Rivera's idol while growing up was Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash while en route to deliver aid to victims of the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake. Rivera was inducted into the California Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. On January 5, 2015, Rivera's home in Charlotte, North Carolina caught fire and was partially damaged, but he and his family escaped without injury. Rivera held a charity yard sale there after his hiring as Washington head coach in 2020, with various Panthers apparel and merchandise up for sale that raised more than 30,000 for the humane society of Charlotte.