http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2010/04/20/antidote-to-nfl-crime-tebow-in-first-round/?synd=fanhouse
Tim Tebow has certainly been a divisive personality. Many people praise his righteousness and purity and consider him a shining example of what a sports role model should look like. Others despise his evangelical ways and would like to see nothing more than Tebow to fail or to slip up and get into trouble. For Mariotti to call him "the perfect anti-toxin for what ails the NFL" is ridiculous. I know Mariotti and his "Around the Horn" cohorts are prone to exaggeration to sell themselves, but I completely disagree.
I am pretty indifferent on Tebow - he seems like a genuine, nice guy and I don't want him to fail, but I think he needs to cool it with the evangelizing. I didn't like seeing a new bible verse on his eye black every week and I think he will probably rub his a lot of his new teammates the wrong way. I also think that Roethlisberger probably got off lucky from a legal standpoint. I think a 4-6 game suspension was appropriate given that he was never charged with a crime. It was an important stance for the league because it proved they are willing to be tough with a high profile player. As one analyst said, "it's easy to suspend a Cincinnati Bengal, but what do you do with a 2 time Super Bowl winning Quarterback?"
I don't see a high draft spot for Tim Tebow erasing the Ben Roethlisberger situation from a PR standpoint for the NFL, however. Many teams have reasonable questions about Tebow, who threw from the shotgun formation, relied heavily on scrambling, was surrounded by tremendous blocking and receiving, and has recently adjusted his throwing motion. As a general manager, I wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt on these issues just because of his character. The NFL dealt with the Roethlisberger situation appropriately for the amount of information we know. Should anything more be revealed, they should and would take more action.
1 comment:
I'm with you on every single point and opinion you made. Completely agree.
Maybe Denver wanted that "anti-toxin" after having to deal with Brandon Marshall, but the Tebow pick to me is baffling.
Denver trades for Brady Quinn in the offseason...for what? I assumed to see if he could possibly be an NFL QB, and perhaps their QB of the future (Kyle Orton is not the future). Why bring in a guy like Quinn unless that was going to be the case? If it wasn't, you could definitely find servicable backups for a lot cheaper than Brady.
And if the development of supposed NFL-ready QBs takes at least year of preparation (even the ones that start right way, like Peyton Manning, need a full year to get their feet wet and learn), how long is it going to take Tebow? Like you mentioned, there's a lot wrong with him football-wise. I mean, is Denver looking at a Tony Romo-esque project where it takes multiple years for them to possibly see a return? If so, then why is Tebow a first round pick? Project picks are late-round to undrafted. And you're going to pay him first round money!
The only way I can see this pick being good for Denver (well, Josh McDaniels in particular) is if Tebow starts next year and is productive. If he sucks it was a horrendous waste of a first round pick. If he produces in three years, then they overdrafted for him and McDaniels is probably not going to be around to see him succeed.
I just have a really hard time seeing this whole situation that Denver has put themselves in working out well in their favor.
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