Famous Last Words: "Continued Success."

It is currently December 13th. It is exactly 107 days since I wrote the “Picking Up the Downed Man” article. It was the middle of the pre-season and Tebow was taking the worst criticism of his young career. He was third on the depth chart and the loudest critics were making their words seem to be a lot more than just “constructive criticism.” I recorded some quotes from the media. I am going to do a little “then and now piece” to bring this situation to a close.

Boomer Esiason THEN:
"The kid is a tremendous character kid,…"If he said he wanted to marry my daughter, I'd be happy as hell, because he's that kind of person. But I wouldn't want him to be my first-round draft choice starting quarterback, which he's not capable of being right now. If he was drafted in the fifth round, we wouldn't be talking about this. But the fact he was drafted so high ... it's one of the reasons in my opinion Josh McDaniels was fired…I think what I said was accurate, and I'll stand by it…I'm not backing away from it or apologizing for it. It's unfortunate he got drafted so high because a great deal of scrutiny and criticism comes with that…He can't play. He can't throw,… (comparing Tebow to Russell) JaMarcus Russell, for different reasons (than Tebow), couldn't play in the NFL,…if JaMarcus Russell had the work ethic and desire to be great and to really put the effort forth and he had what Tim Tebow had in intangibles, he probably would be a winner. If Tim Tebow had the god-given ability that JaMarcus Russell had, he'd be a Hall of Fame quarterback." "But you can see the accuracy, you can see the struggle that he has going through the progressions and understanding the offense. And it's indicative that (new Broncos coach) John Fox has said that Brady Quinn is probably outplaying him right now." Tim Tebow is just a player that doesn't have the fundamentals, the arm and the natural ability at this point to be a franchise quarterback."

Boomer Esiason NOW:
"I bought in to Tim Tebow; that's all I can tell you. He's a great guy; he's a great player in the fourth quarter"… "This week is a fascinating matchup (against the Patriots in week 15) because you have a guy in Tim Tebow that is, it's an enigma. I can't explain it. It's almost like divine intervention. A lot of these games in which other teams just absolutely make the bonehead mistake at the wrong time in the fourth quarter. And Tim Tebow is somehow able to find the will to win. It's been quite fascinating to watch."…. "I bought into him winning. I don't want people to misinterpret. I still think, even though he did complete I think 18 passes in the fourth quarter yesterday against one of the better defenses in football, I don't think and I'm probably much like [Broncos vice president] John Elway and [Broncos coach] John Fox, I can't believe my eyes sometimes. But he's not a great thrower of the football and he'll never be a good thrower of the football in my estimation because you're never going to get him to change. "And why would you ask him to change, especially with the way that he's been playing in the last few weeks in the fourth quarter alone. I bought into the fact that he is a winner. I know that. I still don't think, and I will go to my grave thinking that he's not the long-term solution at quarterback for the Broncos."

Michael Silver THEN:
(On Tebow being the worst QB in camp) “If you’re wondering about the plight of that other inexperienced passer on the Broncos’ roster – how far and fast he has fallen in the eyes of his bosses – consider that at least some people in the organization believe that Tim Tebow is the fourth-best quarterback on the roster. As one highly knowledgeable member of the organization told me Monday: ‘If everything was totally equal, and this were a competition based only on performance at this camp, Tebow would probably be the fourth-string guy. Kyle [Orton] is far and away the best, and Tebow’s way behind [Brady] Quinn too. And I’m telling you, Adam Weber is flat-out better right now.’”



John Fox On Michael Silver’s report about QB Tim Tebow:“
First of all, I would like to say that nobody in this building that is in the decision-making process—coach, official, or I don’t know, maybe they heard it from the cook… I’m not sure, but we hold Tim in high regard. I think he’s got a bright future in this game. He’s playing maybe the hardest position I know in the NFL there is to play, and maybe in all of sports. He’s progressing fine. He’ll get more opportunities in games as we go; those are great opportunities. Last week, he was cut a little short based on how the game went. Defensively, we didn’t get them off the field, and by the time he got in, it was a four-minute situation. Everybody in this building has high regard for–Tim Tebow, and Tim’s doing just fine. There’s no update on where his ranking is at this point by any official.”

