Tebow

[pbmax]

I'd say about 75% love him and 25% hate him. About the same percentage as how people classify their religious affilation in this country. The hate is there, but this run is unbelievable. It's like the '89 Cardiac Pack.

I don't agree. Not only do I think if fails to fall into the same category as professed Christians/non-Christian demographics, the feelings it engenders are much more mundane than religious antipathy. Plenty of people "hate" the coverage of Tebow and the automatic assignment of Bronco's improvement to their new QB. Much the same way people were tired of the same Favre stories recycled game after game with no more lucid analysis offered. That is different than hating the person or his religious views.

Internet hate does not equal religious hate.

[mraynrand]

Maybe this was posted in another thread, But Webb essentially 'Tebowed' the Lions yesterday. The guy came in and ran and juked his way to what would very likely have been a fantastic come from behind win over the Lions, if a facemask on the final play been called. MN put up almost 300 yards rushing on the Lions. It took 6 turnovers to keep the kittens in the game! Amazing! Time for the Webb era* to begin in MN!


*(What do you think of that, Harlan?)

[pbmax]

Maybe this was posted in another thread, But Webb essentially 'Tebowed' the Lions yesterday. The guy came in and ran and juked his way to what would very likely have been a fantastic come from behind win over the Lions, if a facemask on the final play been called. MN put up almost 300 yards rushing on the Lions. It took 6 turnovers to keep the kittens in the game! Amazing! Time for the Webb era* to begin in MN!


*(What do you think of that, Harlan?)

Someone at Football Outsiders said after that TD run, if a QB like Webb could read man coverage well, you could get the edge on a defense like that all day. Everyone went with the flow and receivers one way with no one but a DE/OLB on outside contain. He broke that and was in the secondary before defenders got turned around. Wonder if it was single safety or all man coverage.

[mraynrand]

Plenty of people "hate" the coverage of Tebow and the automatic assignment of Bronco's improvement to their new QB. Much the same way people were tired of the same Favre stories recycled game after game with no more lucid analysis offered.

That's a pretty good comparison. Could Tebow's mom do a spot for ESPN? "My Timmy, our Tebow..."

[HarveyWallbangers]

I don't agree. Not only do I think if fails to fall into the same category as professed Christians/non-Christian demographics, the feelings it engenders are much more mundane than religious antipathy. Plenty of people "hate" the coverage of Tebow and the automatic assignment of Bronco's improvement to their new QB. Much the same way people were tired of the same Favre stories recycled game after game with no more lucid analysis offered. That is different than hating the person or his religious views.

Internet hate does not equal religious hate.

I'd have to respectfully disagree. I'd agree with your point that some people that "hate on" Tebow don't "hate on" him because of his religion. Some couldn't care less about it, but I think the majority of Christians "like" Tebow partly or mainly because of his religious beliefs. If he were agnostic, I don't think most of those people would like him nearly as much. They can connect with him and his views. They aren't going to "hate on" Tebow for expressing his love for Jesus Christ. (Probably similar in some ways to the support an athlete gets from people in his hometown.) That connection is what drives their support. Now, if Tebow expressed his love in a manner that didn't seem genuine or appeared to be self-serving, I think his support would be much lower. I still think the people that "hate on" Tebow mostly fall in the subset of people who are not Christians. The ones that "hate on" him that are Christians probably fall in the small subset of Christians that don't feel comfortable outwardly expressing their support for Jesus Christ.

I can connect with Tebow, but I might still support him if I weren't Christian because of how unlikely his success is. I guess that is a counter point to my own argument.


I still think what you think of Tebow falls mainly on your religious beliefs. It would be interesting to run a poll with the following options: Non-Christian, Like Tebow. Christian, Like Tebow. Christian, Don't Like Tebow or the excessive coverage that he gets. Non-Christian, Don't Like Tebow or the excessive coverage that he gets.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Time for the Webb era* to begin in MN!


*(What do you think of that, Harlan?)

I've always liked Webb a lot. think he will stick in NFL for quite a while, but am somewhat concerned about his Christian credentials.

I think the percentage of the population that hates Tim Tebow is about the same as Santa Claus bashers, maybe 5%.

Several people in this thread have said that Tim Tebow is a great human being. What is your evidence for this? Does being vocal about Christianity make someone a good person?

I think Tebow seems like a nice person. But I wouldn't want to spend time with him because he seems too robotic and preachy. I'm not anti-religion, Reggie White was all about God, and he seemed fun too.

[mmmdk]

I like Tebow...I don't like [many] religious people. Go figure. Please don't take this personal as you lot aren't among the "many" religious people.

