Quality of Effort
The Laughing Wuarterback is the title of a novel that never quite made it to print but was passed around sportswriting circles a number of years ago. It was a confounding manuscript, off-center and funny, but also horrifying in its cynicism. The NFL QB in question hoarded his talent, had no respect for the game or his team; all he wanted was money, and it ended badly for him, his teammates and the league. Greed destroyed all. A very contrary story line came from SI senior writer Peter King back in February, who told of Tom Brady and his contract negotiations right after he had led the Patriots to their third Super Bowl victory in four seasons (and was the MVP in two of them). Brady could have asked for the sky, but did not. As he later told King, he didn't need to be the highest-paid guy in the league; he believed it was more important that the Patriots use the money he wasn't taking to keep the team in contention for a championship. Brady signed a six-year, $60 million contract--substantially below the seven-year, $98 million contract of Peyton Manning (tops in the NFL). King, who has been covering pro football for 16 years, had never heard anything like it. He says, "If you think that plays well in the locker room, you're right." And that's a large part of why Tom Brady is SI's 2005 Sportsman of the Year. He is a great football player (his 3,301 passing yards lead the NFL), but he is also a classic team player, which is what makes him an extraordinary leader, and a winner.
As SI's brilliant editor Andre Laguerre wrote of Stan Musial, the Sportsman in 1957, "The victory may have been his, but it is not for the victory alone that he is honored. Rather it is for the quality of his effort and the manner of his striving." The same goes for Tom Brady.
He was surprised when told he was to receive this year's award. NFL players are seldom named; the last was Joe Montana in 1990. The timing of the selection--nearly 10 months after the Super Bowl and barely two thirds of the way through the next NFL season--was the only thing that made Brady a tough choice. But this is still the year he won his third Super Bowl, and even now, despite losing five starters on offense and playing with a taped-together defense, the Patriots have won seven of their first 12, and Brady has rallied them four times in the fourth quarter. Their bid to win a third straight Super Bowl this season may seem like a long shot, but it is still alive, and that's only because Tom Brady is leading them with both his arm and his heart.
• For more on SI's 2005 Sportsman, go to SI.com/Sportsman.
SPORTSMAN of the YEAR 1954-2005
1954 • ROGER BANNISTER
1955 • JOHNNY PODRES
1956 • BOBBY MORROW
1957 • STAN MUSIAL
1958 • RAFER JOHNSON
1959 • INGEMAR JOHANSSON
1960 • ARNOLD PALMER
1961 • JERRY LUCAS
1962 • TERRY BAKER
1963 • PETE ROZELLE
1964 • KEN VENTURI
1965 • SANDY KOUFAX
1966 • JIM RYUN
1967 • CARL YASTRZEMSKI
1968 • BILL RUSSELL
1969 • TOM SEAVER
1970 • BOBBY ORR
1971 • LEE TREVINO
1972 • BILLIE JEAN KING AND JOHN WOODEN
1973 • JACKIE STEWART
1974 • MUHAMMAD ALI
1975 • PETE ROSE
1976 • CHRIS EVERT
1977 • STEVE CAUTHEN
1978 • JACK NICKLAUS
1979 • TERRY BRADSHAW AND WILLIE STARGELL
1980 • U.S. OLYMPIC HOCKEY TEAM
1981 • SUGAR RAY LEONARD
1982 • WAYNE GRETZKY
1983 • MARY DECKER
1984 • MARY LOU RETTON AND EDWIN MOSES
1985 • KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
1986 • JOE PATERNO
1987 • ATHLETES WHO CARE
BOB BOURNE, KIP KEINO, JUDI BROWN KING, DALE MURPHY, CHIP RIVES, PATTY SHEEHAN, RORY SPARROW AND REGGIE WILLIAMS
1988 • OREL HERSHISER
1989 • GREG LEMOND
1990 • JOE MONTANA
1991 • MICHAEL JORDAN
1992 • ARTHUR ASHE
1993 • DON SHULA
1994 • BONNIE BLAIR AND JOHANN OLAV KOSS
1995 • CAL RIPKEN JR.
1996 • TIGER WOODS
1997 • DEAN SMITH
1998 • MARK MCGWIRE AND SAMMY SOSA
1999 • U.S. WOMEN'S
SOCCER TEAM
2000 • TIGER WOODS
2001 • RANDY JOHNSON AND bCURT SCHILLING
2002 • LANCE ARMSTRONG
2003 • TIM DUNCAN AND DAVID ROBINSON
2004 • BOSTON RED SOX
2005 • TOM BRADY
PHOTO
WALTER IOOSS JR.
 PAT HAND
Brady is SI's SOY for more than the three Super Bowl rings on his fingers.