Christianity,  Sports

Tim Tebow signs with ESPN

It was announced today that Tim Tebow is joining ESPN to be an analyst for its SEC Network. While he still wishes to play professional football, this is his gig for now. In a statement, Tebow says this:

I am so excited that ESPN has given me this incredible opportunity… When I was 6 years old, I fell in love with the game of football, and while I continue to pursue my dream of playing quarterback in the NFL, this is an amazing opportunity to be part of the unparalleled passion of college football and the SEC.

I know nobody wants to hear this, but I just thought I remind everyone that it only took Tim Tebow one season to equal Tony Romo’s playoff win record. I just can’t believe he’s not playing somewhere. All he does is win. Just saying.

18 Comments

  • Lynn Burgess

    Tim signing with ESPN may remove some of the fan/media pressure on the NFL teams and he has an out clause to return to the NFL. Tim will be back! He’s been training daily with Tom House at USC since N.E. released him and is back there today. You want to see precision passing? Stay tuned!

  • Jeff Daly

    He’s 8-6 in the NFL with historically bad passing marks in all categories. To compare him to Romo is silly, unless one thinks that Trent Dilfer was a better QB than Dan Marino or that Tandon Doss is a better WR than Calvin Johnson. Quite clearly, Tebow can’t rush the ball well enough on an NFL level to compensate for his inability to pass the ball accurately. He’s unwilling to switch positions or play in a lower league. That’s fine if that’s his stance, but Christians manufacturing an “issue” out of this is disheartening — his faith has nothing to do with whether or not he’s playing anywhere right now.

    • Lynn Burgess

      Jeff: I don’t believe that Denny said anything about Tim’s faith one way or the other. As for the stats, they can be argued both ways, and if you’ve ever read a sports blog on a Tebow article you have seen them. Have you ever seen Elway’s first year of starts compared to Tim’s? Many of the greats had a rocky beginning but they had time to work it through. NFL opportunity does not come in equal slices, some never have opportunity to start, some are given a number of years to prove themselves… we don’t really have to prove anything statistically or otherwise to wish Tim well and want him to succeed.

      • buddyglass

        If we want to compare him to Romo, here are the two guy’s stats from their first season w/ significant playing time:

        Games, Completions, Attempts, Cmp%, Yards, YdsAvg, TDs, Long, Ints, Fumbles, QBR, Passer Rating

        Romo 2006: 16, 220, 337, 65.3, 2903, 8.61, 19, 56, 13, 6, 68.5, 95.1
        Tebow 2010: 9, 41, 82, 50.0, 654, 7.98, 5, 50, 3, 0, 58.3, 82.1

        Tebow’s 2011, where he played in 14 games, was worse (statistically speaking) than his 2010.

        Romo’s worst single-season passer rating (2012, 90.5) out of his eight seasons as a starter is better than Tebow’s best (2010, 82.1) from his two seasons.

        I have no beef with Tebow. I think he’d be the first to admit Romo’s quarterback play is better than what he (Teblow) has shown thus far in the NFL.

        • Lynn Burgess

          Buddy, dear friend:

          You just could not resist posting stats. I’m not going to go down that trail that leads to nowhere. I have seen it argued too many times and it ends in a stalemate. But perhaps you would entertain a quote from Peyton Manning’s coach early in his career…

          “Speaking of Peyton Manning, ‘Do not blame that game on the defense, OK?’ said Mora. ‘When you turn the ball over five times — four interceptions, one for a touchdown, three others in field position to set up touchdowns — you ain’t going to beat anybody.'”

          “…not even Manning arrived in the NFL as a fully formed star QB. He and Brady had their own struggles early on…”

          “The process of becoming that player (a great QB) is only so complex. Defenses, reads, and coverages CAN ALL BE LEARNED IN TIME. It just takes a truly dedicated player with a disciplined mind to see that process to its end” (sounds like Tim Tebow to me) (smile).

