Tebow: Elway is finally off the hook
“Despite being constantly lauded as a “hard worker” Tebow has failed to develop as a player. In his preseason appearances for the Patriots he looked like the same rookie quarterback that flummoxed the media at his rookie training camp.”
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When the Broncos traded Tim Tebow to the New York Jets for a seventh round draft pick John Elway was vilified by members of the Tebow Taliban from coast to coast. Even more rational Broncos fans were somewhat skeptical that sacrificing number fifteen in order to make life more comfortable for number eighteen was a wise move given their difference in age. I count myself among the people who were sad to see Tebow go.
But then the kid was unable to improve in time to make a difference on the field for the Jets. Instead Tebow’s only contribution there was to the general chaos that surrounded the team. So the Jets let him go.
Tebow found a new home with the Patriots. There the young QB would be partnered with Josh McDaniels, the offensive guru who drafted him in the first place. As head coach of the Denver Broncos McDaniels saw in Tebow “franchise quarterback” potential. McDaniels seemed to foresee the role the read option QB would come to play in the NFL. But the difference between Tebow and the Colin Kaepernicks of the world has only become clearer as time has gone by.
Despite being constantly lauded as a “hard worker” Tebow has failed to develop as a player. In his preseason appearances for the Patriots he looked like the same rookie quarterback that flummoxed the media at his rookie training camp. He was still jaw-droppingly inaccurate. He still threw bad picks. He still tossed balls from his back foot and demonstrated a total inability to go through a read progression.
This morning the Patriots released Tebow, too.
It’s very doubtful that he will ever get another chance to play football in the NFL. John Elway is officially off the hook. Not even the most ardent Tebow supporter can still take the position that Elway should not have traded him. Tebow has been given not one, but two additional chances since and he has capitalized on neither of them. Maybe he’s too distracted by the pressure of just being Tim Tebow. Maybe he’s just too dumb to learn how to do his job. Maybe he’s just not very skillful. Whatever the case may be, there’s no making the case that he should still be on the Broncos fifty-three man roster.
There comes a point where we can no longer deny that our heroes are flawed. Tebow is a hero to millions of people … much like Lance Armstrong still is. But there’s an element of denial embedded in any person that can’t see that neither fellow is perfect. Tebow never cheated the way Armstrong did but in some ways he did his fans wrong. He made them look silly for one thing. He took his opportunities for granted and failed to dedicate himself to his craft.
So if you were like me and felt that Tebow was given a raw deal in Denver it’s time to let John Elway off the hook. If it wasn’t clear before this morning that Elway made the right move it should be clear now. The Patriots wanted desperately for Tebow to make their final roster. They waited until the last possible to moment to release him because they wanted to believe he could make a difference. In the end even Bill Belichick had to admit he was wrong.
