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SALT LAKE CITY — It's trending like mad on Twitter! Every pseudo-sports reporter with a journalism degree from iPhone University is gloating over this news (long overdue) that the New York Jets finally cut their losses and released Tim Tebow.
In our instant revisionist-history world, we're being bowled and rolled with all of Tim's woeful stats like 47.9% completion rate, lowest for any QB with 3 years in the NFL since the Bengals funded the Akili Smith Project from Oregon. Plus the jokes, where an ESPN PAC-12 Blog asked which schools will go after Tebow, saying Colorado's the only school where he might be able to play. A Twitter-happy agent wondered whether it was after Tim's first or second pass as a Jet that the team realized they'd made a huge mistake! Funny stuff and there's ample material for laughs at Tebow's expense.
Clearly Tim's forward progress has been stopped but true to his character, and ability, he won't go down. He was in his workout clothes, heading in to the Jets facility when he was told. One NFL team was reportedly willing to trade with the Jets but Tebow would not give up his quest to play QB in the NFL.
Let me introduce some measure of perspective to his runaway hype train.
Also, to have full disclosure, I am one of Tim Tebow's greatest admirer's, throwing 'warts and all'.
It's not Tim's fault that he's extremely popular and media friendly. In many ways an "accidental icon" from his "I Promise" speech post-Ole Miss loss that fueled the 2008 National Championship to his unabashed, very public living out of his faith. ESPN is playing both sides now. After fueling the Tebow Power machine, they're now pushing the pile the other way, piling on with everybody else, ripping him as a QB fraud.
From his high school days, he became a piece of Urban's Legend when Meyer beat 'Bama to get the consummate winner, role model and part-time missionary. Then all Tebow does is proceed to be a great (backup) teammate when QB Chris Leak (never played a down in NFL) leads Florida to the National Championship. Then, when everybody's crowing that Urban and Tim can't win the SEC running the Spread (read-option) Tebow turns it into the "shred-option", running and yes, THROWING, his way to becoming the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.
What does Tebow do for an encore? He leads the Gators to the National Championship, where he was named the offensive MVP of the game, throwing several perfect strikes as he led Florida to a come from behind win over Oklahoma in the National Championship, part of this ridiculous run of eight straight National Titles won by the SEC.
His NFL roller-coaster began in 2010, when new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels traded three picks to Baltimore to draft Tim with the No. 25 in the first round. Tebow's Broncos' No. 15 jersey set an NFL Draft record for jersey sales.
Cougar fans you can thank Tebow, McDaniels, and that trade for bringing Dennis Pitta to Baltimore. Even though Tebow likely would've been there for Denver without making that costly trade. That decision and McDaniels faith that Tebow could be a winning QB in the NFL cost McDaniels his first NFL head coaching job.
It's been clear forever that Tim's mechanics needed an overhaul and he worked with several QB coaches on footwork and shortening his ‘roundabout' throwing motion. Accuracy was also an issue but he was such a positive force in the locker room and weight room that he gained acceptance through his work ethic. After starting the last three games of McDaniels' only season coaching in Denver, John Fox took over as head coach and Tebow was politely bumped to the bottom of the depth chart, but with the Broncos going nowhere under Kyle Orton, clearly Brady Quinn wasn't the answer, and finally Fox buckled under the intense fan pressure to give Tebow a chance.
Herein lies the crux of my pro-Tebow position. He came in, ran an admittedly dumbed-down offense, relying on a sturdy defense, throwing only occasionally but his will to succeed and leadership absolutely created an aura of belief. Six straight wins, several in dramatic, miraculous fashion and "Tebow-Mania" was spreading from the Rocky Mountains across the country.
A three game losing streak at the end of the season put a damper on Tim's progress and his critics were back, front and center.
When that his transcendent 2010 season was finished, Tebow had led Denver to an unlikely AFC West Title and beat Pittsburgh with a perfect strike to Demaryius Thomas that went 80 yards for the game-winning TD in overtime, putting Tebow over 300 yards passing in his first playoff game!
Sometime during that amazing run of comeback wins, Tebow was captured kneeling and praying along the sideline, something he'd done for years, but with so many camera's clicking away "Tebowing" was born. Not his fault the public and his uber enthusiastic fans ran with that too!
The Patriots whipped Tim and his his team in the next round of the playoffs. Denver's boss John Elway had seen enough, despite the wins he understood Tebow wasn't his franchise QB so Elway wooed Peyton Manning and traded Tebow to New York. Where the Jets hoped to capitalize on Tebow's overall skill-set but he clearly wasn't going to play QB for the Jets.
So finally the Jets released Tim Tebow, no takers as yet. There's a hint that he could surface with Bill Belichick in New England. Belichick loves Tebow, Josh McDaniels is the Patriots offensive coordinator now, so maybe that idea has legs. But Tom Brady also has a say in things in New England and he hates giving up snaps at any time of the game, so he'll have to buy into a vision of how Tebow can help New England score points. That group doesn't care at all about any marketing possibilities but at the same time they won't be intimidated if Tebow's invited to camp just to see how they could use him.
If you were to build a football player from the spirit and soul, through the DNA and out to his body and brains, it might very well be Tebow. You might work on some ‘toddler QB mechanics" but what's not to like about this guy? It is not his fault the masses follow and he's too kind and unassuming to dismantle the "TebowMania".
What's he ever done to you?
