It’s hard not to be sick and tired of hearing the name Tim Tebow. You can thank the “Mothership,” better known as ESPN, for that one.
But it’s impossible not to be fascinated by the curious case of Tebow.
We all know the legend. Tebow was a star at Florida and led the Gators to two BCS National Championship victories during his time in Gainsville.
He was praised for his leadership and inspiring toughness but anyone who had a spec of football knowledge didn’t think he could be a NFL quarterback. Tebow had a funky, slow release to go along with questionable arm strength and accuracy.
Then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels did the unthinkable, drafting the product out of Florida in the first round in 2010.
It was pure comedy. Tebow in the first round? What were the Broncos smoking and how could I get some of it? I know he invented water and beat Chuck Norris in a fight, but I may have been a better quarterback prospect than Tebow.
After getting a chance to start four games last season, Tebow took over for struggling quarterback Kyle Orton in the middle of this season.
The Broncos were 1-4 and in last place in the AFC West. Six weeks later, Denver has won four games in a row and are 6-5, one game behind the Oakland Raiders for first place in the division.
This isn’t a case of Tebow proving the skeptics wrong and becoming a polished passer in the NFL, a must in today’s league. He has a 45 percent completion percentage, averages 128 passing yards a game and completed just two passes in a win over Kansas City in Week 10.
And yet, despite the stats, the last two seasons the Broncos are 7-3 when Tebow starts and 4-13 when he doesn’t.
It doesn’t make sense. It defies logic. Watch a Denver game and tell me he isn’t challenging Colts’ quarterback Curtis Painter as the worst starter in football.
With Tebow in the game, the Broncos’ defense and running game are magically better. The whole team plays out of its mind.
I don’t buy that his leadership makes the team better. A team of great leaders with no talent isn’t going to win football games. Every winning team is said to have great leadership and every losing team doesn’t. It’s overrated.
So I’m baffled.
Maybe it’s all the praying. Tebow prays before, during and after plays. But that can’t be it because I pray during all of my pickup basketball games at Markin and still get schooled.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Tebow. I’m a big fan of his work in fighting terrorism and very appreciative of his cancer-curing tears, but there is no way he should be winning football games in the NFL.
Even his head coach John Fox and Broncos’ Vice President John Elway don’t understand it. In an interview last week, Elway, who knows a thing or two about quarterbacking a football team, was asked if the Broncos’ quarterback situation had been cleared up. His answer was no.
So I am pleading for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to open a full scale investigation into this issue. Bring in the FBI, CIA and Sherlock Holmes. Do whatever it takes.
Tebow is clearly cheating, we just don’t know how yet. Stopping him should be the league’s number one priority.
If he continues to win, sports fans everywhere will have to endure non-stop Tebow coverage on the “Mothership” and I don’t know how much more of it we can take.
