Well folks, it's official. I waited a few hours - I was so sure it was a Twitter hoax! But it's not. Gospel truth, Timmy will be suiting up in red, white and blue come September.
As a Gator alumna, I always admired Tim on the field, and cheered him wholeheartedly as he made some amazing performances that won us two crystal footballs. I even met him once, and he seemed very pleasant and down-to-earth - and he actually looked me in the eye instead of down my shirt, which I found more impressive than any feat he's pulled on the field.
When he transitioned to the NFL I was pleasantly surprised with his performance with the Broncos, and admired his fantastic overtime win vs the Steelers...and then was SHOCKED when the Broncos shuffled him off rather than letting him learn from Peyton Manning, who could arguably be the best pocket passer of this generation.
I thought the Jets were going to run a traditional two-QB offense: one set of plays (and personnel) for Tim, and another for Sanchez, switching them off by drive; or, alternatively using him as a short-distance playmaker, particularly in the redzone.
Nope.
Instead, they let what I like to call Gotham's Media Syndicate turn him into a rallying symbol for mockery, completely derailing public support and making their season a highly embarrassing three-ring circus. Seriously? I don't know what it is about NYC, but their media seem more outrageous and ridiculous every year - and I spent three years living in LA, where paparazzi relentlessly hunt down celebrities who are getting a slushy from the local gas station!!
To be honest, I was never sure Tim would make it in the NFL. Not because he "can't throw" - that's a load of crap crappy enough to manure all of Ohio's wheat fields. He broke the Florida high school passing records after only spending 3 years at QB, not even that long, now that I think about it. He went to UF and while it's true he ran all over the SEC defenses he had dozens of highly impressive throwing performances (please see LSU-2008 if you want an example), and I still can't figure out why people piss and moan about his arm. So he's not a pretty pretty ballerina, and doesn't throw the way Manning does. Big whoop, he got it into the hands of every Gator wideout and most of the RBs caught a look now and then too. And despite Percy Harvin's prowess, it was NOT all the receivers' skill.
No, what worried me about Tim was the fact he needs a certain type of offense, and despite the success of the Wildcat, it's not what is regularly used in the NFL. When he was in Denver I thought he was adjusting well and five years would see him a strong contender every year. But watching him be utterly routed by the Jets and their abysmal coaching has me wondering - can he overcome what happened on that field? I've seen enough of the world to know that once the Gotham Media Syndicate is in your head, you're going to have one hell of a time trying to perform over the noise.
Tom Brady has done the media circus though. He'd have to, with living in New England and having a gorgeous model for his wife, doing charity and publicity every time he steps out his front door. If anyone can push the clowns out of Tebow's head, it might conceivably be Brady.
I'm excited to see what the Patriots do. (Yes, I'll go back to calling them the Cheatriots after this post. I supported them until the spygate story broke and that was the end of that for me.) But, I don't know what use they'll have for Tebow unless he learns a whole new offense. Brady was last stopped on a 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 rush in 2005, which equals 49 STRAIGHT conversions over the past eight years. They do not need Tim to pull a repeat of 2006 Neyland Stadium.
Is it true? Will Tim Tebow be the most famous clipboard holder of all time? Or will Bellicheck and Brady change him - or his game - into someone who can step under the bright lights of the future and win?
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