Tebow...or not Tebow

     I have been trying to get a handle on this whole "Tebow Time" phenomena that has swept the nation. I'm not exactly sure as to why, but I have found myself labeled a 'Hater', simply because I'm not cheering, supporting or supplicating to the second-year quarterback of the Denver Broncos.
     It is interesting to me, how in this dichotomous country that one either embraces a person, idea or party, or, failing that, one becomes a 'Hater' by definition. As with most instances I actually prefer to occupy a grey area of nebulous irresolution until more data comes in. For the sake of argument, and a quick, rhetorical, side-taking leap, I shall embrace the term, but decline to accept all the weight that 'Hater' implies.
     If I were writing an essay for Mrs. Kelly, my English teacher (in England, no less), I probably would have to call this piece, "Why I Hate Tim Tebow".
     Interestingly enough, I haven't heard anything about him as a person to cause me to dislike him. He seems like an affable fellow, who likes to use his status to bring hapiness to little kids, encourage those struggling with illness and presents his public persona exactly as he his. By all accounts, he is not 'Fake'. Nor has he committed any reprehensible acts that one is looked down upon in decent society. He hasn't been busted for organizing a dog-fighting ring. He isn't paying child support to multiple women in multiple cities. He hasn't had to enter re-hab for an addiction to pain killers. He hasn't had the cops on his doorstep at 3am for smacking his woman around.
     As a person, I can't 'Hate on him'.
     By all accounts, he is an excellent team leader. At every level, team-mates have lauded his ability to stay positive, even after a bad play. He exhorts his team-mates to keep going beyond their resolve, even when the situation is grim; which in football is a relative term, we're not talking about frontal assaults on prepared positions in the Huertgen Forest, here. He is credited with 'bringing the best' out of every player on the team. I have a hard time believing that the third cornerback, who only comes in on obvious passing downs, is really out there thinking about playing better just so Tebow will notice him. With that said, it must be examined in the negation. There are quarterbacks who are locker-room cancers that can cause an otherwise decent team to implode. One need look no further than New York, Chicago or Denver to find situations where a lack of chemistry between a quaertback and the rest of the team has caused serious disruption.
     As a leader, I can't 'Hate on him'.
     The red meat that everyone clamors for when discussing Tebow is his religion. One must strive to be extremely fair when approaching this topic, not out of fear, but from the standpoint of a reasonable examiniation of the player and his actions. I will lay my cards on the table, encouraged, if not inspired by Tebow to be open about my beliefs.
     I don't.
     I am not a believer. Not in Evangelical Christianity specifically or Christianity generally. That being said, I will ask the wolves to forbear their pouncing for just a few more seconds. I don't have a problem with his prayer, or his genuflecting, or his sotto vocce hymn-singing on the sidelines. I don't know what he's praying about, and neither do his advocates. In all fairness, he has never (to my knowledge) made a positive claim of divine intervention. His unabashed expressions of belief have become the grist of late-night comedy, but those are based on impression far more than any actual utterance by Tebow. I am a firm believer in any individiual following whatever spiritual or religious path they wish. I will and have actively defended that right. I do so hoping that my right to not believe receives the same protections. Even if he is on the side-line beseeching the almighty to help cast his enemies into the fiery pit, that's his right.
     There are other quarterbacks, who I do like, that are just as religious, but maybe not quite so expressive about it. Drew Brees makes no secret of his belief, and I don't shun him. Steve Young is a direct descendent of Brigham Young. I have no idea how active he was or even if he was a devout Mormon or not, but I had no problems supporting him in his playing days.
     I deny that his religion is a reason to 'Hate' on him.
    Which brings us to the rub. Why I Hate Tim Tebow.
First, and foremost, and most unfairly, he plays for the Broncos. In openly admit I hate the Broncos. Cards on the table time, again. I am a Seahawks fan and have been from the first day of their existence. Go ahead and take your shots, I've already heard them all. One doesn't stay a Seahawk fan without accepting and embracing the ability to absorb a loss.
