Tim Tebow Hype : How To Avoid It As The Descent Into The NFL Playoffs Begin Now

Tim Tebow has owned a great deal of attention from the media, football fans, and religious zealots long before the Denver Broncos drafted him last year. A former Heisman Trophy winner, Tebow became a legend at the University of Florida by leading the Gators to a pair of national championships.

While setting several Southeastern Conference records, Tebow also became the first collegiate player to ever score at least 20 touchdowns in both throwing and rushing in a single season. He was a consensus All-America choice once and has been called one of the NCAA's best players in the 2000s decade.

Undeserved or not, the hype of his collegiate achievements have followed him to the NFL. huge part of this reason has nothing to do with the gridiron. It has to do with his personal life, which some follow at every turn.

Tebow's mother was told to abort her son during her pregnancy, as doctors expected a stillborn delivery due to an infection. His mother, a devout follower of the Christianity religion, refused and both mother and son beat the odds. After spending his life being home, he became the Florida Player of the Year twice in high school after being allowed to join a team at a school he did not attend.

The religious beliefs of his family has drawn a legion of fans, several who are unconcerned about his gridiron exploits and more concerned about his following of the same gospel they believe in. This was seen when he joined the NFL in 2010.

There have been many more Heisman winners to have played poorly in the professional ranks than there have been players who have been excellent. Since the award started in 1935, just seven players eventually were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This fact has followed Tebow, as has the fact many think of him to be more of a fullback than quarterback. While he has an immense desire to win, the mechanics he possesses is quirky and not considered good enough to succeed in the NFL by many.

While he hasn't completed even 50 percent of the passes he has tossed in his career, Tebow is 2-2 in his career starts. Whatever circumstanced led to those victories, most pundits agree is has been accomplished with a Broncos franchise that has more questions than talent on their squads the past few years.

When Denver came back to defeat a horrid Miami Dolphins team last week, the Tebow hype has been full blown. Even as the game was being played, the NFL's own website didn't even keep track of the match up like they typically do with all contests. Unless you were a Broncos and Dolphins fan actually watching the game, or you bought an NFL package that allowed you to view, the game remained largely shrouded in mystery.

With Brett Favre now retired, the media has been craving a replacement to dote over constantly. Tebow has come along to take this mantle, whether it is viewed as a good thing or not. Unless an injury ends his career, expect the camera to follow every move he makes for at least a decade.

Not every fan wants to follow this hype train, as many have never boarded it or had gotten off long ago. Those fans can concentrate on much more interesting and important stories that are going on during the 2011 season. Stories that could carry on to Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

The Green Bay Packers are looking like a team that could be the first to repeat as Super Bowl champions for just the eighth time since the game was first played in 1967. They won last year despite having a plethora of key players injured, and now they are pretty much at full strength and the leagues only undefeated team this year.

Not only is quarterback Aaron Rodgers considered one of the very best at his position today, the Packers are one of the leagues top teams in scoring, passing, rushing defense, and yards allowed per game. Rodgers already has tossed the ball to 13 different players, seven players have caught at least 11 balls and scored a touchdown.

While they are a long way away from having a chance to repeat, the road traveled so far has been impressive. Even with all of this, Green Bay isn't even the only story in their division.

The Detroit Lions, one of the NFL's worst teams for the last decade, shot out of the gates at 5-0. While they have lost their last two games by 14 total points, this young team has shown an exceptional balance that belies their experience. They rank 13Th in scoring and 10Th in points allowed, a stat that could help the franchise reach the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

The tight end position is seeing a boom in production as well. Since most of the defenses in the NFL play a zone, the success of the tight end splitting the seam has become even more important. This has allowed quite a few become stars this year.

Only eight tight ends are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though there should be more. Men like Jerry Smith and Fred Arbanus belong, but most feel the first tight end ever selected, John Mackey, is still the best ever at the position.

While youngsters like Jimmy Graham, of the New Orleans Saints, and Fred Davis, of the Washington Redskins, have stood out this year, there are a ton of excellent players at this position at the game today. Many are good blockers, but they have enough speed to get downfield at break a zone scheme with their deep threat abilities.

Men like Vernon Davis, Antonio Gates, Brandon Pettigrew, Jason Witten, Ron Gronkowski, Kellen Winslow Jr., Tony Gonzales, Aaron Hernandez, Owen Daniels, Jermaine Gresham, Jermichael Finley, Dustin Keller, Heath Miller, Greg Olsen, Jeremy Shockey, and Ed Dickson are just a few who are important players on their teams as well. Pettigrew, Gresham, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Dickson are youngsters learning their positions as they accumulate impressive statistics.

