Q. What is it about the quarterbacks? We had the Ryder Cup thing. In football, the guys got edged in the Ryder Cup format but they seem to be coming on now.
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: You know, I'm not sure what it is. I just think it's what's inside a guy that's played that position. I think, you know, in a position for so many years where you've got a situation where really , other than this guy (looking to John Elway), you're only as good as the guys around you. He may be the exception to the rule. Him and maybe Brett Favre are the two guys that can put a team on their back and carry them.
I think there's something within everybody that plays that position, and then when they go over into an individual sport, where it's just you don't have anybody to blame. There's nobody. It's nobody's fault but your own. I think I love that about golf. I think John probably does, too.
JOHN ELWAY: I think we are so used to it as quarterbacks. We have a lot to do with every play, but we really don't control our own destiny because you have 11 guys, and 11 guys have to be going the same direction and everybody has to be doing their job for us to be successful offensively.
So as a quarterback, you are spending your whole time doing your job, but also, working with ten other guys; whereas, golf, it's you and you only.
I think, you know, it's a hard position to play. I mean, there's a lot of pressure in it and it's a hard position to play and I think golf is a hard game. I've never seen -- I've never seen a good quarterback that's not a great competitor. I think that is what drivers quarterbacks to golf, because they love to compete.
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: And you've got to be tough, tough-minded. You're not going to hit every shot the way that you are picturing it, the way that you envision it. You've got to be able to let of the bad ones. Just like on the field, you know you throw an interception, you go make a tackle, you've got to go and get back out there again. There's nowhere to hide. Some of that is just kind of putting that behind and you learning how to deal with that.
I led the team in tackles one year down in Atlanta, so I had to get pretty good at that.
Q. Neil Lomax said the other day he thought that quarterbacks were usually in the top here because they are so good-looking. What do you guys think about that?
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: Oh, man, Niel said that? (Laughing).
JOHN ELWAY: I got no comment. (Laughter).
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: I guess he was talking about us, huh?
JOHN ELWAY: Yeah. (Laughter). I'm going to leave on that one.
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: Niel's absolutely right. He's right.
Q. You said before that it's been just a shot here, shot there from being right up there at the top.
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: You know, I get close, it seems like, every year. It's just the hardest thing I've ever tried to do is win a golf tournament. I mean, I've done things athletic my whole life that have come very, very easy for me, and winning a golf tournament is just hard. I mean, you couldn't prove it by Rhoden and Quinn some of the guys that are out here doing it all the time, but it's just hard when you're not used to it. It seems like the old Murphy's law happens; if something can go wrong, it does.
I was very fortunate today. I didn't hit the ball really very well at all, but I scored okay and didn't get myself in too much trouble.
The idea is to try to have a shot coming down the stretch. It's just like the back nine at Augusta on Sunday. That's where it happens. You want to be in contention, you want to have a chance when it's that time of day.
Q. Getting better in the game of golf, the fact that you guys made more money, so you had more time, the current crop from the 70s and 80s --
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: Who made more money? Who? Who? (Laughter).
Q. Being better golfers, is it a matter of having more time and the wherewithal to improve your game?
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: Absolutely. You don't get good at this game. Like Hogan used to say: You dig it out of the ground. You find the answer, and you dig it out of the ground. You're out there hitting balls. I think that's the beauty of the game.
Also, it's the tough part of it. You've got to carve out time if you do want to get better. But, heck, I'm one of the few guys out here that has a full-time job. It's hard for me to compete against these guys -- those rich guys that you're talking about. Hard for me to compete against those guys. I have to have a very understanding boss to let me get out here and do what I do and have so much fun doing it.
Q. Is it fun to be in the hunt?
STEVE BARTKOWSKI: That's the reason you play. That's the reason you play. You play because you want to have a chance to hoist the crystal. That's what it's all about. There's a feeling that I can't describe. It comes over me and I just love it. I love it. I just love it. I don't know how to say it any different. It just lights my fire.
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