I’ll admit it.
I rooted against Tim Tebow during his national title campaigns at Florida. I cringed when he won the Heisman. As a Denver native, I laughed myself to tears when the Broncos drafted him 25th overall in 2010.
And ever since he was called up to the podium that fateful April day, I have scoffed at the possibility of Tebow becoming a successful professional football player.
The past six weeks have forced me to admit something else: I was wrong.
Since taking over the reins of a dismal 1-4 Denver team on Oct. 23, Tebow has posted a 5-1 record as a starter and willed the 6-5 Broncos back into the thick of the chase for the AFC West crown.
Granted, the Broncos were stomped 45-10 by a superior Detroit team a week after Tebow made his 2011 debut a la a dramatic overtime win in Miami. And one could call three out of the last four Denver victories lucky, even miraculous, including last week’s 16-13 overtime win in San Diego.
Even though I am now fully sold on the Bible-toting, awkward-throwing lefty from the Philippines, I still agree with many of Tebow’s critics.
Broncos legend and current executive VP John Elway was completely within reason on Nov. 21 when he admitted on Denver’s 102.3 FM that he is no closer to feeling like Tebow is the organization’s play-caller of the future. Indeed, a mere six games isn’t enough to hail Tebow the savior just yet. At this point, he could just be a reincarnation of a one-and-done 2006 Vince Young.
ESPN analyst Merril Hoge, who received attention for his harsh (yet, in retrospect, truthful) criticism of Young in 2006, was also correct in his Aug. 3 Twitter assessment that Tebow’s horrendous hitch — and subsequent ghastly throwing accuracy — has yet to be fixed.
And yes, the suddenly improved play of the Denver defense and rushing attack has also been major factors in the team’s turnaround.
But the one consistent thread in Denver’s win streak has been Tebow.
After all, one attribute Broncos fans embraced (for a while, anyways) about the recently departed Kyle Orton was that he was known for being a smart quarterback. That is, he didn’t lose the game for his team via multitudes of interceptions or mental mistakes (see: Jay Cutler’s tenure in the Mile High state).
Tebow isn’t giving away games for Denver, and he’s making plays in crunch time to win them, too. Being an NFL quarterback doesn’t come naturally to him, but at this point there’s no question that winning sure does.
If you bleed blue and orange, then the haphazard manner in which Tebow is accumulating victories is a promising sign. If Tebow can run more times than he throws and still get a W like he did against the Chargers — when he had 22 rushes, a league record for a quarterback, versus just 18 pass attempts — then the sky’s the limit for when he finally learns how to properly sit in the pocket, make an NFL read and deliver a precise pass.
Tebow hasn’t only taken over the Broncos’ locker room since leading the rally against the Dolphins. He’s dominating conversation at water coolers across the nation, and the “Tebowing” craze (www.tebowing.com) is a growing phenomenon.
I don’t mind the idolization of Tebow, but I do mind Broncos fans complaining about Tebow. For a city that has tolerated prima donnas such as Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Marshall, there should be zero griping about a guy that might be a little short on talent but is 100 percent dedicated to his team, his fans and the win column.
The bottom line is that Tebow is responsible for sparking his teammates to raise their game. Ironically, because of this recent Tebow-induced rejuvenation, the Broncos have played themselves right out of the sweepstakes for Stanford’s Andrew Luck, whom Cardinal alum Elway has publically supported and was hoping to procure with the first pick in April’s draft.
Of course, leave it to the down-on-one-knee, head-dropped-in-prayer icon himself to effectively sum up the Tebow Drama with a Biblical reference. Before last Sunday’s victory against the Chargers, the Denver Post reported that Tebow cited Proverbs 27:17 in his pregame speech to his teammates. The message?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
So far, the Broncos are much sharper with Tebow under center, for his leadership has been the x-factor during the hot streak. Denver needs to give this guy a secure starting job for a minimum of this season and next so that he can prove that his ability to win- ugly or not- is no fluke.
Reach the columnist at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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