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The name is Trent -- as in low-rent
Updated: Saturday January 20, 2001 2:01 AM
The intriguing character in the little Super Bowl drama now sketched in outline form for the last Sunday in January is Mr. Trent Dilfer of the Baltimore Ravens. Don't you think? He might be the most inglorious, low-rent quarterback of all Super Bowl time. List all of the assets of these Ravens as they prepare for their matchup with the New York Football Giants and Dilfer comes in somewhere between the publicity director and the equipment man. Surely below the trainer and the assistant director of player personnel. On a team driven by its withering defense, Dilfer's basic job is to not screw up. Don't fumble. Don't throw an interception. Don't press any issues. Don't. Just don't. The most charismatic position in all of team sports, the position of Joe Namath and John Elway and Joe Montana, has been stripped of all creativity, pared down to dull repetition. Trent Dilfer is working a production line. He is sitting in a security guard's booth at midnight. Don't stop the process. Don't let anyone through that door. Don't. A field goal for the Ravens in this Super Bowl will be an accomplishment that merits grand celebration. A touchdown will be nothing less than a miracle. A basic good pass for Trent Dilfer will be one that he throws into the seats, far, far from the hands of dangerous defensive backs. A good run will be for no yards, Dilfer curled on top of the ball to protect it from the fat fingers of defensive linemen. This is going to be different. Very different. Koo-koo-ka-chew. Where have you gone, Johnny Unitas? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you ...
Sports Illustrated senior writer Leigh Montville appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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