Sex Appeal and the Single Quarterback

As the Super Bowl nears, pundits are comparing rival quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning—right down to who they date and for how long, the New York Times reports. Brady, who escorts leggy Gisele Bundchen to chi chi clubs, descends from the Joe Namath tradition of playboy QB. Manning is more the straitlaced Roger Staubach, searching the stands for his university gal-turned-fiancee when games end.

“We’ve once again entered into the eternal battle between quarterback chic and quarterback geek,” says Mark Kriegel, who wrote a book on Namath. But more pre-game chatterers seem to yearn for Brady's exotic love life. That said, carousing doesn't always translate into football dominance: Namath squired many a model and won one Super Bowl, while Staubach married his grade-school sweetheart and won two. (More football stories.)