     When I was growing up, Denver was almost always the superior team and they were in the same division. Even though Seattle and Denver are now in different conferences, I still hate the Broncos. Too many losses at the hands of John Elway. Too many last-second drives resulting in ridiculously long field goals to knock the Seahawks out of playoff contention. If Tebow played for a team that I had less negative feelings for, Tampa Bay, for instance, I'd probably be less hard on him.
     He just not that good of a quarterback. In a quick run-down of NFL starting quarterbacks, there are 20, that I would pick before Tebow. Even when posed with the question of Tebow vs. Tavaris Jackson as Seattle's starting quarterback, I have to think long and hard, and even consider with how good Seattle's ground game and defense are, Tebow just might be a good fit, I shudder as a realize that Tebow would never reach the maximum of what Pete Carroll wants to do with the offense.
     Which brings us back to Tebow's abilities. His completion percentage is awful. His third down conversion rate is abyssmal, and his passing effectiveness is firmly rooted on a gimmicky offense that relies heavily on the play action pass. My biggest criticism of him is that he takes his eyes off his receivers when he starts scrambling. That forces him to try to re-acquire his targets down-field and gives pursuing defenders even more time to catch him. His size and strength have saved him from taking some sacks, but learning to 'feel' the defenders and keep his eyes downfield would save him from even more sacks.
     As to the claim that 'all he does is win', it is simply not true. The Broncos were 1-4 when he was named starter and finished 8-8 (9-8 if you count the playoff game). That is a record of 7-4 as a starter. Not bad. Aaron Rogers won twice that many games, this year, alone. Of those seven wins, none were against teams that made the playoffs. Until the Steelers game, Tebow and the Broncos didn't defeat a team that won more than half their games.
     Speaking of the Steelers game, I wasn't as shocked as the pro-Tebow camp. It wasn't an upset on the order of the Vikings knocking out the 49'ers in '87, the Jags bumping the Broncos off in '96, or Seattle Beast-Moding the Saints, last year. Denver was banged up, their quarterback hobbled by a bum ankle and their best corner held out of the game with sickle-cell anemia. The game still went into overtime. In Denver. To me, the game wasn't as much of a display of Denver's strenth as it was of Pittsburgh's weakness.
That being said, I can understand the Denver support for Tebow. Logic says 8-4, twice as many wins over losses since he took over. The bum he replaced is gone after losing four times as many games as he won and scoreboard, Baby. The Broncs won  a playoff game and are in the elite 8 of the NFL. He may be the worst quarterback in the playoffs (maybe T.J. Yates is worse) but they are in the playoffs when 24 other teams are watching on the couch. On a side note, I am cheering for New Orleans, New York, Baltimore and New England, this week.
Lost in all the jingositic hoopla that surrounds the non-lethal combat substitute that our city-states engage in, is that football is the ultimate team sport. All eleven player need to act in concert better than the other side's eleven that are actively tring to deny them their successful execution. Add in a healthy dose of strategy (like whichever coach called for the play-action pass on first down against Pittsburgh) and an element of luck, and you have the ultimate in unscripted high drama. The thing that I think has gotten lost in the era of 'Tebow Time' is the concept of team. Without Denver's excellent defense, they would not be able to run the hybridized offense they do. Without an excellent offensive line that excels at run-blocking, Willis McGahee would not be able to alleviate the pressure on Tebow that an effective ground game provides. The NFL has evolved into a cult of personality at quaterback and the surrounding cast merely players upon his stage, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that without those surrounding players, the Aaron Rogers', Brew Brees' and Tom Brady's would not hold the exulted statuses they have earned.
I think I have finally hit upon the element of 'Tebow Time' that bugs me. His cult, his status, his positon relative to the rest of the football universe is inversely proportional to his actual accomplishments. It's almost as if he's Schroedinger's quarterback, and the only way to measure his actual value is to open the box and see. Alas, his followers, his Tebowtees won't allow that, since opening the box and measuring the value alters the outcome.
They prohibit any analysis by dismissing any and all that would like to be rational about Tebow as 'Haters'. In accordance with the sociological concept of 'Labeling', I guess I will just have to accept the fact that I am indeed, a 'Hater' of Tim Tebow, with one caveat.
I 'Hate' the Bronco, not the man.