Is our Kyle all growed up?

The man whose charm, talent, and wild nights spawned an internet cult and inspired YCS's own Pat to grow a fashionable neck beard seems to have steadied his ways. And he has the guy who's bogarting his reps to thank.

"You won't get me to say a bad thing about Brian," Orton said after Saturday's 20-19 exhibition victory at Houston. "Brian's been the most important person on this team for me, trying to get me through everything. He's helped my game dramatically in the last year and a half. He's a pro. He's taught me how to be a pro and how to approach the game."

While some might lament Kyle's newfound professionalism as the death of the overgrown frat guy who amused us so with his candid moments on film, I applaud him for embracing adulthood--a reality we must all eventually face--and also for being a #1, A+ nice guy. (Really, how many of us could be so gracious toward the guy a notch up on the depth chart?)

It was never Kyle's boozin' that won our affection but rather, his don't-give-a-hell demeanor that kept him even-keel whether he was getting picked off five times by the Bengals or having one of his two-ish good games. So I was very disappointed when I Googled "kyle orton" this morning and the first suggestion on the toolbar was "kyle orton drunk," and the basic "kyle orton" search turned up those famous bar photos. We at YCS (Matt and I at least) rather loathe the TMZ-esque tabloid trash that's given sites like Deadspin their big readership, and we'd rather celebrate our athletes than mock them.

We may be approaching the dawn of a new Kyle Orton era, and I, for one, welcome that with open arms.