          “DOES HE MAKE EVERYONE AROUND HIM BETTER? THAT IS THE GREATEST GIFT THE QUARTERBACK CAN HAVE” (ahh, that sounds like Tim too!).

          http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9590729/how-new-class-promising-nfl-quarterbacks-reach-greatness

          My money is on Tim Tebow will prevail… hang on for the ride!

          • buddyglass

            Manning’s career stats:

            http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/1428/peyton-manning

            Brady’s career stats:

            http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/2330/tom-brady

            Tebow’s stats:

            http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13200/tim-tebow

            Manning’s first season wasn’t great, with a 72.5 passer rating. Starting with his second season, though, he’s been consistently good-to-great. His worst passer rating out of the next 14 seasons is 84.1.

            Brady’s first season was better than Manning’s with a 86.5 passer rating. Over the next 11 full seasons (I’m leaving out 2008 where he only played half a game) his lowest is 85.7.

            Tebow started strong w/ a 82.1 rating in half-a-season worth of play. This earned him a second season, where his rating was 72.5. He basically regressed.

            The big question here is whether it’s even fair to Tebow to compare him to future hall-of-famers Brady and Manning. It’s almost certaily not. Given enough time to develop Tebow might turn into a decent mid-to-low-tier NFL quarterback. One thing working against him is that he’s cut from the “mobile quarterback” mold, and that type of QB has gone back out of style after seeing a recent spike in popularity.

            • Lynn Burgess

              Buddy: It is only fair to compare them at the same point in their careers; so after the first 16 starts there is no apples-to-apples comparison.

              Steve Young spent time with Tim the past two off seasons and he believes Tim has what it takes to be great and he only needs a coach who believes in him and will give him time to develop. Josh McDaniels interviews with the Browns tomorrow.

  • scottshaffer

    Some people refuse to see what is obvious to the most casual observer: Tim isn’t a good passer. Can that change? Unlikely. I can’t think of any other quarterback that has overcome significant passing deficiencies and had a solid NFL career. Consider this review: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1745264-scouts-honor-patriots-tim-tebow-not-fit-for-nflor-cflor-arena-league.

    I’m still scratching my head about his refusal to play tight end. I wish him well and hope he can make it as an NFL QB.

    • Chris Ryan

      Yeah I had read that article earlier this season, too, Scott & it was conclusive for me. That said I wish the Jets would’ve given him a chance to demonstrate his skills on the field. Given their experience w/ Sanchez & Smith its hard to believe he would’ve been a whole lot worse.

      On the opposite end, sometimes the hardest lesson for kids his age to learn is to take the door that opens as opposed to the one you want. There’s no shame in being a NFL tight end. Its an increasingly critical position in the NFL–just ask Peyton Manning & Tom Brady.

    • Lynn Burgess

      To Scott Shaffer:

      Bleacher Report. Really?

      The facts show that Tim Tebow is off to a better start as an NFL quarterback than many of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Through his first 16 starts, Tebow won more games (9) than Peyton Manning (3), Troy Aikman (3), Steve Young (3), Aaron Rodgers (5), Matthew Stafford (6), Sam Bradford (7), Eli Manning (7), John Elway (8), and Drew Brees (8). Tebow accomplished that with a team that was 1-4 before he took over, and had won only 7 of its last 24 games.

      In his first 16 starts, Tebow led his team to a playoff victory. None of these other greats did that. In fact, it took Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, five full NFL seasons to lead his team to a playoff victory.

      In his first playoff game, Tebow threw for 316 yards in a winning effort — against the best defense in the league. It is so difficult for an NFL quarterback to throw for 316 yards or more in a playoff victory that Ben Roethlisberger has never done it. Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers have each done it once. Tom Brady, John Elway and Joe Montana each did it twice. Eli Manning did not throw for that many yards in a playoff game until last season. And those other quarterbacks had some of the best receivers in the NFL.