John Fox On the source that contributed to the report:“
I don’t think, if you read it correctly, that it said anybody in the organization. It just said a knowledgeable football person—that could have been a wide range. Like I said, it could have been the chef; he sees the players every day.”

Michael Silver NOW:
Q: I hear ya, but what about the Broncos? They’re only a game back in the AFC West, and there’s this second-year quarterback who’s 5-1 as a starter and seems to be bulling his way to success, rational thought be damned. What about that guy?

A: I was afraid you might ask that question. I get it a lot, given that Tim Tebow has become to 2011 what Michael Vick was to 2010 – the least explainable and most compelling major storyline of the season. And, to be fair, I encountered a great deal of skepticism about Tebow when I visited Broncos training camp in August, and I got even more of it from the Detroit Lions after they embarrassed him in his second start five weeks ago. The Tebow-bashing in the latter column even got love from Bill Maher. I won’t lie – that was cool. If you’re wondering whether others have similarly skeptical beliefs about Tebow – yes, they do: Others being virtually every player, coach and talent evaluator I’ve spoken to over the past month-and-a-half. And you know what? None of that matters. The running game’s working, the defense is playing lights out and Tebow is winning. And opponents are starting to get affected, too, simultaneously playing scared and overextending, like a talented tennis player getting mentally undone by an opponent who’s just pushing the ball back and trying not to make mistakes. Never mind that Tebow, by all objective standards, is terrible at throwing the ball, or that his success makes no rational sense: I’m over it. I’ve accepted the fact that it just works, somehow, and it doesn’t seem like the madness will stop anytime soon. So yeah, watch out for the Broncos. They could even sneak into the playoffs as a wild card. At 6-5, that seems far-fetched – but not as far-fetched as what’s already happened”

Merrill Hoge THEN:
“You’ve got to look at a couple flaws that Tim Tebow had at Florida and still has in the National Football League that I don’t believe ever get better…First of all, his delivery is such an elongated motion that you have to have a complete, clear pocket for him to be successful down the field. If you don’t have that, you’re going to struggle. Yes, he completes it, but that’s a perfect setting, In the National Football League, almost 50 percent of all throws are under duress. So you’re not going to have that every time…(On his throwing motion) That will never change — that will always be there…if they start Tim Tebow, players are not stupid. That coaching staff will have no respect from the players…He’s not even in Kyle Orton’s league...If the Denver Broncos were to start him as the starting quarterback they would lose the respect of every player on that team.”

Merrill Hoge NOW:
“My analyst’s eyes have been clouded…I’ve been wrong on a lot of levels with him. I’ve lost the ability…the opportunity…to shed some light on what an amazing story on..how he’s worked persevered…all those things that you try to teach young people…I’m become now a huge fan in watching the Broncos play and Tim Tebow play.”

I wrote that I didn’t take offense with the media criticizing Tebow for struggling; it’s their job after all. But at some point it stopped being a criticism and started becoming an attack. Here are the screenshots from Hoge’s Twitter page in August. Tebow had played in three career games at this point, winning one of them, and Hoge’s came to the following conclusions.







Well, that’s that.



"I’m finished!"

Looking to the future, here are my remaining predictions regarding Tim Tebow:

I am saying that he will be voted to a Pro-Bowl.
I am saying that he will win a Superbowl as a QB and will be an important part of the offense.

The other predictions you can read in my “Picking Up the Downed Man” article, but these are the ones I can still be wrong about. This year I think he has a 50-50 shot at making the ProBowl. The fans are a yes, the players a no, but the coaches are probably a bit of a toss up. Let’s put it this way, Bill Belichick liked Tebow that he took him out to dinner in the days leading up to the 2010 draft. He could just be a Gators fan, or perhaps he was looking for an evening of philosophical and religious talk. Or maybe one of the greatest headcoaches in the NFL he recognizes talent when he sees it.