Scott Fowler and Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, at a Panthers game. Published September 2004 You probably weren't aware that Condoleezza Rice would like to become the next NFL commissioner once Paul Tagliabue retires. She does. You may not know that Rice is football-obsessed and can discuss the intricacies of a good offensive line. She can. Rice, 49, discussed those and many other NFL-related topics with Observer sports columnist Scott Fowler in an exclusive interview Monday afternoon -- a few hours before Rice attended the Green Bay-Carolina game as a guest of Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. Here are excerpts from the conversation. Q: How did you get to be such a football fan? A: When I was born in Birmingham, my father was a high-school athletic director and an assistant football coach. He was sure he was going to have a boy and that I'd be his All-American linebacker. But I was an only child, and he had to do something. So he taught me all about football. He was a Presbyterian minister as well, and some of my earliest memories are of going to church on Sundays and then watching the NFL games on Sunday afternoons with him. Q: So you really want to be NFL Commissioner after Paul Tagliabue retires? A: I do. NFL Commissioner would be a dream job for me. Q: Why? A: I love football, and I think the NFL is an exceptionally well-run league. It's also very central to the way we think of ourselves as a country. On any Sunday, in any NFL city, fans have essentially the same experience with a little local flavor. When I was the provost at Stanford, the athletic department reported to me. I liked that. I've always enjoyed the management side of sports. Q: Who are some of your favorite NFL players? A: I'm kind of a curmudgeon - a lot of my favorite players have retired. I was a real big fan of Jim Brown, of Johnny Unitas and of John Elway. I think someone like Jerry Rice really has to be admired. I like Clinton Portis - Washington has finally found someone to replace Stephen Davis. And, honestly, one of my very favorite players is Jake Delhomme. Q: Delhomme? What do you like about him? A: I've always liked quarterbacks who are mentally tough and get done whatever needs to get done however they need to do it. Delhomme reminds me in some ways of Brett Favre. I thought Delhomme's performance in the Super Bowl last season was one of the greatest I have ever seen by a quarterback. Q: Who's your favorite NFL team? A: When I was growing up in Alabama, for some reason the team we got most often on TV was the Cleveland Browns. I became a big fan. Jim Brown, Paul Brown, this quarterback they had named Frank Ryan… But when the Browns got rid of Paul Brown and he went to the Cincinnati Bengals, I became a big Bengals fan. And then I liked Denver because I lived there for a long time. But now I've come full circle, and I'm back to the Browns. Q: When you attend a football game in person, where do you like to sit? A: I like to be at midfield. I like seeing plays develop at the line. I enjoy great defense and a great running game. I don't think there is anything more exciting in football than an offensive line absolutely dominating a defense on the ground. Q: You sound like John Fox. A: I do like Fox's style. I like his defensive front seven. I just like line play in general. My father [John Wesley Rice] played some football in college at J.C. Smith. He went to seminary there as well. Dad also played for a semi-pro football team in Burlington, N.C., and that was after he became a minister. He would preach on Sundays and practiced football during the week. And he was an offensive lineman, too. So that helped my appreciation for the position. Q: Were you an athlete? A: I was a figure skater as a teenager. I wasn't very good at it, but I loved the competition. In my early 20s, I took up tennis, and now I play that pretty seriously. I work out every day doing something. Q: How do you manage that? A: My alarm goes off at 10 minutes until 5 every morning and I head to the treadmill. Q: What's your Super Bowl prediction? A: The Patriots were pretty impressive the other night. I think they are very good and may win it all again. The Panthers? I think they have a good shot at getting back there, too. I'm not sure they will, though - you know that old stat about how the team that loses the Super Bowl sometimes falls flat the next year. And my dark horse team to win it all is Denver.