On Super Bowl Sunday, two men will lead their teams onto the field in a quest for victory, a place in history and most importantly, self-respect.Kerry Collins of the New York Giants and Trent Dilfer of the Baltimore Ravens have both seen their fair share of rocky times, yet both have somehow managed to lead their teams to the brink of the NFL’s most coveted perch.These two men have been to the depths of hell and back. Not since the days of sculpture-decapitator Nick Johnson have two individuals craved redemption so badly.There was a time long ago when Kerry Collins was the cat’s meow. He had been a standout college player in his days at Penn State. He didn’t wait long into his NFL career before leading the upstart Carolina Panthers to the NFC title game in the 1996 season. He had become the biggest thing in the Tarheel state since Michael Jordan’s days as an undergrad. But good times would not last for Collins, and it didn’t take long for the wheels to fall off. In August of the next season Collins was accused of calling his teammate a “nigger.” Teammates made it seem like everything could be put behind them, and maybe it would have if Collins had not played like a high school freshman that season. By the time Collins finished the year as the lowest-rated quarterback in the league, allegations had resurfaced; this time alleging Collins had a drinking problem.Despite all of his problems, Collins started the next season as the Panthers QB. He had claimed in the press that he was a changed man and this would be a different type of season. That new season lasted all of one month when Collins pulled an NFL rarity by quitting the team. He walked into his coach’s office and told him his heart wasn’t in being the team’s quarterback anymore. The Panthers did the right thing by quickly releasing Collins.So now the question was being asked, “who will take a chance on this guy?” After all, Collins was now branded a hate monger, a drunk and, worst of all, a quitter – very bad by NFL standards. The answer to the question came a short time later from the New Orleans Saints. He spent the rest of the year with the Saints before they realized he was bad news. Released again, Collins was an unemployed NFL QB with quite a few NFL starts and more baggage than Ivana Trump at a Bloomingdales clearance sale. Then the Giants made a really smart move.They signed Collins in a relatively low-risk deal. All they were losing was cash in this day and age where draft picks are so valuable. The best thing was that if Collins sputtered once again the Giants had a buyout clause they could enact.The Giants transaction starting showing fruit almost immediately. Collins became a reliable quarterback and he won over the Giants fans on week 13 of the ’99 season when he became the first Giants Quarterback since 1993 to pass for 300 yards in a game. Ironically, that week as Collins was riding his ship, another player was going down.Week 13 for Trent Dilfer was his first week on the bench. A week 12 win where his Buccaneers managed only one touchdown, and he passed for a measly 50 yards, was enough to convince coach Tony Dungy to make a switch. So Dilfer grabbed pine, while rookie Shaun King took over the reins of the team that would lose to the St. Louis Rams in the NFC title game later that season. Tampa Bay fans had gotten their fill of Trent Dilfer and he knew it. He finished the season with an equal number of touchdown passes as interceptions as well as a weak QB rating of 75.8 – stats that won’t exactly buy milk for a baby.At the beginning of this season Dilfer hooked up with the Ravens. As everybody who has been watching this season knows, Baltimore’s offense is terrible. It took a while for Dilfer to even crack the starting lineup as Tony Banks was calling signals for the first half of the season. It took a nasty dry spell in touchdowns that lasted almost five games before Dilfer finally got a real chance to prove himself again. He hasn’t been pretty the rest of this season, but he has gotten the job done.So there you have it. Two quarterbacks who were both mere inches away from missing windows that have led to the upcoming Super Bowl. For Dilfer it is a chance to prove that the Ravens are more than just a defensive team, and also to silence the echoing boos in the city of Tampa that have plagued him since his departure.Collins has had a good 2000. He is coming off one of the most impressive performances in playoff history last week against the Vikings. Collins doesn’t need to prove he is good, he simply has to prepare for the most important game of his life while defending his past and promising better things for the future- a promise it looks like he’ll keep.In the end it will probably be a defensive player hoisting the Super Bowl MVP trophy but as happens every year after the game one quarterback will proudly proclaim “I’m going to Disney World.” Whoever it is has certainly earned a nice vacation.Marcus Charter is a sophomore in journalism and mass communicatio from Ames. He is not dating Anna Kournikova.