MMQB Mail (cont.)

Peter King's Mailbag

Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition.

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• I SEE BRADY PLAYING IN THE PRESEASON. From Eric Batchelor, of Acton, Mass.: "Hope you are still enjoying Boston! Last season Tom Brady didn't even play in the preseason; considering he's coming off knee surgery, do you expect him to play in a few games this year or do you think the Pats will sideline him until Game 1 of the regular season and have him only participate in practice?''

I can tell you what Brady told me: He wants to play in the preseason, and he wants to play in the preseason badly. I'm sure he'll communicate that to Bill Belichick, and I don't know what Belichick will do about it. My gut feeling is Brady will play 10 or so series in the preseason. I think he should.

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Twitter Questions of the Week

• IS VINCE YOUNG CRAZY? From John Wilson, of Nashville: "Is VYoung actually trying to force the Titans to trade him? Would anyone really want this guy after all this?''

Great question. Wasn't this the offseason of Vince Young's solitude, where he was shutting up, putting his nose to the grindstone and just working hard to try to win the job from Kerry Collins? When he opened up in his TV interview Monday and said, in essence, that if the Titans don't want me, someone else will, I had two thoughts: This guy has a split personality (that's putting it nicely) and who would want to stake their quarterback position on Vince Young right now, anyway? Young can't win this game. He should shut up, do his job and beat out Collins, or do everything he can to try to do so.

• RICH EISEN, YOU MIGHT BE OUT OF YOUR MIND. From Rich Eisen, of Culver City, Calif., (and the NFL Network): "Rumor has it SI will celebrate PKing's 20-year anny by making him the cover model on swimsuit issue.''

No comment. But my agent has been in negotiations with the Omar The Tentmaker Swimwear Group. That's the only statement I am free to make at this time.

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• BECAUSE I THINK LEFTWICH IS PRETTY GOOD. From Matt, of Shibukawa, Japan: "Why do you always support Byron Leftwich? I admit I loved him out of Marshall and he seems to be a good, intuitive guy, but he has a slow release and is not mobile. That's a bad combination to have in a league built on speed and pressure.''

You make very good points, Matt. I'm just looking at the Tampa Bay quarterback situation, and I look at Leftwich, and I look at the second half he played at Washington last year for the Steelers, and I think: He's better than anything the Bucs have right now. He's experienced, he's smart and he'd be playing behind a good offensive line that would give him time.

• AUSTIN WOOD'S HIS HERO TOO. From Michael K., of Jacksonville: "Great write-up on Austin Wood. In an age when pitch counts have major-league managers pulling pitchers out of games when they are cruising and mowing down opposing hitters, this kid's performance is a rare thing. Are any MLB teams giving him a look?''

He hasn't been drafted because his fastball tops out at 91. But he said he hopes to get drafted in the MLB draft this month. I'm hoping the same thing for the kid.

• AUSTIN WOOD GOT ABUSED BY HIS COACH. From Chris Bode, of Phoenix: "The story of the Texas pitcher is why good pitching prospects sign with professional teams out of high school. The kid may not want to come out of the game, but it is abusive to leave him in for that number of pitches. Such a move only would be made by a coach with no long-term interest in the kid.''

Point noted.

• IT'S EASY TO HAVE FUN WHEN THE JOB IS FUN. From John Trent, of Reno: "After reading your column today marking your 20 years with SI, it got me thinking about you and your writing career. What has always struck me about your writing is how you've never lost your sense of wonder, and your enjoyment of what you do [rarely, if ever, have you penned columns bemoaning the difficult travel, the 24/7 nature of reporting in the electronic age, or dealing with millionaire athletes who can be, as Al Michaels would say, 'truculent' from time to time.] If anything, you seem to be enjoying what you're doing more than ever before. How have you been able to do this? I enjoy your writing because you never speak down to those of us in your audience, and you always seem to remain respectful of the people you write about -- even when you're being critical. I was a sportswriter myself for about 10 years here in Reno, and it was hard to always maintain that really fine sense of equilibrium [never too breathless, rock-solid reporting and writing] that has been the hallmark of your work over the years. Any secrets on how you've managed to maintain your love of what you do for so long?''

Wow. Thanks, John. I guess it's this: When I was a kid, I thought the most wonderful job in the world would be the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Second-best: being a sportswriter writing about the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, or whatever in the world of sports. And now I'm doing it. I never traveled as a kid, and I think if I had, the wonder of going to new places -- Korea, Afghanistan, Oahu, Green Bay -- wouldn't be quite so great.

For example, I really like my training-camp trip. I like going to Bourbonnais, Ill., and Mankato, Minn., and Latrobe, Pa., and seeing football up close and the real towns of America up close. Last year, I was at a minor-league baseball game in Kannapolis, N.C., and sitting there on a hot summer night, I thought how great it was that my job allows me to go to places I'd almost certainly never go to, even places most people think, "Why'd you want to go there?'' Because it's there.