Established veterans like Dallas Clark, Kevin Boss, Mercedes Lewis, and others, have yet to truly break out in 2011 due to injuries and quarterback struggles their teams are having. Wide receiver may get a lot of attention, mainly due to the diva-like behavior of a few head cases at the position, but the tight end in the NFL today has quietly become the consistent star a team needs to win often.

All eyes will be on Carson Palmer for a few weeks, monitoring his progress as he learns the Oakland Raiders playbook after having joined the team barely a week ago. He had sat out all year, refusing to play for the Cincinnati Bengals, who also spent that time refusing to trade him.

After gridiron giant, and Raiders owner, Al Davis died, the team made the type of risky move Davis spent his career making by dealing away possibly two first round draft picks for the quarterback.

Palmer was thrust into action last Sunday, the first time he had ever come off the bench, and completed just eight of 21 passes. Three attempts were picked off, as the Raiders were dismantled 28-0 by the lowly Kansas City Chiefs.

The race for the services of Andrew Luck, a quarterback at Stanford University, has started to thin out some. Luck, who many think the 2011 Heisman is his to lose, is considered to be the best quarterback prospect in a very long time.

Two horrid teams this year, the Saint Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings, are probably not interested in Luck. The Rams used the first pick of the 2010 draft on quarterback Sam Bradford, and the Vikings used their 2011 first round pick on Christian Ponder.

The main two teams in the "Battle for Luck" are the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts. The Dolphins would love to draft him, especially now that it seems the injured Chad Henne's days are done in South Florida. Not only has Miami failed to win a game yet this year, it almost appears they are laying down in each contest in order to procure defeat.

Peyton Manning's neck is still not healing, even despite a radical stem cell surgery that had hoped to help. While heading to Canton as a first-year inductee, the Colts did not foresee this when they gave Manning a five-year contract worth $50 million before the 2011 season started.

Manning has led the franchise to two Super Bowls, winning once in a game was named MVP in. He has been to 11 Pro Bowls and has broken many Colts passing records that were once held by Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, considered by most experts the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

Yet he will be 36 years old if he even is able to play next year. Luck would benefit sitting and learning from Manning in 2011, and there are similarities between the two. Both have fathers who played quarterback in the NFL, and both are students of the game who are known for being detail oriented.

While Miami would want to see Luck follow in the footsteps of Bob Griese and Dan Marino, the Colts would love to see Luck give them at least the same greatness as Unitas, Manning, Earl Morrall, and Bert Jones once did for the team.

Miami is battling the Colts for misery in 2011, since the Colts have failed to win a game as well so far. This epic battle of futility and Luck could see Indianapolis get an edge in two games, as the Dolphins host the struggling Chiefs. The rest of Miami's schedule appears difficult for them to win much.

The Colts, who have already lost to Kansas City, might have a harder time getting Luck. They have been trying to win and have been competitive in a few contests. Indianapolis will also face mediocre teams like the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars twice, as well as an encounter with the struggling Carolina Panthers in a month.

No matter who is the winner of this battle, the prize of being the worst of 2011 is a banner not to really be proud of nor promote in their quest to get a franchise quarterback of an unknown future. If Luck plays as many expect, maybe a ton of losses will look a little less uglier in a decade from now.

So there really is no reason to follow the evolving Tebow story faithfully, even if you are a fan of the game or a Bible thumping fanatic. With a lousy team that just traded their best receiver, it is doubtful many victories will follow. Especially if he plays like he did most of the game last week.

But he must win because he does not want Denver to be in a position to get Luck. If that happens, these could be your final weeks to get Tebow souvenirs and bask in the bizarre hype unless another franchise wants to take a shot at seeing how far they can go with the kid that has cameras following him everywhere.

Tim Tebow Replaces Brett Favre As Media's NFL Deity

Becoming the poster child for the current version of the "All-American Boy" almost never happened for the big kid with the goofy smile and "Aw shucks" attitude. His mom was ill while pregnant with him and doctors urged her to abort a child that could be stillborn.

Ignoring medical advice, she carried out a pregnancy that gave the media someone to talk about at every turn on the hype highway. Tim Tebow has more reasons for them to like him besides cheating death before even being born.

Home-schooled by a family with Christian beliefs, Tebow soon incurred some controversy as a home-schooled student when he played football for a nearby high school. Though he started out playing linebacker and tight end, he soon became Florida's Player of the Year twice and his legend began to grow by playing a game on a broken leg.

ESPN began following him at this time and even did a show featuring Tebow and labeled him "The Chosen One". A top recruit, he decided to attend the University of Florida.

The media kept following him, this time in greater numbers. Not only did they have Tebow confess he was a virgin, they printed and recorded the question and answer that had nothing to do with football. The purpose of the question was to add to the mystique that was often found on an ESPN broadcast somewhere seemingly daily.

