To fully appreciate the star of power of ESPN.com‘s all-decade offensive team, consider who did not make the cut: Peyton Manning. Randy Moss. Orlando Pace. Terrell Owens. Will Shields. Antonio Gates. Larry Allen. They are Hall of Fame names and they didn’t make the cut. The decade has been that good… It was inevitable that several superstars would be left off. Here are the 11 players who made it:

Quarterback, Tom Brady:
The New England Patriots’ quarterback won a battle against Manning, as he has done so many times on the field. Manning is one of the best quarterbacks to play the game and easily could have been named the quarterback of the decade. But Brady’s successes could not be denied. Since replacing an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, Brady has been the face of the NFL and has nearly attained royalty status. He is a living legend. Brady is the consummate winner. Manning may be more gifted and have more impressive numbers, but Brady has won three Super Bowls and is widely considered one of the most cunning players ever to suit up. “You’re talking about a guy that was a sixth-round draft pick,” said former Jets and Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, now an ESPN analyst. “He wasn’t a first-round pick. I love Manning. I think he’s great for the league, an ambassador for the league, but he was the first player picked. Either one would be great, but [Brady] has won Super Bowls and was a sixth-round pick. Nobody really knew who he was.”

Congratulations to ESPN and the panel of experts they put together.  You got one right.  Fantastic.  Like they say, even a blind squirrel can find a nut.  But what I don’t grasp is, why all the apologies?  What’s with the need to apologize for saying Peyton is the 2nd best QB of the decade?  There have probably been over a hundred QBs to come through the league in the last 9 years and there’s no shame in being runner up.  I mean, the PGA doesn’t apologize to Phil Mickelson for being 2nd on the World Golf Rankings.  The Academy Awards didn’t apologize to Brad Pitt, they just gave the trophy to Sean Penn.  The electoral college didn’t feel the need to say they were sorry to John McCain for electing Obama.  What is it about Manning that compels the football world to feel bad for admitting that objectively, by any meaningful standard, Brady is better than he is?  If anyone deserves an apology here, it’s Randy Moss.  Take him and Torry Holt, pick any season out of the last decade, put them both on the free agent market and Moss would get a call from all 32 teams before Holt’s phone rang once.  But for some reason ESPN doesn’t throw up in their mouths at this miscarriage of justice.