I live in Gainesville, so the big news of the day...as it has been almost every day for the past six years...is what is going on with Tim Tebow. When it comes to this guy, people that don't understand football suddenly think they are coaches and general managers. I am not under his spell or blinded by his superstition, and will try to dispel some fallacies.
In 2008 the University of Florida won the National Championship. Tebow was the undisputed leader of that team. He played great against Alabama in the SEC Championship and beat Oklahoma in the final. He was also the 12th or 13th best pro prospect on the team.
If I worked for an NFL team and drafted players from that roster, I would have selected: 1. Percy Harvin 2. Maurkice Pouncy 3. Joe Haden 4. Mike Pouncy 5. Carlos Dunlap 6. Aaron Hernandez 7. Brandon Spikes 8. Major Wright 9. Jermaine Cunningham 10. Louis Murphy 11. David Nelson...and then it would be a toss up between Tebow, Ahmad Black, and Riley Cooper. (Cam Newton was also on that team, but was kicked off before the season ended. I would take him first.)
Tebow fans (not to be confused with football fans) think the Broncos made a mistake this week by signing one of the greatest QBs in NFL history and trading away the guy who went 1-4 with a 40% completion rate and was outscored 156-79 in his last 5 games. They are stupid. John Elway is not.
Tebow is a modern Doug Flutie...except he can't throw with the same velocity or accuracy as Flutie. Good looking, seemingly nice guy, Heisman winner. Might win a few games with his unorthodox style, but eventually will leave behind a string of losses, disgruntled ex-teammates, and fired coaches. It has already happened in Denver, and Rex Ryan will be the next coach to feel the wrath and be damned.
But enough with the football talk.
My windshield time often has me thinking about changing one thing, and how different it would make everything. If Keith Moon and John Bonham switched bands. If Magic and Bird switched teams. If Barry Bonds was a nice guy. If I were six-seven.
Imagine if everything about Tebow--from his family backround to his humble, hard working outlook, etc etc--were exactly the same, but he was a fundamentalist Muslim instead of a fundamentalist Christian. Imagine if he painted Koran verses under his eyes, and his oft-imitated prayer pose was not one knee down but both down and facing Mecca. Tebow apologists say "I respect his deep faith," but what they really mean is "I respect that his faith is kind of similar to mine." Imagine if it wasn't.
No autograph lines around the block at Wal-Mart, no underwear endorsements, no jerseys sold. His high school probably would not have allowed the home schooled kid to play football. More than likely, he would not have been recruited to Florida, where the former coach often took pride in his own Christianity.
Grasping for straws, Tebowites say he is a standout role model in a league of thugs. The truth is that the NFL is made up of mostly good guys who have short, dangerous, pressure filled careers. A small percentage get in trouble, but they are the ones who show up in the news. The amazing thing is that more of them don't get into trouble.
The truth is I would prefer that my children not have for a role model a mouth breathing, brainwashed man-child who thinks he communicates with supernatural beings and that those beings control the outcome of his life.
"Look," I often affirm in the rear view mirror, "there is nothing wrong with being a Legendary College Player." Neither of Florida's other Heisman winners, Steve Spurrier nor Danny Wuerffel, had outstanding NFL careers. Albeit in a much different arena, I was also a Legendary College Player. It may be the only thing we have in common.
