Tom Brady, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Troy Polamalu on Forbes’ 2011 list of most influential athletes
Forbes magazine released a list of the most influential athletes in America for the year of 2011. On the list were New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, Indianapolis Colts quarterback
Peyton Manning and Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu.
These four National Football League (NFL) stars made up four of the ten athletes on the list, with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson ranking first. Brady was ranked second, Polamalu at sixth, Manning seventh and Tebow to tenth after ranking third last year.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR driver, was ranked third, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal was fourth and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was fifth. Jeff Gordon, also a NASCAR driver, was ranked eighth on the list and NBA star Lebron James was ranked ninth.
Brady was behind Johnson by just two percent, with a 23 percent rating as opposed to Johnson’s 25 percent. Only those players that were known to at least 20 percent of the surveyed were eligible for the list, meaning that boxer Manny Pacquiao did not make
the list. He was not familiar to about 88 percent of the adults surveyed, although the 12 percent that knew about him considered him very influential.
Brady won the distinction after a very impressive 2010 season. He had 36 touchdown passes off of 3,900 passing yards and only four interceptions, earning a quarterback rating of 111.0 and breaking his old touchdown to interception ratio of 6:1 by a new record
of 9:1. That means that he had nine touchdowns for every interception. He led the Patriots to finish first in the AFC East with a 14-2 record but lost to the New York Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Tim Tebow dropped to tenth place after being in third last year, following a 2010 season spent mostly on the bench. He started in only three of the nine games played and had 654 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. The Broncos finished
last in the AFC West with a 4-12 record after deciding to start Kyle Orton as quarterback and a drama-filled season, including a videotaping scandal and the firing of head coach Josh McDaniels.
Manning had an impressive season as well, throwing for 4,700 yards, 33 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, earning a quarterback rating of 91.9. Manning has started in 208 of the possible 208 games during his 13 years with the Colts, not including playoff games,
preseason games and Super Bowls, which he has also started all of. The Colts finished first in the AFC South with a 10-6 record but lost to the Jets in the wild card round of the playoffs.
Polamalu also had a great year, earning the honour of being named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The nine-year veteran had 63 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and seven interceptions in the 2010 season. The Steelers finished first in the AFC North
with a 12-4 record but lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.
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