John Clayton	Trent Dilfer You can say Kerry Collins because of his past problem with alcohol is a more interesting story, but he's been to a championship game. You can say nobody expected Daunte Culpepper to even start this year and he's going to a championship game. That's fine. You can say Rich Gannon has never played in a championship game, but for two years he's been a dominating type of player. With Dilfer, there were no expectations. He came to Baltimore on a $1 million contract. He just hoped for the best and didn't start the season with many aspirations. But he came out of nowhere and has lost only one game. He hasn't made mistakes during the playoffs. With Dilfer being a free agent after the season, he can go to the Super Bowl and not know if he has a job after that. How does that happen? And he doesn't know if he would make big money or little money. He's the most compelling of the four.
Mike Golic	Kerry Collins Not only because of what he's gone through on the field, struggling as a quarterback, but because of his ability to bounce back from his significant off-the-field problems, too. The locker room is a fun place, but it can also be a tough place to survive. When a player is labeled some of the things Kerry Collins has been labeled in the locker room -- a drunk, or worse, a racist -- it can be really tough to peacefully co-exist in the locker room. And it only gets worse if you're not performing on the field. After all of that, for Collins to get where he has is truly remarkable. This turnaround is good for Collins as a player and for the Giants as a team, but more importantly, it's good for Collins as a person. The Giants' staff gave him a chance, and Collins had to earn everyone's respect, not only on the field but off it as well. Re-establishing your teammates' trust in your ability to get it done on the field is really difficult, but if you're winning games, it doesn't take long. Often, it's much harder to reestablish that trust off the field, but Collins has been able to. Win or lose this weekend, this Giants team will continue to believe in Collins -- it's his team now.
Merril Hoge	Rich Gannon Perseverance is always the most telling characteristic about a person. When someone achieves success after a long period of sustained effort, it's very satisfying. Rich Gannon, this year, is an illustration of perseverance, desire and commitment. When you total those things up, you come out with what football, and sports in general, are all about. Based on what Gannon has accomplished this season and how long it has taken him, he is clearly the best story of the year. His will to be great, his desire to be the best lasted for a very long time before he tasted the success he's had this year. He never lost his passion for the game no matter how many obstacles he ran into or how many teams he played for before he got his opportunity to shine.
Andrea Kremer	Daunte Culpepper His on-the-field and off-the-field stories are the most remarkable. He was born to a mom who was in prison and raised by a grandmother. He had to fight his whole life for what he got. He came out of a small school as a first-round pick. He was thrust into the Vikings' starting role without the confidence of his teammates. He won the confidence and respect of players the caliber of Randy Moss and Cris Carter. That's a feat unto itself, since they are very demanding and want to get to the Super Bowl now. Plus, he's the only first-year starter left in the pool. The determination he's had his whole life is paying off.
Mark Malone	Rich Gannon Kerry Collins has overcome a great deal, Trent Dilfer has endured a great deal and Daunte Culpepper has had a surprisingly fabulous season. But Rich Gannon has bounced around the league for 12 years. A sixth-round draft pick out of Delaware, everyone wanted him to play a different position. But he's stuck to his guns, endured a lot of adversity and achieved what he has today by hard work and perseverance. It's interesting how it happened for Gannon. For years, the Raiders were run by Al Davis, no matter who the head coach was. When John Gruden took the job, he made it clear that he was going to have control of the team. Gruden didn't care if he made Davis or anyone else mad; he took the bull by the horns, knowing that if he got fired, he'd get another shot somewhere else in the NFL. One of the first things Gruden did was to get rid of Jeff George and found a guy with some heart in Gannon. Gruden and Gannon have not only put themselves in position to win the AFC championship, but Gannon was a viable MVP candidate this year. There have been lots of great stories this year, but Gannon's story -- and the span of time it covers -- has been the most remarkable.
Sean Salisbury	Kerry Collins Kerry Collins was a first-round pick who fell into some very tough personal problems. He had everything going for him coming out of college but his career went to hell in a hand basket after two years. Since then I've watched Collins transform his life. When he left New Orleans to go to New York I was very pessimistic about his chances of succeeding. But he's looked the challenge in the face and come out on top. He's overcoming a disease that he has to deal with every day. Now he looks healthy, he's playing well and he's revitalized his career after receiving a chance from Jim Fassel. You only get so many shots at redemption. The key is what you do with them. He's overcome things that are far more important than what happens on the field and he's gone beyond that and tapped back into the talent that made him a number-one pick.

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