New York's five most underappreciated athletes

Jets running back Leon Washington earns the No. 5 spot on Arthur Stalpe's list of New York's most underappreciated athletes. (Newsday / David L. Pokress)

We love our lists around these parts, so I thought I'd get in on the action. Here, then, is my very official list of the "Five Most Underappreciated Athletes," New York pro sports edition:

5. Leon Washington, Jets: This is a guy who may be less loved by his own coaching staff than by the fans. The 5-8 do-everything back/kick returner/punt returner has touched the ball exactly 42 times this year, through four games. He's dynamic and he can be a game-breaker, either as a third-down option on offense or as a return man, where he scored three touchdowns from a year ago. His numbers -- 16 carries for 62 yards, no TDs; 12 catches for 76 yards, no TDs -- are down in terms of touches, which makes no sense.

Yes, we know all about that Favre guy, what kind of magic he can spin when it's third-and-long. But Washington, now in his third year, is a special talent. The kind that Jets fans (and their coaching staff) will likely appreciate way more when he's carrying a bigger load for someone else in a couple seasons.

4. Fred Robbins, Giants: It's easy to find guys that do lunch-pail work in football, since there are so many components that go into winning a championship. Robbins is a quiet guy, an interior defensive lineman, which is a spot that only Warren Sapp made noise at.

The amazing thing about Robbins is that he's 31 and this is his fifth year with the Giants. Most people outside of the hardcore NYG fans barely know the guy, and all he does is make plays and make it hard for opposing offenses to simply try to shut down the talent on the ends. He moved into Michael Strahan's corner locker before this season, and there could not be a starker contrast in the occupants of that spot.

3. Jose Reyes, Mets: Yes, I'm talking to you now, Met fans. You're the ones who boo before a game is an inning old (and, the way the last two seasons have ended, have every right to do so) and expect only disappointment and dissatisfaction. David Wright went largely unscathed through the same time span as Reyes has been sliced and diced for showing any or all of the following: Too much exuberance; too little exuberance; too little patience; too much indifference; too little "baseball smarts."

I'd happily list all the numbers that show you, Mets fans, are witnessing the best shortstop your team has ever had -- first or second in the NL in steals and triples each of the last four seasons, at least 190 hits each of the last four seasons, 15 games missed the last four seasons -- but that's unnecessary. The worst part is how his treatment compares to Wright, who only got booed those final few games of the year. Reyes gets the, "We love you! No, wait, we hate you!" treatment week to week, and it's wrong. The guy is 25 and only getting better.

2. Mariano Rivera, Yankees: This is a tough sell for some because his greatness is acknowledged in all corners of baseball and the city. For 12 seasons now, he has been as unhittable as any pitcher in baseball history, especially in October, which is why this first season of Rivera's career without a postseason is especially annoying.

Where the lack of appreciation comes in is our human tendency to take something consistently great for granted. We have all, from my friends who put together the back page on down to a teenaged Yankee fan who has never known anything but a torrent of sawed-off bats in the ninth inning, taken Mo for granted. We only notice when he gets into a tight spot or blows a save or gives up a home run, which he has done exactly 55 times in over 1,100 career innings. That is a mind-boggling statistic, and one of many proofs that Rivera is the greatest pitcher I've seen or will see in my lifetime. It's hard to write about greatness every day, but this guy is the best there ever was, and we shouldn't ever forget it.

1. Eli Manning, Giants: This week's love-fest notwithstanding, Eli is still the red-headed stepchild of great quarterbacks everywhere. Without his top receiver on Sunday, he goes out and has the best game of his career, throwing to not just Amani Toomer, but Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith and Kevin Boss and the peanut vendor and anyone else who might have been open. And then ... Troy Aikman says he'd rather have Tony Romo than Eli.

You know what? Romo still makes one or two eye-popping mistakes every single game that hurt his team's chances of winning. Favre? Please. Manning has shrugged off so many things in his four-plus seasons -- pushing for the draft-day trade to the Giants, pushing Kerry Collins aside for a job, pushing Kurt Warner out of the way for the starting spot as a rookie, pushing past the critics and doubters in his own locker room and beyond, pushing away the me-first attitudes of more than a few former and current teammates on offense -- that, if it were Favre or Romo, we'd get a weepy, one-hour ESPN sitdown chronicling the trials and tribulations of being a QB. Instead, we get Easy E, the guy with the goofy grin and slumped shoulders, kicking everyone's behind. He's 9-1 without Jeremy Shockey now, incidentially. And 18-6 without Tiki Barber to take the burden of leadership off him.

Eli is the Giants' true leader, the NFL's MVP through the first quarter of the season and primed for a possible run to another Super Bowl. I'd say that's enough to earn some love.