From Ricky Williams to Ben Roethlisberger, players made impacts on every team this year. Some caused their teams to exceed expectations, while other players completely ruined the team's entire 2004 season. So sit back and enjoy these 10 players that made us enjoy the game of football in ways we never expected.

In a year where basically the two favorites ended up in the Super Bowl, and a gunslinger rode atop his Colts and discarded his six-shooter for a missile launcher, torpedoes and long-range bombs, who would've thought that the biggest surprise would not have come from either of the Super teams or the League's MVP?

Who would've thought that an overused, discarded 254-pound bus could hold an entire football team on his back as his passengers?

Did anybody think the San Diego Chargers would actually figure out how to win?

We all knew Terrell Owens was good, but the best? I think he answered the question of who the ultimate go-to receiver was in the NFL. Wait until next year. I think TO will have an even better season in 2005, if that is possible, and then maybe we can see Andy Reid don those tights after all.

Impacts were made all across the NFL this year, from a two-time repeat MVP, all the way down to the lowly Miami Dolphins. However, in this column, let us all forget about awards and records and break down who actually made the biggest impacts for their teams and for the amazing things these individuals accomplished-from devastating hits, to perfectly thrown touchdown passes, cradled catches, 107 yard interception returns, and a rookie who just refused to lose.

You might be surprised by the end of this who really had the biggest impact in 2004.

10. Peyton Manning-Wow, I would have to put him first if it wasn't for all of his high expectations and the receiver corps he had around him. I mean Come On'. Everyone knew that with the league's new rules Peyton would have an unbelievable year, even if it came down to ONLY 49 touchdown passes. Come On' Peyton, you should've blown your mentor outta the water AND won a Super Bowl.

9. If this was called the most pleasant surprise of 2004, the award would've gone to Brandon Stokley, because the guy just deserves everything he got this year. The hard work and his hands were amazing up through the Denver playoff game, but shoot Brandon, great receivers push their quarterbacks to be better and I have no idea where you were in New England baby. And besides, who ever heard of the most pleasant surprise award? An award like that sounds like something we would give to a receiver who actually made a difference for his football team when it really counted. Maybe next year dahling, but we enjoyed you while it lasted.

8. Call me silly, call me crazy, but hey, these are my picks, and by god, I just love running backs and the Kansas Chiefs, so maybe you can call me bias too, but this place belongs solidly to Derrick Blaylock. What a workhorse who finally earned himself a place among those backs of the NFL who love the red zone. Earn a spot on a team that will make you their Featured Back Mr. Blaylock, and you'll be the star you're meant to be. Thanks for the Atlanta game.

7. Someone once said that the best offense is a great defense, but how about someone who loves both sides of the ball. Mr. Troy Brown, we all enjoyed your first interception almost as much as you did. To see you actually have fun playing football no matter which side of the ball you were on was one of the best highlights of the whole season, but to see you catch the opposition's passes as if they were meant for yourself made us all realize that football is a team sport and to win requires sacrifice. Thanks for the memories, and the three interceptions.

6. But a truly great defense is one that is built around an everyday defender that love to be around the ball and make plays whatever it takes. My defender of the year was a close one-two, and I would've loved to have given it to this man, my Pittsburgh baller, James Farrior. Every interception was a prayer answered, and every tackle was an art form. I'm sorry you didn't make it to the Super Bowl Mr. Farrior, it wasn't your fault. But who can be disappointed being led by a rookie who loses only once in 16 games. Sir James is in a defensive class that only a select few can call their own.

5. If I could start my franchise with one player, and this is the highest compliment award, I would begin with defense, and the man who rules the entire NFL and made the biggest defensive plays of the year, is the one and only-Ed Reed. Play after play, on National Television, beneath the eyes of the world, this man made the two most spectacular plays on defense of the season. Wow Ed, that game against Washington was unbelievable. If you get better, I know I've witnessed even someone better than Prime Time in his Prime multiplied times 10.

