With the imminent signing of Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos, the message should not be that of John Elway not thinking he could win with the “Peoples Subject” Tim Tebow, but where is the league going with philosophy? Tebow was a fad in Denver where some thought the Broncos won in spite of him while others only worried about the end result of just winning. The old school had the opinion that it was more fiction than fact and Elway made that point very clear in his pursuit of Peyton.
If there was ever a player that even the most staunch Tebow fans would have to stop and pay homage to it would have to be Peyton Manning. Multiple neck operations withstanding, he was the nightmare of every quarterback that had not been on a Super Bowl winning team over the last couple of weeks, knowing that your General Manager had his phone number. Throw in a clean bill of health and it’s, “Honey, hold off on the big ticket expense as we may have to go back to renting.” Even the once “untouchable” Tebow’s number was up.
Like many old-school football people, Elway was never on board with Tebow and his style of quarterbacking … poor passing technique, inability to read defenses and the old tuck and run that is an invitation to going on injured reserve for the year. No one would say this publicly without the risk of being a hater of Tebow, God and all that is right with America, as the fanatics literally lost their minds over the Tebow avalanche. Elway leapt at the chance to secure Manning, knowing that it would be hard for fans to oppose.
What now?
What happens now in the offensive philosophy of the NFL? It used to be run first, pass if you have to and run some more. Things have eased up as the passing game is here to stay and the league has made sure of that by making it a penalty to get too close to a quarterback and not to hit a receiver too hard downfield. All of a sudden that athletic black quarterback that they tried to convert to another position has evolved into Tim Tebow. Surely you cannot change his position, he is a quarterback. It worked in college, why not the NFL?
There are more Tim Tebows on the way as the college game has decided to chuck the conventional offenses that they supplied to the NFL for years and enter the hybrid. The spread offense that is run by a superior athlete is the talk of the town, and the old schoolers are not ready for it. The quarterback factory of college football will produce more Tim Tebows and Robert Griffin IIIs than Andrew Lucks. It has already started when you look at Drew Breese, his backup, former Mizzou QB Chase Daniel and others who never even get close to a center and choose to tuck and run more than ever. It’s great for college but to have a quarterback roll out and get crushed by a defender only to find himself on the injured reserve list for the remainder of the season is devastating, and because of the salary cap few teams can afford to spend similar money on a backup should the starter go down for the year.
The old line will dig on this one when it comes to what sort of quarterback will lead the way. The perfect pocket passer will always be the player of choice for any coach.
Used gear for sale?
For all you front runners, you know the ones that run out and buy the Lakers license plate cover after they win another championship only to change cars once Lebron landed in Miami, what did you do with all that gear this year? What did you do with the first baseman who played for the Cardinals’ jersey? How about the Tebow jersey you got for Christmas? Surely you can still fit in that Peyton jersey from a few years ago. Make room for more Heat jerseys in home, road and third and fourth jerseys. Yep, nothing like being a front runner.
Shocking end for Mizzou
The NCAA tournament is over for both local entries Missouri and St. Louis University. The wrong team got sent home earlier than everyone thought. Missouri was nationally ranked and considered a Final Four participant, but someone forgot to tell Norfolk State. A great season, but the item that will be most remembered will be how things ended … shockingly.
