This past winter, I was depressed that the Jets had beaten the Colts (we Patriots fans wish both teams could lose) and was looking for some football in which I was less emotionally invested, so I decided to watch the Baltimore-Kansas City game.

I flipped on the T.V. and was greeted with another excellent play by Birk, again resulting in a Rice touchdown.

This time, it was on a passing play: the Ravens’ line created a hole in the middle of the line of scrimmage for Rice to exploit, and Flacco found him for a short pass that Rice then turned into a touchdown.

Birk’s been so good over the years (he’s now in his 14th season) that perhaps his ascent doesn’t seem nearly as exciting as some of the younger Harvard athletes we follow, both in football and in other sports. That’s not to say that Birk isn’t interesting.

Just the opposite: he’s been involved in his community through his HIKE foundation, has said that he plans to donate his brain to concussion research, has been his team’s “Man of the Year” seven times, has been runner up for the NFL Player’s Association Man of the Year award, and has been a finalist for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

It’s exciting to watch as young Harvard alumni work to make inroads as professional athletes.

But let’s not forget about the guy that has been getting the job done for a long time..

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.