Lineup
PRO FOOTBALL
NFL 2007
PREVIEW
62 The King500
How do you assignvalue to players and rank them from 1 to 500? Not without losing sleep By PETERKING
• THE KING 500GATEFOLD
74 PeytonManning
The Colt'sebullient leader and master tactician is the NFL's premier passer--and bestplayer By PETER KING
78 Bart Scott
A loud,controversial Ravens inside linebacker--you know who we mean, right? Wrong ByTIM LAYDEN
84 DevinHester
The Bears' returnman seemed to score at will in '06, so now they'll give him the damn ball ByANDREW LAWRENCE
91 BigMatchups
• BEST vs. BESTGATEFOLD
From Week 1(Carson Palmer vs. Ed Reed) through Week 17 (Reggie Bush vs. Brian Urlacher) ByADAM DUERSON AND DAVID EPSTEIN
100 ScoutingReports
The skinny on all32 NFL teams, plus Dr. Z's season, playoffs and Super Bowl XLII predictions
Departments
12 LeadingOff
22 Letters
25 Players
• Don't write offMichael Vick
• Ryan Braun'ssmashing debut
• Geezer playscollege football
• Derek Jeter ononly grand slam
• Kevin Millar onbitting knucklers
44 Faces in theCrowd
188 Life ofReilly
A schoolgirlsoccer goalie's tragic death gave a stranger new lungs--and a new life by RickReilly
Inside...
50 OlympicSports
• Tyson Gay isnew 100-meter king
54 Golf
• FedEx Cupopener is... not bad
58 NASCAR
• Kurt Buschcharges toward Cup
60 Baseball
• Dave Duncan'sslugging sons
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBTRINGALI/SPORTSCHROME
COVER FLAPS:Peter Read Miller (Bush, Brady); David Bergman (McNabb); John Biever (Young);Robert Beck (Tomlinson); Simon Bruty (Hester)
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FEATUREDCOLUMNS
PETER KING
»Next for theCommish...
Roger Goodell'snot blind. He sees what a joke preseason games are. Reigning MVP LaDainianTomlinson hasn't played in one of them In two years.
»Read more ofthis column at SI.com/king.
TIM LAYDEN
»Bring onBeijing
Tyson Gay, whowon the 100-meter final at the world track and field championships, is now thefavorite to win Olympic gold next summer.
»Read more ofthis column at SI.com/layden.
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• 3. Lee Evansand the fastest NFL wideouts
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BOB ROSATO
84 CATCH 23? RARELY Chicago's Devin Hester was so elusive on special teams as a rookie that the Bears have moved him to wideout this season.
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