Tim Tebow lead the Broncos from a 17-0 and 23-10 deficit for a stirring 24-23 win.
In notching his first win and first 4th quarter comeback, the Broncos
fan-base quickly started in with the "we have our Elway replacement!" talk.
Truth be told, we may have already had him but he's now quarterbacking
the Bears. Jay Cutler has had an excellent year and has lead his team
to the playoffs. Tim Tebow is probably a few years from returning
the Broncos to the place where fans came to feel was their home,
the postseason.
You can't help but be impressed with what Tebow brings to the table,
especially the one thing people have always said about him, his desire to win.
His drive to improve and to lead his team is above reproach.
All the quotes from the Broncos locker room yesterday convinced me
the players are already buying into the Tebow mystique.
Here are some of the plaudits as reported in the Denver Post
Mario Haggan said of Tebow.
Correll Buckhalter- "what I like most about him is the energy he brings to the huddle. That's a third element that he brings — the energy."
" It's the passion," Brandon Lloyd said, "and it's funny how it translates to people who don't play. It's strange because to us players, it's expected to play with a lot of passion. But a lot of us don't play with it. And a lot of us know the difference between guys who really are passionate and guys who are trying to act that way but are chilling out.
With Tim, when he calls the play I know he's going to do everything humanly possible to make that play happen. It's crazy having that kind of confidence in a rookie quarterback."
One of the big question about Tebow coming into the league was if
his Rah-Rah act was going to play with the big boys.
The things is, it's not an act. And apparently the players
recognize that. If you're out there working the hardest, practicing
the hardest and committing yourself to your team, players recognize
that as real, not phony.
All of this skirts along what is a really interesting topic.
Are there really born leaders?
You would think a great number of players who made it to the NFL
were born leaders.
However, you would also expect that some percentage of them did
NOT succeed at the pro level.
Or maybe they weren't born leaders after all.
Vince Lombardi said "leaders aren't born, they are made.
And they are made just like anything else, through hard work."
Perhaps it's possible to be a born leader who lacks the will to get
the most out of himself and sooner or later, in this case the NFL,
the well runs dry. Maybe confidence comes into play and
when guys are among the best of the best, doubt creeps in
and those leadership qualities wilt away.
I have yet to hear anyone say anything about Tebow's work
ethic that suggests he isn't working his tail off every day,
making himself into a leader though hard work, even if he
is a born leader to begin with.
Champ Bailey stated the obvious when talking about Tebow saying,
"I've never seen a winner lose. And he's a winner."
Today on SportsCenter Antonio Pierce said "that guy just wins.
It isn't always pretty, but he finds a way." You can't underestimate
the value of having a guy that everyone else on the team believes
gives them a better chance to win.
And more than the X+O's and his throwing motion and his throwing
off the back foot, right now Tebow is giving the Broncos and their
fans hope. For that reason alone I am raising the Tebowmeter from 5.5 to 7.5
I'm not going higher than that because it's only been 2 games
and I don't want to overreact. But if in fact Tebow is a winner
and a born leader, all the actual quarterbacking will continue to get
better through hard work.
Thanks to Tim Tebow I have more hope for the future of this team
now than I did 2 weeks ago.
other thoughts:
the play calling was much better yesterday. As I noted on Twitter,
Tebow's biggest passing plays were coming on 1st down, many of
which were play-action. This coming coming off a week where
Denver ran on 14 of 17 1st down plays.
although not identical, the screen pass to Buckhalter yesterday
reminded me of Elway's 1st big comeback game against the Colts
in '83 when he dumped one off to Gerald Willhite from a similar
distance and Willhite made a nice run to get in the end zone.
Go 1:00 into this video to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSKijTma9I
Nothing would make me happier than for Tebow to beat the Chargers
this week and get a leg up on Rivers in what might be a good rivalry
in the years to come.
Finally, I found this on line. Looks like every great Elway game you would
want so see is available. With a birthday coming up, I think I have found
my present.
http://www.ioffer.com/i/john-elway-greatest-games-set-on-dvd-denver-broncos-151225827
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