      Tebow is also near the top in another important measure of an NFL passer, which is the number of touchdown passes per pass attempt. In his first 16 games, Tebow averaged an impressive one touchdown pass for every 23 pass attempts (1-23). The same as Peyton Manning. Better than Steve Young (1-46), John Elway (1-36), Drew Brees (1-34) and Tom Brady (1-36). And just slightly behind Aaron Rodgers (1-21), Matthew Stafford (1-21), and Eli Manning (1-21).

      Even more important is the fact that Tebow threw very few interceptions per pass attempt. Just one pick for every 43 pass attempts (1-43). That’s twice as good as Peyton Manning (1-21). Much better than Elway (1-19), Stafford (1-26) and Eli Manning (1-29). Better than Brees (1-34), Brady (1-36), Rodgers (1-39) and Bradford (1-40). This fact is particularly important, because ESPN contends that the chance of a team winning an NFL game goes down 20 percent with each interception a quarterback throws.

      Through 16 starts, Tebow has a far better touchdown pass-to-interception ratio (17 touchdowns-9 interceptions) than Peyton Manning (26-28), Brees (15-15), Stafford (28-23), Bradford (18-15), Elway (10-19), Aikman (12-25) and Young (9-16). Tebow’s rate is also better than Eli Manning’s (21-14), and the same as Aaron Rodgers’ (23-12).

      According to these key factual measures of an NFL passer (wins, touchdown passes, interceptions, playoff performance) Tebow is off to a better start as an NFL passer than many of the great passing quarterbacks in NFL history.

    • Brian Sanders

      From Twitter:

      Trent Dilfer ?@TDESPN

      Tim Tebow invited me to spend Fri evaluating his 5 month reengineering journey.I’ll explain Sun on Countdown pic.twitter.com/sjad2nDuEl

      Trent Dilfer ?@TDESPN

      Can science combined w/unique #MotivationMuscle turn a thrower into a passer? Watch Sun Countdown & decide. pic.twitter.com/8qnqnAhwxF

  • cmaglaughlin

    I am torn about Tebow. The best article I read on his being released from the Jets said Tim just cannot comprehend the NFL’s complicated offenses to offset the complicated defenses. He has a well known learning disability. In college, everything was spread out. Plays were simple. He reigned supreme. The trouble is, if you do that same approach in the NFL, his body would be torn to shreds by the constant abuse of bigger and stronger linebackers. The coach who originally drafted him #1 in Denver, eventually gave him a thumbs down when both were with the Jets. The fat lady is at least getting ready to warm up! And I was one of his biggest fans!

    • Lynn Burgess

      Cmaglaughlin:

      Have you read this article? This is what NAMED Broncos and NFL coaches and GMs said about Tim in 2011:

      “…Tebow has dazzled the Broncos coaches with HIS DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF COMPLEX OFFENSES…”

      “I guarantee you that offense they are running there in Denver now, he put a lot of it in,” (Ken) Herock (former NFL GM) said. “I bet he has a lot of input on what they are running up there.”

      “…John Fox retained most of the offensive coaches (and) THE BRONCOS KEPT THE SAME OFFENSE (and) inserted in the Tebow Package… adding new wrinkles every week…”

      “Last year they left a six-hour, pre-draft visit with the quarterback in Gainesville, Fla., amazed at how HE HAD BLOWN AWAY ALL OTHER QUARTERBACKS’ SCORES ON A LIST OF QUALITIES THEY DEEMED ESSENTIAL. These included: loving the game, competitiveness, leadership, arm strength, UNDERSTANDING OFFENSES, an ability to avoid pass rushes, resilience and composure.”

      “(Coach) Gase said, ‘…AS WE GET HIM MORE BALANCED, HIS THROWS BECOME SMOOTHER AND MORE ACCURATE… There’s a calmness and a composure when the game is tight. HE’S SMART WITH THE FOOTBALL.’”

      “’He’s becoming a much better NFL quarterback,’ (Coach) Fox said.”

      http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=lc-carpenter_tim_tebow_alex_smith_draft_broncos_121411

      By the way, Tim’s dyslexia only affects his reading comprehension and he has learned well to compensate. It is not an intelligence deficit.

