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This is the column where I heap the highest amount of praise possible on the most team-oriented player in the league. It's about the star who wakes up every day thinking solely about how the Seahawks can win the Super Bowl.

This is the column where I know I have to really sell to you on the following concept:

If I am starting an NFL team, and I can pick one player to lead my franchise for now and in the future, I'm taking Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu.

That's right. You take your quarterback or the stud running back for your fantasy team or the defensive player who does soup commercials or likes to dance after a sack.

Give me 26-year-old Lofa Tatupu.

Factor in age. We can talk about productivity. We must talk about leadership. We have to reference an around-the-clock work ethic.

I'll take Tatupu.

Tatupu will never get the publicity he deserves for a few reasons. He plays in Seattle instead of a big-market team in Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C. The Seahawks have an incredible and vocal fan base in the great Northwest, but unlike the Packers, Cowboys and Steelers, that support doesn't stretch across the U.S.

Even more than the relative small volume of Seahawks fans, Tatupu wrongly gets penalized for his lack of sacks.

It's just so backward that networks will hype up sack leaders and not focus on a game changer on every single play, a sturdy middle backer like Tatupu.

Take last year, for example.

The player I'd build my team around had one sack.

Tatupu, however, had 109 tackles. There isn't a more fundamentally sound tackler in the league. And Tatupu takes on blockers on every single play. It doesn't matter to him if he gets the actual tackle as long as it turns into a negative play for the opposing offense.

Plus, Tatupu made four interceptions. Three of those picks came in one game, when Seattle beat the Eagles in Philadelphia.

Look closely at Tatupu's career. He's had a Hall of Fame start. He's made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons.

There were some who killed Seattle for taking the 'undersized' middle linebacker in the second round of the 2005 draft. All Tatupu did his rookie season was anchor the Seattle defense en route to the Super Bowl, piling up 105 tackles, four sacks and three interceptions. Tatupu followed up that performance with 123 tackles in 2006.

What makes Tatupu so good is that he is a student of the game. You hear about the legendary film study of guys like Peyton Manning and Ed Reed. Tatupu is in that class. He eats, sleeps and breathes football. Tatupu breaks down every play by Seattle's defense. Every practice is like a playoff game. He demands accountability from his teammates with the way he works.

Watching Tatupu practice, as I did for two days earlier this month, is something special. Every OTA and minicamp session is a means to an end. He also studies fellow linebackers to pick up tips, and raves about the play of guys like Zach Thomas, DeMeco Ryans, David Harris and Patrick Willis. Tatupu even marvels at how defensive backs like Champ Bailey and Antonio Cromartie excel at their craft. And he was ahead of the curve in singing the praises of Fred Taylor as an elite running back.

It's why you never see Tatupu out of place.

He's more prepared than the opposing team for a ball game. It's that simple.

And you need your best player to be an iron man. Tatupu has never missed a game.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren is among those singing Tatupu's praises.

"You need him as much as you need a veteran quarterback," Holmgren said. "He runs the defense just like Matt Hasselbeck runs the offense. Plus he sets such a good example of what a professional football player should be. And I am talking across the board. Not just on the field, I am talking about his study of football. I am talking about his classroom work. I am talking about what he does for charity. He really is quite a guy."

In classic Tatupu fashion, he says Leroy Hill is actually the best linebacker on the Seahawks. And he isn't saying this to be self-deprecating. He appreciates what his underrated teammate — who plays with a couple of Pro Bowl linebackers in Tatupu and sack artist Julian Peterson — brings with his "versatility and playmaking ability."

I've argued that the Seahawks linebackers are the best in the NFL, to which Tatupu agreed.

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"I think it is our speed," he said. "I know there are a lot of fast linebackers out there. And I know a few years ago, Denver probably held that title with (Al) Wilson and D.J. (Williams) and Ian Gold. But we have it now. Our speed takes teams by surprise. Our line does a great job and then we can fly around. I really, truly believe with those guys on my side they make me better. Then I can showcase my abilities more because teams are focused on the other 'backers. Any game, someone can step up and have 13 tackles, a sack and a pick."

It's why the Seahawks, even with an inexperienced receivers group now that both Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are hurt, will be back in the playoffs in Mike Holmgren's final season as coach.

And you don't have to take my word for it on the greatness of Tatupu.

The Seahawks know his worth.

Seattle locked up the franchise player with a $42 million contract extension this offseason that will keep him in the great Northwest through 2015.

Lofa, I once again apologize.

Sorry to let the world in on the best-kept secret in the NFL.