Pro football is a quarterback's game. If you've got a good one, you have a chance to win. If your QB is a household name only in his own home, chances are you're not going to the playoffs.
In the National Football League, QB is king. Running back Adrian Peterson of the Vikings may have won the most valuable player award last year, but ask a casual fan to name his 10 favourite NFL players and chances are good that nine of them will play quarterback.
There are veteran quarterbacks who are unquestioned stars - Peyton Manning of the Broncos; Tom Brady of New England; Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay; Drew Brees of the Saints; and Peyton's kid brother, Eli Manning of the Giants, who has two Super Bowl titles to his name. There are younger quarterbacks, many of whom were part of the astounding rookie class of 2012 - Colin Kaepernick of San Francisco, Russell Wilson of Seattle and Robert Griffin III, better known to fans as RG3, of Washington.
Between those oldies and the newbies are a batch of familiar names who are the faces of their teams - Joe Flacco of Baltimore, Matt Ryan of Atlanta, Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh, Matthew Stafford of Detroit, Sam Bradford of St. Louis, Jay Cutler of the Bears and Cam Newton of Carolina Panthers.
You don't believe it's a quarterback's league? OK sports fans, name another member of the Panthers besides Newton.
Quarterbacks are the faces of these teams, believe it. Even a quarterback who can't get a job, Tim Tebow, is far more famous than 95 per cent of the starters at other positions around the league.
The best of them all might be the cerebral Peyton Manning, who stunned the sports world on opening night with seven touchdown passes, tying a league record. The last time it was done was 1969. Some people thought he was finished when a series of neck surgeries forced him to miss the 2011 season with Indy. He was declared a free agent and signed with Denver, thanks to the wisdom of another QB with a great pedigree, John Elway, who runs the show for the Broncos.
The new season is just nicely under way, but you can bet a dozen winning Pro-Line tickets that when two teams convene for Super Bowl 48 next Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, there won't be a no-name quarterback in sight.
Joe Sheehan, SI.com, after Peyton Manning's seven-TD game to start the season: "A defence comprised of actual ravens wouldn't be much worse than this."
Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: "I went to bed at halftime of the Broncos-Ravens game, so I was asleep while Peyton Manning was lighting up the scoreboard. Joining me, apparently, was the Ravens' defence."
Norman Chad of the Washington Post: "Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has handed the play-calling over to assistant Bill Callahan; this will free him up to take in-game calls and texts from (owner Jerry) Jones, which, in turn, will prevent the ageless monarch from having to bound down onto the field late in every game with instructions."
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on Twitter: "NFL opener delayed by weather and lightning threat. 'That's what you get for cutting Tebow,' says God."
Blogger Bill Littlejohn, on 11-year-old Carson Huey-You starting his freshman year at a Texas university: "He says the fun part so far is tutoring the football team."
W.C. Fields, on sports gambling (reprinted from The Sports Curmudgeon): "Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people."
Cote again: "Johnny Football (the horse) made its debut Saturday at Saratoga. I hear he finished last after stopping mid-race to sign autographs."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 20-4. The game was so lopsided, in the eighth inning, the Red Sox relief pitcher was holding a Bud Light in his non-throwing hand."
Now that the NFL season is under way, says Brad Dickson, "NFL players say they're glad to be off 'Cops' and back on 'NFL Live.'"
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "Diana Nyad completed her swim from Cuba to Florida. Upon her landing, out of habit five MLB teams offered her a contract."
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Indians closer Chris Perez was fined $250 and sentenced to a year's probation for mailing himself a package of marijuana addressed to his dog. The pooch, apparently, wasn't much of a retriever."
Headline at Fark.com: "NFL to ex-players: Here's $765M, now go away, we have new players to ruin."
Janice Hough again: "Apparently teams are telling Tim Tebow he's not an NFL quarterback. Well, that never stopped Rex Grossman."
And a groaner from RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com to finish: "Did you hear about the Tampa Bay linebacker who paid two dollars for a pair of earrings? Not bad for a buck an ear."