4. This man made one of the biggest impacts on his team this past season in football, and he didn't even play a single down. We know you love the grass Ricky, but somewhere deep in your heart you just have to love the grass stains on your knees and elbows more than the ones on your lungs. Maybe no one will ever forgive you for how you destroyed the Miami Dolphins season single-handedly, but I know I missed watching you carry the football 40 time a game and blasting defensive backs with your tough grind-it-out style. Come back Ricky and be a positive difference-maker once more.

3. I think you could take Peyton Manning off of the Colts and they would still make the playoffs. Sure he is the best and smartest quarterback in the NFL. You could also remove Tom Brady from the Patriots and they would still probably go to the Super Bowl, because Bill Belichick just would find a way to win. But we saw what happened to the Falcons without Michael Vick last year. For purely impact reasons, this Superhero just makes his team a winner. When he runs the ball like a man who hates to be tackled, it makes us as fans forget the games where he throws multiple interceptions and fumbles the ball repeatedly because he continues to carry the ball in one hand. I'm scared what he can do once he actually gets a receiver that is worthy of the name Peerless.

2. Whoever thought that basketball players would be great playing football? I may not know the answer to this question, but I am sure if we asked Drew Brees, he would tell us that Antonio Gates is the best power forward to ever catch a pass in the NFL. Or maybe he would just say that Antonio Gates is the best tight end the game has ever seen--Period. Whatever the case may be, I hope Mr. Brees bought Antonio a nice brand new Cadillac for his role in turning Drew into one of the premiere quarterbacks in the NFL. Without Mr. Gates, Drew is sitting on the sidelines wondering what happened to his career.

1. In football, or any sport for that matter, you can separate the superstars from the role-players, by looking at who refuses to lose. Tom Brady hates to lose. He hates it so much that he elevated his game to unforeseen heights and has become the Joe Montana of the 21st century. Cory Dillon hated losing so much that he took a pay cut to play for a TEAM that hates losing more than he does. But neither one of these guys can slide in on this top ten list, because we knew they both were great, and we knew what to expect from the New England Patriots.

There was one man this year that hated losing so much that he came into the NFL season having won his final 13 NCAA football games. He led the league in overall jersey sales because the fans saw in him a determination to be the best from the very start. By the time he had taken his last snap of the season he had almost won 30 consecutive football games. If his coaches had just not fallen for what the media was saying about how Ben was a rookie and he needed to manage games, and if they had trusted in his instincts and let him throw the ball more to his Pro Bowl-caliber receivers, we might still be talking of him winning a Super Bowl.

Everyone says that he won games because he played for a team that had great defense and relied upon ball-control offense. I guess those same proponents didn't watch him single-handedly beat the Dallas Cowboys, or drive his team to the winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Maybe they missed the long bomb he threw against the New York Jets during the regular season that led to a score that put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Where was the defense when he had to rally his team to a come-from-behind victory against the pitiful NewYork Giants? The final score of that game was 33-30, and it sure as heck seemed as though the defense was absent in that game as Eli Manning threw at will against a poor secondary.

Ben Roethlisberger had by far the biggest impact on his football team in 2004, because I cannot even imagine what Tommy Maddox would've done to screw this team up if he hadn't gotten hurt. It wasn't Ben's fault that the Steelers aren't playing for a Super Bowl right now in an all Pennsylvania Championship. It is the Steelers' offensive coordinator's fault for putting him in the position of having to throw on third down against a team that uses so many confused looks. Big Ben is going to have an entire off-season to grow and learn and I guarantee he will analyze this loss over and over again and it will push him to be even better next year.

When you hate to lose and you realize that a championship was only a few more passes away, you want to come back and prove to the world that this is where you belong. When you have Plaxico Burress, Antoine Randle El and Hines Ward as passing options, there

is no reason why the Steelers are not loading their offensive playbook for a real winner to throw the ball downfield. I am sorry Big Ben that you had to lose your only game of the season one game away from the Super Bowl.

Thanks for turning the Steelers around, and next year, take your gloves off and come out and throw the football to your big-play guys!

If you have any comments for me, please feel free to email me at Jcooperwandling@hotmail.com.