Tebow Time
Time to say a word about Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos rookie quarterback. Very frustrating. I love the guy. I feel certain the media savagery against him is aggravated at least in part by his squeaky clean Christianity and its appeal to the fans. (The sight of him makes journalists despise themselves and they lash out!) Yet, unlike opposing teams’ defensive lines, the press can’t lay a hand on Tebow because he turns everything to the good. Even the theoretically snarky craze of “Tebowing”—taking a knee in prayer regardless of what everyone around you is doing at the moment—intended as mockery has instead become an inspiration due to Tebow’s delightfully cool and upbeat reaction to it. In fact, everything about the man is inspiring…
Uh, except his play. Which is the problem. Last Sunday against Detroit, the Heisman winner looked pretty much as I imagine I myself would look playing professional football. That’s not a compliment. It’s not entirely TT’s fault, I know. Fox color commentator John Lynch—a nine time Pro-Bowler who’s got major football smarts and could become the NFL’s Tim McCarver—kept pointing out that the Denver brain trust should be calling short, quick, three-step-and-throw passes to let the Teeb get his bearings. Instead, they kept pushing him to the long ball, which the Lions devoured. Plus the Denver pocket kept collapsing. Still, all that said, if Tebow is going to continue to inspire, he’s got to win, like Kurt Warner and Drew Brees. Like Lynch, I believe he can do it with proper coaching, but my faith was shaken Sunday. Don’t let the Philistine media triumph, Tebow!
(While I’m on the subject, my biggest NFL disappointment this season came when the Philadelphia Eagles put back-up QB Mike Kafka on the inactive list. Every time Kafka stood in for Michael Vick, I had high hopes some announcer would say, “Kafka suddenly—inexplicably—finds himself surrounded by strangers trying to hurt him…” Can’t imagine why this never happened. Now I guess there’s no chance of it.)
“kept pointing out that the Denver brain trust should be calling short, quick, three-step-and-throw passes to let the Teeb get his bearings. Instead, they kept pushing him to the long ball”
For the conspiracy minded, the current Bronco regime of Fox and Elway did not draft Tebow and probably do not appreciate having the fans force them to start Tebow so perhaps the play calling is a set up for Tebow to fail.
For me, a QB who cannot even get do the basic things like getting the snap from center and footwork right is a recipe for failure.
It’s no secret that Elway would prefer to draft a hotshot fellow Stanford alum next year.
Some creativity would be nice, but an offensive line and a running back not named Knowshon Moreno would be nicer. Creative playcalling will have to suffice for now.
As far as suggesting the “Tebowing” craze is snarky, I’m not so sure. The guy who started the website is a Bronco fan, and the big names who first got into it in sports and the sports media were all related to the Broncos organization or Denver sports scene somehow. Some may want to turn it snarky, but I think it’s part good-natured ribbing, part genuine admiration by most folks who “Tebow.”
I’m good with struggling and working and doing your best. And sometimes that isn’t winning. God isn’t a coca- cola machine dispensing #1 badges. Hoping, struggling, praying– that’s something I can talk about in my sunday school class, and the guys get it. Their fathers are in tech. Do you think I want them thinking God is not on their side when their dad’s start- up fails, or lays them off, even though they work 12- 18 hour days? Or that the chubby, awkward kid trying to man up and join a sports team needs to hear winning early and often is the only marker of success?
I’m Jewish and I think it is absolutely disgusting how Tebow’s Christianity has been mocked (and I’m sorry to say that some lefty/liberal Jews have been part of it).
However, Kurt Warner was subject to less mockery (not none, but less), for two reasons:
a) He was a winner, and
b) He was more low-key about his faith. Yes, he would credit Jesus if you asked him. But he was not over-the-top about it. And while I am not an Evangelical Christian, it seems that was probably the best way to do it — lead by example, not by proclamation.
I’m, actually, not sure I get the Kafka joke…
I take it the author tended to write like that?
I knew I smelled Elway in this. He is the greatest QB of his generation. He took a team which never really had total talent, like classic Green Bay, Pittsburgh, or San Francisico teams, and by his own might, he made them competitive. I can’t ever remember him having a bad game, even though his team often did. He was so good, and always was, the walking perfection of brains, toughness, and finesse.
Such men do not supervise others well. Ty Cobb was a terrible manager. Babe Ruth never even made it past the laugh test. The most successful coaches in any sport are slightly above average guys, who made it through hard work: never all-stars.
Phenoms abound in sports. The best college guys sometimes don’t have the stuff to fight against true professionals. No smartass kid could come into my shop, and tell me what to do. He’d be laughed out of town. But Elway shouldn’t be teaching Tebow. If they stay with that, he’ll get picked up in a couple of years by a teacher, at discount prices, and will surprise everyone with his true worth. Unless Elway ruins him, first.
Mike Singletary – Hall of Famer – couldn’t do squat with the 49ers. Harbaugh – a journeyman quarterback – has the same basic talent group with a winning record. Superstars never seem to grasp that it doesn’t come as easy to others, as it did to them.
It’s great to see the variety of topics you comment on, Mr. Klavan. The problem in that game wasn’t so much Tebow and the plays the Broncos decided to run, it’s the fact that Detroit is simply a damn good team.
I don’t care much for Tebow, but I certainly don’t have many legitimate reasons to dislike him. Of course the media is unhappy about his overt Christianity and strict moral code/integrity…those are all things they don’t have
I was hoping an announcer would describe Mike’s throwing motion as Kafkaesque.
I knew Hans would get that joke.
Exit question: which announcers can you imagine actually making that comment about Kafka? I can see Bob Costas and Al Michaels. Maybe Chris Collingsworth. Thats all I got. But I would love to hear Gruden or Bradshaw make it. Now that would be Kafkaesque.