Sports: More Honorable Quarterbacks

Well, guess what? Peyton Manning isn't the only humble AFC quarterback. And since the Colts got shot down and kicked out of the playoffs, let's look at Doors number 2 and 3.

First, door number 2: The Patriot's Tom Brady. He's famous. After all, he's won two Super Bowls. But he doesn't seem to be haughty about it. Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi says "Tom is a guy that wants to work. Tom knows that he can't win a game all by himself. Tom says, "You go out, you put the work in like everybody else. You hold yourself accountable. You gain respect from your teammates by working hard, and preparing, and not asking anything more of them than you would ask of yourself." Kudos for humble Tom, even if I'm sick of the Patriots winning.

And door number 3: The Steeler's Ben Roethlisberger. I was already impressed with his external accomplishments---while his numbers aren't spectacular, he was undefeated in all 13 games he played in the regular season, including two against the stellar teams of Philadelphia and New England. And he's a rookie. No rookie quarterback has ever led their team to the Super Bowl. And compared to teams like the Patriots, who have already won two in recent years, or the Eagles, going to their fourth straight championship game, along with their cocky receiver Terrell Owens... well, Ben's a likable guy. You want to root for the underdog rookie who's doing pretty good.

But besides all that, he's apparently a cool humble guy, too. Dolphins coach Nick Saban recently released a book which includes an anecdote about Roethlisberger that is very revealing about his character. Saban used to coach the college football team at LSU, and when they beat Ben's team in 2002, Ben e-mailed Saban, saying that LSU was the best team that he had ever played. He also said that LSU "had the most class of any team that I have ever played against in high school or college, and I commend you for that. Many of the players, including your big-name players, came up to me after the game and congratulated me and told us good luck and have a safe trip home." Isn't that nice? Ben's not a sore loser.

I don't know if Ben and Brady's off-the-field behavior is as worthy as their football-related comments and behavior, but from what I have heard about them, they seem like cool likable guys. And when you juxtapose them with NFC players like Moss and Owens, well, it's pretty obvious who has more character. So, yay for AFC QBs.

Edmond the Hun