Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Tebow lunatic fringes have been silenced


We can finally put the lunatic fringes to bed on Tim Tebow.  He will no longer be a quarterback in the NFL, at least not a quarterback with a significant role.   Tebow will be at best a 3rd team quarterback brought in for a wildcat play or two, at worst a backup quarterback in the arena league.  Tebow was offered a contract by the Arena League’s Orlando Predators.  Tebow’s career in the NFL has been one marked by controversy before he even stepped foot on the field.  Just months before he was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos, Tebow and his mother filmed a controversial pro-life commercial during the Super Bowl.  Recently Tebow backed out of an appearance at a Dallas Baptist Church with opinionated Pastor Robert Jeffress.  Jeffress has made controversial comments about homosexuals, Jews, Catholics, and Mormons.   Some people think Tebow backed out to save his image, but this isn’t about Tebow and what he does off the field, this is about his career on the field and the fact that it is disappearing faster than a plane through the Bermuda Triangle.

The New York Jets recently acquired journeyman quarterback David Garrard who has been cut recently by both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins.   The Jets current starter is Mark Sanchez.  Rumors are swirling that Tebow will be released.  What does that say about Tebow?  If David Garrard and Mark Sanchez look more attractive to the Jets it may be time to shut er’ down.  That means no more Tebow Centers on ESPN.  That means no more quarterback controversies involving Tebow.  The days of Tebow going 3-18 passing through three quarters and 15-20 passing in the 4th quarter to lead a comeback win are no longer, at least in the NFL.  The Twitter fights between the followers of Skip Bayless and Pete Prisco will be no longer and you know what?  I’m sad about that.   The fact of the matter is Tebow brought about great debate whether you loved him or hated him, and let’s be honest almost no one was indifferent regarding Tebow.   Even if you were someone who disliked Tebow, you more than likely enjoyed the relevancy of Tebow and the debate it brought on.  The bottom line of Tebow is he polarized sports fans and brought endless debate because both the Tebow “apologists” and “haters” had concrete evidence to back up their stances.  If you were a Tebow believer you could point to the fact that he is a winner and great leader of men.  After all Tebow took over as starting quarterback for a Denver Broncos franchise that had gone 5-16 while he was the backup and 8-5 after he took over during the 2011 season including an exhilarating overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs.  If you are a Tebow critic you could say that he started every game miserably and if not for the defense keeping the Broncos in the game he never would have had the opportunity to lead those late game comebacks. 

So we are left with this….  Tim Tebow is going to have to move on to a new career/profession.  Will it be Tim Tebow the Politician?  Tim Tebow the Coach?  Tim Tebow the Pastor.  Tim Tebow the Arena Football League player?  Tim Tebow the businessman?  Or perhaps Tim Tebow the philanthropist.   Tebow has already built a children’s hospital in the Philippines and has brought someone from The Make a Wish Foundation to every one of his NFL games to date.   We will no longer have debates over whether Tebow should start over the mediocre Kyle Orton or the awful Mark Sanchez.  My dream would be for the Minnesota Vikings to acquire him so we could have the Tebow debate in my own backyard, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.  Most NFL GM’s and Execs see Tebow as kryptonite.   Just the presence of Tebow alone will make their current starting quarterback panic and force them to curl up into the fetal position.   The lunatic fringe will start the Tebow chants after the current starter’s first incompletion.   The talk radio lines would be jammed every day with Tebow debate.  “Tebow sucks, get him outta here!”  “Tebow is great, he needs to start right away!”  “I would let Tebow marry my daughter!”  “My daughter can throw better than Tebow!”

I think we all secretly love the Tebow debate because it stirs great passion and opinion and that’s what makes living in America and being a sports fan great.  Just imagine the debate Tebow will create when he runs for President in 2040, of course it will bring back the lunatic fringes and then some!