[pbmax]

What you think of Tebow, the man himself, may very well fall along the lines of your relationship to faith (your own or his). And it is quite possible that similarly inclined Christians are rooting for him at a higher than typical rate (something I would be curious about: does Tebow enjoy more evangelical support than say Jennings or Rodgers?). But since Tebow is dissected in the media and football blogs as a football player as well, its very easy to mistake disbelief in the young man's talents for disbelief in the young man himself. Commentators do themselves no favor by failing to distinguish between football and the person, or his beliefs and talents.

The fact that his story has attracted such a wide audience makes this even tougher to triangulate. Because people for whom football is simply background noise can now have (if they didn't before) a strong opinion about Tebow and his detractors.

The predominant themes of his professional life have been: Tebow cannot be a successful NFL QB, Tebow is a winner and should be given a shot (his supporters) and that the Broncos success does or does not occur because of Tebow. These are classic sports arguments that have occurred about every high profile QB in the league.

What is different is framing each of these issues in terms of religious belief. Supporters think he is being opposed and denied credit because people and media are afraid of a strong, public Christian. His detractors suspect that his supporters are more interested in the PR benefits of the Tebow/Broncos success than they are in determining his actual contribution and football worth. The debate is conducted as though the religious lens can not be removed while studying the subject.

But a debate about two central issues is not binary: its not either Tebow and Christians are great versus Orton/Quinn and Christians have forgotten how to play NFL football.

I am not persuaded or impressed by his public demonstrations of faith, but as a football fan I want him (or someone who plays like him) to succeed in an offense designed to maximize his talents. In the context of the public debate, that position is thought to not to exist. Its either all-Tebow or anti-Tebow. And my point is that those who hold those two positions are the people paying the least amount of attention to the matter.

The final irony? In the last two games, Fox and his O coordinator seem determined to not employ a Tebow maximized offense. This sounds familiar. A QB succeeding when he can finally chuck his overly restrictive and poorly tailored offensive gameplan to win in the 4th Quarter == John Elway/Dan Reeves

[Fritz]

I just don't think the guy has the skills to be successful as an NFL QB over the long haul. Period. The Bears and most other teams can stifle him for 3/4 of the game, if not longer, and when you look at the point productions of the Broncos' comeback wins, they seldom get far behind despite the lack of offensive production.

[mraynrand]

I've always liked Webb a lot. think he will stick in NFL for quite a while

I was impressed by your insight on another thread that the Vikings still would like to win some games, and that Webb might be a good guy to trot out, before putting McNabb on the field. I thought they didn't give him enough of a look last year, and that they probably wasted their first round pick when they had a guy in house who could run the show. I'm not sorry they potentially wasted a pick, because it's the Vikings. It's interesting that the Packers didn't have to face either Tebow - the original or the Internet version. Football is not just about who you play, but when you play them...

[mraynrand]

The final irony? In the last two games, Fox and his O coordinator seem determined to not employ a Tebow maximized offense. This sounds familiar. A QB succeeding when he can finally chuck his overly restrictive and poorly tailored offensive gameplan to win in the 4th Quarter == John Elway/Dan Reeves

Funny - I was thinking the same thing. Let's run Sammy Winder/Willis McGahee all game long and Karl Mecklenburg/Vonn Miller can keep us in the game, but then we'll let Elway chuck it up/scramble for it at the end when we're 'hopelessly' behind.

[pbmax]

Don Imus checks in with ....

You know what? When it gets to the point that I am referencing Don Imus to make a point I have gone way too far in the water from the beach. Suffice it to say the Iman (I-man, iman, IMAn?) has an opinion and that is a signal that nothing more can be gained from the media.

[Pugger]

I don't think most folks hate Tebow but I'm fairly certain non-Bronco fans are getting damn weary of Tebowmania. The amount of attention he is getting is ridiculous. There are even people in some quarters saying he should be in the conversation for league MVP.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Link for anybody who thinks he should be MVP? Personally, I love the attention he's getting. Takes some of the attention off our guys. Perfect timing. How often is a 13-0 team overshadowed? Our guys can concentrate on winning games. Let everybody cover Tebow.

[mmmdk]

Link for anybody who thinks he should be MVP? Personally, I love the attention he's getting. Takes some of the attention off our guys. Perfect timing. How often is a 13-0 team overshadowed? Our guys can concentrate on winning games. Let everybody cover Tebow.

I agree; there are a lot of HOT teams in the NFL & all getting attention...Packers might be the only 13-0 team ever to fly under the radar!