Quarterbacks start with the ball ~at the start of almost every play and one of the two quarterbacks is in possession of the football for the majority of the game. They are BY FAR the most important individuals in the game. Receivers, tight ends, and running backs get some attention too because they are also individually fairly involved, but plays are split between ~5 of them.

I think much of the same is true of pitchers in baseball as of quarterbacks in football, except pitchers only play something like 1 in 6 games, and these days it's very rare for them to pitch a complete game.