TIM TEBOW A SHELL OF HIS FORMER SELF

Tim Tebow was cut today by the New England Patriots. It was the first time in his career, and possibly the last, that he felt the sting of being fired….of being let go….of getting the pink slip….of getting a visit from “the Turk”.

As any of you who have followed my writings over the past two years know, I have had a serious man crush on Tim Tebow. I have said I thought he would set the league on it’s ear with excitement. I have said that Tebow would silent his critics, show everyone that he is a winner. I completely correctly predicted BEFORE he became the starter in Denver, that Tebow would lead that 1-4 Broncos team to a playoff berth. In fact, I correctly predicted the Tebow-mania that would happen that season before it happened. Bottom line–I LOVE the kid!

That is why it just pains me to see what NFL people have done to him.

Tim Tebow was a completly different quarterback in week five of the 2011 NFL season than what he is now. It is obvious to watch to anyone who saw him play then…and now.

It is painful to watch.

So many “experts” would say no, that Tebow is the same quarterback, with the same mechanics, flaws in his style and abilities to read a defense.

They are wrong.

He is NOT the same!

That 2011 Tim Tebow played differently. He managed a game differently. He used his feet, cunning, guile, and instincts. He thought nothing of running first and passing second.

And you know what? All of that WORKED!

For him, and his team…it actually worked.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it led to wins, which is the reason they play the games isn’t it?

Apparently though, it isn’t. The Broncos, then the Jets, and lastly, the Patriots, wanted to see stats. Numbers. Tnagible evidence.

Tim Tebow doesn’t give you that. Probably never will.

Despite the success Tebow was having in Denver, it wasn’t enough. The coaching staff tried to rein him in. They told him to try to look downfield, stay in the pocket more, and try to make plays with his arm instead of his legs. They robbed him of his instincts. They robbed him of a successful career as an NFL quarterback.

Many would say that Tebow could never have been a successful NFL quarterback playing like he did early in his Denver career. That teams would have caught on to him eventually. They’d say that Tebow would have to learn to become a pure quarterback eventually.

I beg to differ. Sadly, we will never know now.

Tim Tebow is too far gone. Watching him attempt to play for the Patriots in what will probably be his final NFL game, he has become a shadow of the type of QB he once was. He is a mess. They messed with him too much. They tried to put a square peg in a round hole. They tried to turn Michael Vick into Peyton Manning.

What the NFL has done to Tim Tebow would be like the NBA trying to turn Michael Jordan into a stand up 3 point jumpshooter in his first year in the league. Preposterous right? Why do that to a guy who had the most explosive first step in the history of basketball? Yet that is exactly what the NFL coaches and coordinators have done with Tebow. They have tried to turn him into somethings he’s not, instead of

trying to sharpen and huild on what he did well.

I still maintain that Tim Tebow could be one of the winningest quarterbacks in the NFL if a team would just give him one crack at being their starter again, tailor a playbook around his abiliities, and just let him do his thing–play with his instincts. Whether Tebow wanted to pass the ball three times in a game, or 30, chances are that team would still be a winner when the clock hit 0:00.

Now, there most likely aren’t any more teams out there who will ever give him that chance. Sadly, we will never know if I would have been right.