, nobody said trophy wives weren’t fickle.

For two whole seasons, Rivers shamelessly strutted about on the practice field as Brees felt inadequate. No matter what he did, no matter how loyal and productive he was, he could never fend off the allure of the trophy wife.