All of this publicity came despite the fact he was a backup, something that would come about again in five years. Tebow played as a freshman, and even played a key role in helping the Gators win the 2006 National Championship.

He started from his sophomore year on and became the first home-schooled athlete to win the Heisman Trophy Award. Tebow was also the first underclassman ever to win the award.

Though he was never able to tie Archie Griffin's record of winning the Heisman twice, he did lead Florida to another championship in 2008 and won the Maxwell Award twice. Many media members would be so bold to call Tebow the greatest college football player ever.

Yet critics would say that he would never have success as a quarterback in the NFL. Tebow ran the position kind of like a mix of a throw-back player and fullback in college, opting to run over defenders and toss jump passes more often than any other contemporary quarterback.

The Denver Broncos did not care to listen to the critics. They traded up in the 2009 Draft to use the 25th overall selection to grab Tebow. While many in the media had been wondering incessantly throughout the draft why Tebow hadn't been drafted yet, critics expected him to keep falling to possibly even the third round.

Now a Bronco, the cameras keep a few feet away constantly recording every Tebow move. The most popular reserve in the NFL, his jersey was a hot-selling item that set records. It had been the top-selling jersey every month since he was drafted for many months.

While spotted in six games in the beginning of his career, the Broncos lost their starting quarterback and were forced to start Tebow for three games. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to run for a touchdown in each of his first three career starts.

While his passing numbers were far from gaudy, they were certainly better than the critics expected. The 82.1 quarterback rating he had as a rookie was impressive for a kid no one thought would ever be an effective professional quarterback.

Now in his second season, the hype highway has intensified with more bodies and pressure in the way. His name is mentioned constantly on television and the Internet is strewn with tons of articles discussing if this is the year Tebow begins his career as a starter.

The problem is that last years starter, Kyle Ortin, has outperformed Tebow in camp by a pretty wide margin. Tebow's fans will say practice is unimportant, that the play on the field during a game matters most.

In the Broncos first 2011 preseason game, Orton was not sharp in his few plays. Tebow was sharp with one incompletion against backup defenders on the Dallas Cowboys. Still, Tebow's head coach John Fox called the youngster a work in progress who made a few bad reads.

With his unconventional release and style of play, Tebow is a unique player. Some think his style best works as a spot player. One reporter compared Tebow to 1984 Heisman winner Doug Flutie.

Flutie, about eight inches shorter than Tebow, lasted 11 rounds before being drafted. After a season in the United States Football League, Flutie joined the NFL as the USFL folded.

He soon found himself on the field playing, but the results were not as hoped. Flutie then bolted for the Canadian Football League and became a star. He played in the CFL for eight years and won three titles. He was also named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player six times.

Flutie then returned to the NFL in 1998 and became a Pro Bowler. He played to the age of 43 and became the first NFL player in 65 years to convert a successful drop kick.

While a trip to the CFL is an unlikely route for Tebow, it may take some time before the Broncos are ready to let him lead the team. But his teammates will tell you Tebow displays a an obvious burning desire to win.

With his religious beliefs, humble attitude, and desire to fulfill his childhood dream to becoming a great NFL quarterback, the media has bought in full force. There have been stories of him quoted as saying his Broncos starting job was “grabbed back away” when Orton was not traded recently.

But the negative press rolls off his back like water on a duck, leaving him unscathed. Well
insulated with a huge fanbase, the loyalty of the press will stay persistent no matter how much of Tebow's 2011 season is spent on the bench.

It appears Tebow can do no wrong to a group of writers, which reminds some of Brett Favre. Favre, who retired last year after 20 years as a player, still gets brought up in stories for a possible return this year.

While Favre won one Super Bowl and set several records as a player, he also left the game with the most fumbles, times sacked, and interceptions thrown in an era of football where the NFL constantly bent the rule in a quarterbacks favor to ensure success.

Tebow hasn't thrown a teammate under the bus yet for holding out while being the highest paid player in team history like Favre did. Nor are there any reports of purported sexual harassment either.

Yet there are similarities that extend beyond the fact both men play quarterback. Favre also lived under the media microscope and was trumpeted as the greatest player ever innumerous times.

Favre could do no wrong himself, even if reports of wrong doing were running rampant. He was given a pass at every turn and ESPN dropped his name seemingly every ten minutes on all broadcasts for many years.

With him now away from the game, the mantle has been filled by the kid who has had a media shadow since he was 17-years old. Tebow handles the things well, but has also lamented the constant process of being interviewed repeatedly and practically daily.

