Tim Tebow, the new quarterback of the Denver Broncos, has no fear. For the past nine weeks, many in the mainstream sports analyst media have been espousing that Tebow does not have what it takes to be a long-term star pro-football quarterback.
According to the usual rules of football, the form required to be an effective all-around quarterback, and the customarily relied-upon statistics to judge a player's effectiveness, Tebow's career is a goner.
They are absolutely right. Based on this traditional analysis, Tebow should fail. Except for one thing: losing is beyond the realm of Tim Tebow.
He will succeed despite the naysayers. Tebow keeps pulling out wins with the help of his team. His team believes in him. His defense plays their heart out for him. The Denver Broncos fans demand Tebow. Tim Tebow will be a star because he has the instinct to win. You don't learn this. And you cannot coach that instinct into someone. Every great trial lawyer has instinct. Tim Tebow is football's Clarence Darrow.
American football is about the fans. The Denver fans chanted for Tebow. When legendary Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway expressed some doubt about Tebow several weeks ago, the fans besieged his Twitter account. Tebow has happened in large part because of the fans. Tired of a losing team, they wanted to give Tebow a chance. He has not disappointed them. At the end of several games, he has miraculously pulled important games out from fabled jaws of defeat to reward the fans with wins.
This lesson of how important fan support is should not be surprising. After all, the Green Bay Packers are "fan-centric." The Green Bay fans are dedicated to their team. If you put your child on the waiting list for season tickets, in about 30-35 years from now you may get those tickets because the fan base is so great. Those Green Bay Packers may become Super Bowl champs again this year. Yes, they have the best quarterback and player (Aaron Rogers) in the game today. I do not hold out that Tebow is Super Bowl potential at this time or in the immediate future. But he has only played in nine games!
So I say to both the Tebow fans and the Tebow detractors -- Tebow is a winner. It is ridiculous to take the position that Tim Tebow will fail as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Tebow will only get better. He is really smart. He is built like a cement truck. He has great physical shape but that alone does not mean you cannot get hurt. Just ask Michael Vick. But you have to be really smart and have a real innate sense of what you are doing to remain unscathed by injury as a quarterback. Tebow has the whole package. He knows how to run. He runs controlled. He will go down to the ground before he is tackled. He doesn't try to be a halfback.
In the last game against San Diego Chargers, he ran for a first down in the closing minutes and then ran out of bounds instead of trying to get two or three more yards. Will he ever be Aaron Rogers of the Green Bay Packers, someone so able and adept at passing out of the pocket? Maybe not. He is not a terrific passer yet, but he is already better than some other quarterbacks of the bygone era -- Joe Kapp.
Tebow clearly doesn't know what losing is. Tebow plays on a football field now like Kobe Bryant has played on the basketball court all these years. Kobe clearly never believes he loses; he just thinks he runs out of time. So what does it take to be successful when the traditional sports talking heads are against you, as they seem to be with Tebow? Do trained sportscasters really think Tebow won't improve? He has played only nine professional games. His passing will get better, he will get better at reading defenses, and he will become an all around threat. Who cares whether his abilities are because God is in his corner or whether he has been a winner his whole life regardless of his beliefs. If Tebow remains uninjured, the traditional analysts will eat crow with their storied line that the statistics say he cannot do it and will never do it.
John Elway, the current executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos, is the greatest quarterback in history of Denver. He executed some of the most amazing drives in the history of the team. After the third week of come from behind miracles, even Elway appears to be becoming a reluctant believer. Tebow wins at the end of the games. Somehow Tim Tebow comes through. His tying the game with San Diego was something greater than the game itself -- it was almost supernatural. He could not have done it if the Broncos had to come from way behind. But this defense clearly believes in Tebow so much they are playing like wild animals. They have been determined to keep Tebow within one touchdown in final five minutes because they know that he will somehow rally them to win. He is defying every possible reality. He rallied the Broncos to beat both the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers -- neither is a second-class team. They are last year's playoff teams.
As the last four weeks have arrived and gone, all the sports experts do not have an answer -- they keep insisting Tebow's success will end any moment. Yet Denver finished San Diego's season with a loss in overtime in their house. And that was no easy task realizing a loss now for all general purposes would end San Diego's season.
Tim Tebow makes sense. He is smart. He is total believer in himself. He can win. He may lead his team to finish the season with a 9-7 record. They may win their division or get into the playoffs based on their record. They could beat Minnesota because, while the Vikings are hungry for victory, the team is not in good shape. They will probably lose to the Chicago Bears, although a win is not out of the question. They will likely lose to the New England Patriots. They could win against Buffalo, as Denver knows how to play in the cold. And I predict they will beat Kansas City at home.
So to the American sportscaster world: stop bum-rapping Tim Tebow. If you are a football purist, there is no explanation for Tebow's success. His throwing form that he had all the way through college is not good. He still has the same form. So his success is obviously due to something greater than learned sports talent or genetic athletic ability. His teammates are now winners with this haloed dude as their quarterback. They believe in him and so should we.
Meanwhile, the football gurus continue to rant about the insanity of what is happening. We the public, and particularly the Denver loyalists, take on the Minnesota Vikings this weekend. Will we see another miracle? We will know about 4 p.m. EST on this Sunday -- don't bet against it.