Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: Sports

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Peyton Manning and Tom Brady
Amy Lewis

My favorite NFL player is a toss-up between Peyton Manning and Bret Favre; however, Favre has been a constant source of drama since the end of last season so I'm going to side with Manning for now.

Manning is having a troubling season so far - too many interceptions and a poor team record (3-4). Yet, Manning is still so much fun to watch. He is simply an awesome quarterback. You can tell that his mind is completely on the game as soon as he steps up behind the line of scrimmage. He focuses in, points at a few of his players, barks out his orders and then jumps into action the second the ball is snapped. He drops back with a very distinctive run, scans the field for his receivers and throws. He is the epitome of what a quarterback should look like.

Another one of his attributes is his attitude. There is nothing better than a football player that enjoys the game for what it is - a game. Sure it's the highlight of the year for the hundreds of thousands of die-hard, couch-bound-on-Sundays, NFL-Total-Access subscribing, football fans (me included); but in the end, it is a game. Games are meant to be fun for the players who play them. Manning loves the game and he's good at it; he holds the record for the most consecutive seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes, the most seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards and the all-important super bowl ring.

Manning may not be having the greatest season this year but I still love to watch him play. (And I love all of his cheesy commercials)

My least favorite player is by far Tom Brady. I know he's out for the season so he may not be the most relevant pick but I really can't stand the guy. He is so smug that it makes me gag when I see his emotionless face on the TV. Don't get me wrong, I understand that he is a great quarterback (probably one of the all-time best), but his attitude and approach to the game make me sick.

I'm a Raider fan so it's understandable that I don't like Brady. A few years ago there was a certain play-off game in the snow that forever tarnished the Raider Nation's opinion of Tom Brady and the Patriots. That opinion (in my case) will never change.

Brady has an ego way bigger than the stadium he plays in and Belichick only feeds it. I think a football player should be a role model for their fans. Brady dumped his pregnant girlfriend to date a supermodel. Do you ever see him spending time with his little boy? No. You see him on vacation before the Super Bowl with his new girl. What kind of person is that for young fans to look up to?

Greg Ellis and Patrick Willis
Zaki Syed

My least favorite National Football League player, without a doubt, would have to be Greg Ellis from the Dallas Cowboys. While he might have finished the season by leading the Cowboys with 12.5 sacks, he also may be a hero to some because the NFL gave him the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. My response to that is so what? Who cares if Ellis is a great athlete when he has a horrible attitude? Ellis is what I like to call the "crybaby of the NFL".

In the 2005-2006 season, Ellis said that he wasn't sure he would return to the Dallas Cowboys because he wasn't getting enough playing time. Later on that year, Ellis threw another tantrum whining about how he wanted see more commitment from the Cowboy's. He even skipped the last two days of organized team activity practices. As if that wasn't enough, in the 2007 off season he asked to renegotiate his contract to make more money up front. How Ellis even got an award from the NFL is beyond me. Ellis needs to grow up and stop acting like he's still in pre-school. Maybe, if NFL would stop giving him awards he didn't deserve, Ellis would stop acting like a spoiled kid. Just because he is good at football, everyone is not going to bow down to him like he is God.

My most favorite player of the league would have to be Patrick Willis of the San Francisco 49er's. Now many reading this are probably saying, "Who?" Willis is probably unknown to some, because he was a rookie in the NFL last year. It's the fact that Willis is unknown that makes him so great. He doesn't talk big, doesn't whine, doesn't have the prima donna "I'm better than you," attitude that some professional athletes have. Willis is the type of guy that just delivers. Everyone knows that the rookie year for an NFL athlete is worse than boot camp. Despite the torture and pain of being a rookie, Willis still managed to lead the NFL with 174 tackles, along with four sacks, and two fumbles. It is no surprise that Willis was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Finally, the NFL gave an award to someone who truly deserves it. These are the kind of athletes awards should go to -- players who keep their mouth shut and simply deliver, rather than a bunch of spoiled athletes who are constantly throwing temper tantrums.

Terrell Owens and LaDainian Tomlinson
Felipe Molina

Terrell Owens is my least favorite player in the NFL and in sports in general. Not only is Owens the biggest crybaby in sports today, he is only out for one person, himself. Owens is a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode and grab any spotlight that he can. He is a true media whore. They say there is no "I" in "team," but T.O. found the "Me" in team and exploits it as often as he can.

It's just a matter of time before T.O throws Tony Romo under the bus for not throwing him the ball enough. If you don't believe me ask Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Drew Bledsoe. You watch if the Dallas Cowboys struggle, T.O will tear that team apart from the inside out.

On the other side of the spectrum you have LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson is a true team player and the best running back in the NFL. Tomlinson plays with heart and class. In a time where players want the spotlight on themselves, Tomlinson knows that his success intertwines with his teammates, specifically with his offensive linemen. When he broke the rushing touchdowns record in 2006, Tomlinson had his offensive linemen come into the end zone and celebrate what he called "their" achievement. Tomlinson will do anything that he can to help the team win. If that means to rush for 100 yards or to stay in a block, he will do whatever it takes to get the win.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tomlinson is a better player, teammate and role model than the team cancer known as Terrell Owens. Fans of Owens better watch out if he doesn't get enough attention he might try to commit suicide again. Oh wait I mean "accidentally" take too many pills.

Adam Jones/Chad Johnson and Kurt Warner
Andrew McFadden

Players like Adam "Pac Man" Jones and Chad "Ocho-Cinco" Johnson are the epitome of everything that is wrong with the NFL today. If you own their jerseys, I would suggest getting rid of it. Perhaps donate it to the underprivileged. However, not even those who could utilize it out of pure necessity should stoop so low as to support these maniacal personalities that think they are larger than the world itself.

Let us start with the "Pac Man," shall we? This young, promising multi-millionaire made a splash in the NFL early in his career by entering the league with a pending criminal record. While having never been convicted of a felony, the number of times he has been put on trial or settled out of court are so numerous that they have been chained together in a continual string of litigation. This has led his team to wonder if he would be a free man able to provide the team with the services agreed upon in his contract come the weekend.

After receiving an indefinite suspension from league commissioner Robert Goodell for off-the-field behavior, "Pac Man" made his way to New York City to appeal the decision. Mind you, Goodell made it clear what Jones needed to do to find himself back on an NFL field. He simply needed to remove himself from the strip clubs and late night bar environments that had been offering him so many problems, and disassociate from the drug-dealing friends that followed him everywhere he went. And yet, on the eve of what could have been the most important night of his life, where could one find him? The same place the media and a fight found him: in a strip club. If you lost your job, but had a chance to get it back pending your obedience of a simple set of rules and a request that you stay away from one location, would you spit in the face of that authority and go none the less? No man that places a higher importance on bare breasts and alcohol than his career deserves your respect or the acknowledgment of our youth.

On the other side of things we find Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Kurt Warner. In his career Warner has done it all. He has gone from bench warmer to starter to Super Bowl winner. Since his biggest victory he has made his way through a couple teams and found himself riding the bench most of that time, perhaps not getting the respect he deserved. Currently he is starting once again, and just as he has for entire career, his attitude couldn't be better. He is the consummate professional that understands the importance of his attitude and his actions. He gives back to the community and communicates with fans, teammates and superiors like the human beings they deserve to be treated like.

Truly, Warner and players like him are the ones that we wish every role model could be like. It is disappointing that in many situations, the money we pay as fans goes into the pockets of people who molest the honor of our favorite pastimes; people who are the very definition disappointment, disgrace and failure.

Amy Lewis, Zaki Syed, Felipe Molina and Andrew McFadden can be reached at sports@statehornet.com

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