He will be only 24-years old soon, but the target is set firmly on his back. Opponents have stated they will try to hit Tebow with all of their abilities. That pressure alone would buckle most, let alone the constant attention he receives from a large group of reporters following him.

While appearing bashful at being given the throne Favre reigned for so many years, Tebow appears to understand the perks that go with it. Whether all of this hype gets him on the field with a successful career remains to be seen, but the media will make sure we witness every second of it.

The Overrated Tim Tebow Workout Needs To Get Florida University Put On Probation

Jon Gruden does not work for free. Ask ESPN , who seems to have anointed their next Brett Farve to shove down our throats on a continuous loop.

Tim Tebow is still legally a college football player?

How did Tebow afford to have Gruden prepare him for Florida Universirty's Pro Day?

You know Gruden did not take an I.O.U. from Tebow for "services rendered".

Who paid for Gruden? How about the Gator boosters? It seems pretty obvious someone other than Tebow footed the Gruden bill?

Will it be investigated? Most likely not. You won't hear a whimper of this discussed by ESPN's "journalists", but you better believe they might if Gruden worked for FOX Sports.

The NCAA Committee is as dirty as the workout that was perpetrated yesterday. Payola, or "hush money", was fed to all the proper pockets so everyone will blindly accept things "as is".

What did we learn from the workout? That Tebow still has no arm, and should think about throwing the ball with his right hand over his left.Even in the current rules that caters to quarterbacks and makes the NFL's chosen divas jobs much easier year to year.

As he got tired, the ball lollipopped more and more. The accuracy waned. ESPN valiantly tried to keep their cameras on him instead of the ball, except for a few of his earlier passes on the most simple of routes. The verdict stayed the same ultimately, despite Gruden's "unbiased" ESPN report that Tebow was a future starter. The guy is no more than a project.

What we really learned is dirty money is flowing in the Sunshine State. Now we truly see why Florida gets all the top recruits and will continue to do so. Kids will see that the school will pay for top experts to teach them to be better players without any expense to them. The Gator's will foot the bill, along with the usual housing, clothing, vehicle, female companionship bills they typically take care of for all of their players.

Florida University has blatantly officially taken football recruiting to another level, and the NCAA will gladly follow blindly with stuff wallets continuously fed by the boosters of the school.

ESPN's faux pas journalism will continue to shove your next hero down your throats as long as you tune in. Favre's name is mentioned every 20 minutes on all channels because of legal obligation. It reeks of reminiscence of the "Devil And Daniel Webster".

Now that Brett finally appears to have one last year to wear slovenly on America's conscious, they have the next Golden Boy in waiting. So confident they are in their investment, they sent "Chucky" to teach the kid to look the part of NFL QB.

Part of this madness might be because of draft day. Tebow has to be the first third round prospect ever to be invited to sit in the green room during the draft. If you were utterly sickened by having to watch a constant close up of the crying Brady Quinn for 22 rounds in 2007, get ready to puke at 70+ rounds of watching Tebow wait for the call on April 22nd.

ESPN is ready. Are you? They have plenty of tape from his days in college on the projector to get ready to shove down your consciousnesses as the already written scripts are ready for their "experts" to lament for several hours as to why he hasn't been drafted yet.

Any team that drafts him before the third round needs their heads examined because Tebow is quite simply a poor man's Bobby Douglass.

Unlike Tebow, Douglass had a good, strong arm. Like Tebow, Douglass was a left-hander with accuracy issues his entire career.

Bobby Douglass spent nine years in the NFL between 1969 - 1978, and was a full time starter in two seasons. His best season was in 1972 with the Chicago Bears, and it is not remembered because of his arm. He ran for an then-NFL record 968 yards that year on 141 carries, leading the NFL with a 6.9 yards per carry average. He ran the ball in for eight scores, while tossing a career best nine more scores against 12 interceptions.

Ultimately, he threw 36 touchdowns against 64 interceptions for his career. His yards rushing record for a quarterback was surpassed by 71 yards in 2006 by Michael Vick, though it took two extra games on the schedule to break it. Douglass was drafted in the second round, but you can bet the farm his Alma Mater Kansas University never paid for a coach to come in for six weeks to try to improve his draft stock.

If they had, the NCAA would have put them on probation because they have a set list on who can buy off their silence. Florida is on it, and Kansas never has been. In football. Basketball is a completely different story. Whomever makes them the most cash in each sport has the best chance to line the NCAA pockets and zip their lips with a nodding off acceptance.

If the NCAA or ESPN were legitimate entities, then Florida would thoroughly be investigated to see who bought Jon Gruden. ESPN would have their employee cooperate with the investigation, then break the story when the proper culprits are exposed.

But this will not happen, so just go to sleep and blindly accept the constantly shifting rules. It is exactly what is expected of you.



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