  • James Stanton

    The reason he’s not playing somewhere is that his talent level does not rise to meet the level of the competition around him. He’s regressed since his college days and NFL offenses and defenses are far more complex in comparison. Ultimately, Tebow has not been treated differently from other marginal quarterbacks in the NFL when you look at quarterback situations in Oakland, Houston, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, or Minnesota. The key being that these teams are looking to upgrade at the quarterback position and would not be solving their problem by hiring Tebow to play the position. Scouts do not seem to think he is good enough to be a backup quarterback in the NFL.

    Tim has other good things going for him and plenty to offer. I think he will be a good analyst and has the intelligence to potentially be a good coach at the college or NFL level.

  • Scott Christensen

    I have been a life long Denver Broncos fan, When Tebow came to Denver our whole family was excited. The string of miracle wins he almost single-handedly executed 3 seasons ago was some of the most exciting football entertainment I have ever watched. We were sad for him to leave.

    There is no question that Tebow is a tremendous athlete that could match the athleticism of the best NFL players. I think his skill set so unique that it is hard for NFL teams to figure out how to use him. I also think he is an instinctive player, practically the opposite of a Peyton Manning who studies the game until he knows more than anyone else in the stadium. Tebow is not anywhere near that type of player. He was known to be lost in practices. But in game situations he just seems to know what to do. His improvisations in broken plays are what made him both unpredictable and exciting to watch. The problem is NFL offenses cannot operate that way, thus they don’t know what to do with a guy like Tebow. Denver made it work for half a season, but I don’t think they could have sustained the kind of quirky success he had during that miracle run. I think Tebow is a throwback to the good ole days, when football was not so complicated. He would have thrived in that kind of environment and would be in the Hall of Fame today. Today’s NFL is simply unfriendly to the Tim Tebows of the world.

  • Brian Sanders

    I found a new website, copyright 2014… TEBOW’S FIRST 16
    Comparing NFL QBs through their first 16 games

    From which I gleaned the following, but there is much more at http://tebowsfirst16.com/index.html

    Overall Ranking in first 16 games – Rogers #1, Tebow #2 of 28 QBs
    Brady #6, Brees #11, Peyton Manning #16, Steve Young #23, Elway #25
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/rankings.html

    Average Yards per Completion in first 16 games – Tebow #1 of 28 QBs
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/avgyards.html

    Interceptions in first 16 games – Tebow #1 lowest of 28 QBs
    Brady #13, Elway #14, Peyton Manning #26
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/interceptions.html

    Total touchdowns in first 16 games – Tebow 2nd highest of 28 QBs
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/touchdowns.html

    Win/Loss Record in first 16 games – Brady #1, Tebow #2 of 28 QBs
    Elway #13, Peyton Manning #25, Steve Young #26
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/record.html

    QB Passer Rating – Tebow #7 of 28 QBs and ahead of Brees #8, Stafford #9, Peyton Manning #14, Steve Young #21, and Elway #25
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/qbrating.html

    Total passing yards in first 16 games – Tebow #16 highest and ahead of Steve Young, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/yards.html

    Completion % in first 16 games – Tebow #23 of 28 and ahead of Namath, Elway, Bradshaw
    http://tebowsfirst16.com/completions.html

  • Brian Sanders

    The Cleveland Browns are interviewing Josh McDaniels Saturday, January 4.

    “Tim Tebow important part of McDaniels interview”

    http://tinyurl.com/p3btspr

    In his role as lead analyst of the National Football Post, (Mike) Lombardi (now Brown’s GM) said shortly before the 2010 draft:

    “The intangibles are so strong with Tebow in terms of work ethic and what he’ll want to do to be a great player…. I just don’t want to underestimate those intangibles and that leadership. Leadership is essentially what makes a quarterback in the NFL become great… “It’s going to take a coach with a vision….At some point in the NFL — it may take three years — he will find a way to do it.”

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