Vote for the hottest players remaining: NFL playoffs
There will be plenty of football on television this weekend as the eight remaining teams in the playoffs face off in the divisional round. To add a little fun to the rest of the playoffs, we decided to start a weekly competition in which we’ll find one player to love on each team, tell you a little about him and then ask you to vote for your favorite each week. During Super Bowl week, we’ll feature an All-Star round where the top two players from each week will all be entered again and you will vote for your ultimate favorite.
Here are the players for this week. Make sure to check back Sunday night to find out who the winner is, and be sure to vote below!
Baltimore Ravens
Dennis Pitta (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)
Name: Dennis Pitta
Position: Tight End
Age: 27
Hometown: Fresno, California
Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 245 pounds
Marital status: married
Reasons to like this player: He’s tall, dark and handsome in a Luke Wilson kind of way. He took a two-year break from playing college football at Brigham Young to go do missionary work in the Dominican Republic. He is one of Joe Flacco’s favorite targets.
New England Patriots
Deion Branch (photo is a screen cap from Patriots.com)
Name: Deion Branch
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 33
Hometown: Albany, Georgia
Height/weight: 5-foot-9/195 pounds
Marital status: married
Reasons to like this player: He was the 2005 Super Bowl MVP after catching 11 passes for 133 yards, a Super Bowl record. His heart is in New England: he was drafted to the Patriots in 2002 then traded to the Seahawks in 2006 after he couldn’t make his contract with the Pats work. He returned to New England after Randy Moss went to Minnesota. Since then he’s been on and off the roster but hasn’t left the team. Also, he’s best friends with Tom Brady.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker (photo credit: GQ.com)
Name: Eric Decker
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 25
Hometown: Cold Spring, Minnesota
Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 218 pounds
Marital status: engaged
Reasons to like this player: During his 2010 rookie season with the Broncos, he modeled for GQ. This season, he had one of the NFL’s best performances with over 1,000 receiving yards.
Green Bay Packers
Jordy Nelson (photo credit: Harry How/Getty Images)
Name: Jordy Nelson
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 27
Hometown: Manhattan, Kansas
Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 217 pounds
Marital status: Single
Reasons to like this player: In the last two seasons with Green Bay, Nelson has scored 22 touchdowns and recorded 2,008 receiving yards. He is good at what he does and he looks good doing it … what more could you ask for?
San Francisco 49ers
Colin Kaepernick (photo credit Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle / ONLINE_YES)
Name: Colin Kaepernick
Position: Quarterback
Age: 25
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 230 pounds
Marital status: Single
Reasons to like this player: After Smith was injured in the middle of the 2012 season, Kaepernick stepped up and brought the team to the playoffs. This season alone, he earned over 1,800 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Combine this impressive season with his fit body covered in tattoos and you’ve got a winner.
Houston Texans
Stanford Routt (photo credit: edgemagazinesite.com)
Name: Stanford Routt
Position: Cornerback
Age: 29
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 195 pounds
Marital status: Single
Reasons to like this player: Routt just signed with the Texans in early December, so we have yet to see how he performs with the team. He does have plans, however, to launch a non-profit foundation called Routt to Success. Its mission will be to “strive to improve and better troubled and underprivileged children by assisting them in their dreams of a better education & excellence in sports.” He has a beautiful smile and big heart.
Atlanta Falcons
Tony Gonzalez (photo credit: shape.com)
Name: Tony Gonzalez
Position: Tight End
Age: 36
Hometown: Torrance, California
Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 243 pounds
Marital status: Married
Reasons to like this player: Not only do we enjoy looking at his “tight end,” Gonzalez is also very active with the Kidney Foundation, co-authored a fitness book and founded his own line of protein shakes. All of this on top of his eight touchdowns and 930 receiving yards this season makes him an all-around desirable man.
Seattle Seahawks
Golden Tate (photo credit Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images; Mark Von Holden/Getty Images)
Name: Golden Tate
Position: Wide Receiver
Age: 24
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 202 pounds
Marital status: Single
Reasons to like this player: While we don’t know much about his personal life, Tate has an impressive football career. He has a career total of more than 1,200 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons, not to mention a gorgeous smile!
(Bios compiled by Karoline Zacharer and Kimberly Petalas)
