Inside the NFL concludes that the Tebow hate is nothing more than anti-Christian bigotry:
”Inside the NFL” analyst and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on his religious beliefs. Responding to a question from fellow host James ‘JB’ Brown, Collinsworth showed his disgust for Tebow’s treatment: ”It’s unbelievable, though, JB, that one of the best kids – just pure kids that’s ever come into the NFL – is hated because of his faith, because of his mission work, because of the fact that he wears it on his sleeve, because of the fact that he lives his life that he talks about….”
Brown and Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on faith. Brown pointed out: ”There’s a number of guys who come into the league with a big marquee, fat paychecks, a lot of attention, and folks don’t seem to hate them with the same intensity that they hate Tim Tebow.” Collinsworth concurred with Brown: ”I couldn’t agree with you more. And it’s kind of a sad commentary, that, you know, if someone is out carousing every night, the Joe Namath thing, or whatever, they’re American heroes, and Tim Tebow, who’s working in missions in Asia somewhere, is a guy that we’re going to vilify.”
Now, I don’t think much of Tebow’s chances to be a star quarterback in the NFL. I wouldn’t completely count him out because I wouldn’t completely count any quarterback prospect out. I do think he was probably drafted too highly, the “mechanics” metric is overrated, and that if the coaches and analysts had the position down to a science as they would like to pretend, we wouldn’t see first round draft busts every single year.
Maybe he does have an odd throwing motion. So does Philip Rivers. Perhaps he’s not a proper pocket passer. Neither is Michael Vick. The thing is, it is readily apparent that Tebow is a better quarterback when leading his team on the field in an actual game than Kyle Orton. The fact that his head coach has serious reservations about him is almost entirely meaningless considering how long Fox kept starting Jake Delhomme once he had turned into an interception machine.
At 1-5, it would be absurd for Denver to refuse to accede to the Denver fans wishes, start Tebow, and see what he’s got. They are finally doing so two games later than the fans would like to see, but then, the same thing is happening in Minnesota with Christian Ponder. Most Vikings fans wanted McNabb benched at least two weeks ago; I wanted to sit the wormburner down in favor of Joe Webb after Week Two although I thought it was reasonable to give him one more shot in Week Three just to be certain he was done.
But it is absolutely bizarre how many people in the media are actively cheering against Tebow. This, of course, just strengthens his support, not only among those who have cheered the man since his days at Florida, but among people like me who otherwise couldn’t possibly care less about the Broncos or the fate of their second-string quarterback.