Catchy headline. I’m new at this, so bear with me. I will try to tie it all together. Mostly I want to talk about football!
Tim Tebow, obviously, is conservative. Keith Olbermann, obviously, is not. Both can be entertaining. Hopefully, they can respect each other. The reason I bring Olbermann up is to nominate some people for his “Worst person in the world” bit. Too bad he is off the air.
Three people I had never heard of or gave little credence to their opinions have apparently tried to make greater names for themselves by declaring Tebow the worst and most ineffective quarterback to ever play the game, or disparaging him for his religion. Their initials are T.M, M.H and G.D.. I won’t print their names because I won’t help them in their evil endeavors. To try to achieve glory or fame the way they have is embarrassing and sad. They have my pity. I wonder how and why they would believe bashing a talented young football player who gives his all would be a credit to them. They know controversy brings ratings, I understand that. Being anti-Tebow isn’t good enough for them. Helping to destroy someone of virtue before he gets a chance is what they are going for. Again, they have my pity. To try to make it so Tebow doesn’t even get a chance is beyond words. To say his locker room will lose all respect for the Broncos organization if Tebow starts is way out of bounds. That is trying to poison every organization from giving the young man a chance. It borders on sick!
Now, let’s talk football! The Big Ten has “3 yards and a cloud of dust.” Woody Hayes used to say “3 things can happen when you throw the ball, and 2 of them are bad.” As recently as 2008 Navy won a game without throwing a pass! There was also “Air Coryell” with Dan Fouts flinging the pigskin everywhere, “The Greatest Show on Turf” with Kurt Warner, and, of course, The West Coast Offense. There is no single way to play and it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. Football beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This takes me to a few paragraphs of football philosophy. Item #1. When I was very young I saw Terry Bradshaw and thought he was a great QB. He didn’t get as much credit as some others because his team was so good, but he could take a hit and deliver the ball and make clutch plays. For the same organization, Ben Roethlisberger has evolved from a game manager to a game changer and isn’t always the smoothest, but certainly is effective. Both of them threw the ball down the field and spread the defense. It is a great weapon.
Items #2. I grew up in a high school football crazy area. Our school ran the same system in every grade from 7 th grade on. We ran the ball a lot, but we had a play called TD Pass. We often ran it the first play of the game, and always in the first 3 plays. The other team knew it was coming. Our fans knew it was coming. Heck, THEIR fans knew it was coming. It was exciting for everyone. Our fastest player lined up slot left and ran a deep post. Two wideouts ran fly patterns. Our QB threw the ball as far as he could. It didn’t matter if it was caught or intercepted, just the threat that we would do it loosened up everything else. The next time we set up in that formation it could be a draw or a screen or a QB scramble — .or TD Pass again, but it opened up the field! All the DBs and corners dropped deep. There was room to do other things. And if it was intercepted, it flipped the field and our defense got to go to work. It was a TEAM effort.
This is what Tim Tebow can do. Like it or not, he IS the Broncos running game. He CAN and HAS thrown the deep ball in NFL and college. You can see video of it, I don’t care what the detractors say, THERE IS ACTUAL PROOF OF SUCCESS! Last year the Broncos scored TWICE as many points against San Diego with Tebow at QB than Orton and nearly twice as many against Oakland! That is the best direct comparison of their success and effectiveness, results against common opponents!
I have never played Fantasy Football, but I understand Tebow scored lots of points in his 3 starts last year. You would think that meant his team scored plenty, but I really don’t know how it works. Some “experts” won’t let that get in the way of ripping Tebow, but the rest of us know the score.
I want to wrap up by thanking Chris Sprow for writing a piece and finding historical evidence, not just opinion. Check it out:
The case for Tim Tebow Why does Tebow need to be a great passer now to be a good NFL quarterback?