Tom Brady, Stetson Man.

Tom Brady is one of the few elite players in the NFL who gets to be loved and hated at the same time. The love comes from his actual performance; the hate is more about his pouty GQ covers and his taste in supermodel girlfriends.

Now Brady is being accused of dogging it in the preseason. He hasn’t played a single down, claiming an injured foot – although Brady says it’s not the same injury that briefly put him in a walking boot just before the Super Bowl. In the glimpses reporters have caught of Brady in practice this month, he appears to be moving just fine.

The Patriots are notorious for withholding injury information. They won’t even confirm which foot is bothering Brady (early reports said it was the right foot). And Belichick has a history of, shall we say, circumventing the rules. If there’s something fishy going on, I doubt it has anything to do with Brady wimping out.

Football may be a team sport, but all those teammates (OK, except for special teams) are out there on the field to either help or harm the quarterback. Everything depends on the QB, which is why fans and handicappers alike spend so much time obsessing over them.

That obsession goes double for 2008. Here are 10 pivots who need our special attention, starting with the three men involved in the season’s biggest storyline.

1. Brett Favre, New York Jets
2. Chad Pennington, Miami Dolphins
3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
4. Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota Vikings
5. Rex Grossman, Chicago Bears
6. J.T. O’Sullivan, San Francisco 49ers
7. Trent Edwards, Buffalo Bills
8. Troy Smith, Baltimore Ravens
9. Chris Redman, Atlanta Falcons
10. JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders

Many of these quarterbacks are in heated battles for a starting job. If they don’t deliver, those handicappers who have studied up and down the depth charts will have a major advantage.

Peyton Manning has been the picture of health for the Indianapolis Colts with 160 consecutive starts. The Colts are 105-55 with Manning at quarterback. Whatever would they do without him?

That question has to be answered eventually. It could even be this year. Manning had an inflamed bursa sac removed on July 14; the Colts say that he should be fine for the season opener against the visiting Chicago Bears, but Manning hasn’t even thrown a pass yet in practice.

We don’t know all that much about how well Jim Sorgi can play, either. However, Sorgi does have a 90.4 passer rating in mop-up duty, completing 77 of 126 passes over the past four years. Playing behind one of the best offensive lines in the league always helps.

The quarterback remains the most important position, but football is still a team sport. The Colts won’t panic if Sorgi faces the Bears. Anything longer than that, on the other hand…

Now that the non-waiver trade deadline is behind us, we have even more interest in watching the Boston Red Sox – even if they start the week playing the 52-60 Kansas City Royals. Jason Bay is 4-for-11 with his new team, scoring two runs in each of his three appearances.

Over in Los Angeles, Manny Ramirez has been more impressive to Dodgers fans: 8-for-13 with two home runs. Sadly, Juan Pierre is still in the starting outfield, but L.A. has still climbed over Arizona on the National League odds list. Next up for the Dodgers: the St. Louis Cardinals, struggling to stay in the NL Central race.

Things pick up again later in the week with matchups featuring teams that are in direct competition. St. Louis is going to Wrigley Field to face the Chicago Cubs, and the Florida Marlins are in the Big Apple to take on the New York Mets.