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Pats can't really want Tebow . . . can they?
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<!- END SINGLE BAR -->March 31, 2010
By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com
All right, let's cut the prosciutto here.
Why in Tebow's name are the Patriots sniffing so vigorously around the hindquarters of the project/lightning rod/icon that played quarterback for the University of Florida for the past four years?
Bill Belichick, Nick Caserio and Tim Tebow sharing dinner at Tresca in the North End? What, the Red Wing on Route 1 wasn't taking reservations?
Why is Belichick, who's done more for the identity-shielding hooded sweatshirt than the Unibomber, wearing a University of Florida visor at the owner's meetings and then publicly breaking bread with the most recognizable college football player in recent memory 30 days before the draft?
Is he being so conspicuous in an effort to pump up Tebow's draft value, thereby enticing a rival to stay ahead of the Pats? Is he doing his friend, Florida coach Urban Meyer, a solid since Meyer's been getting heat for not fine-tuning Tebow for the pro game? Is he genuinely interested in taking Tebow in the (dear Tebow, say it can't be) first round?!
The only five-letter name beginning with a T that's bigger than Tebow right now is Tiger. And the two men – very different men, it seems – will be firestarter topics until the end of April.
Tebow is a wellspring of conversation. You can toggle back and forth between draft projections, abortion, the spread offense, race, quick releases, the place of religion in sports, the Wildcat offense and the sliminess of big-time college athletics.
The kid is a walking photo-op. When Tim Tebow gets drafted and by whom are the questions that dwarf all others in this year's draft.
And the close-to-the-vest Patriots – who often eyeroll about the creeping paparazzi nature of the Boston media – are chowing down in the city with a kid ESPN built a cottage industry around? In the age of Twitter and cell-phone cameras? And lest anyone not recognize Tebow, he's seen flipping a football around on the sidewalk after dinner?
None of it aligns with the Patriots normal M.O. Tebow is a celebrity quarterback. And that gets in the way of a lot of things.
For instance, one of the biggest hurdles to a discussion of "Tim Tebow, football player" is wading through the sidebars that distract from the football conversation. One of the more difficult aspects to processing information about him is determining what prejudices (football or othwerwise) inform the opinions you're listening to.
Tebow isn't blameless in this. He's as much responsible for muddying the football waters with his overt religiosity and willingness to allow himself to be the prop in non-football discussions as the people who've canonized him. I mean, how do we know the kid's a virgin? He talks about it. And just as it's his right to talk about it, it's the right of observers to wonder what the motivations for doing so are. Is he a football player? A spokesman? A vessel of the Lord? A well-crafted public relations creation? All of the above?
Regardless, Tebow's stock is rising. Rising despite having his potential sullied by a wide range of detractors ranging from Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, Bengals receiver Andre Caldwell, Gators receiver Deonte Thompson (kinda) to Joe Theismann and assorted draft gurus. Rising despite a horrific week at the Senior Bowl and the mechanical overhaul his delivery is undergoing.
Surely there are many who think well of Tebow . . . Belichick being one. But no one is predicting an easy transition to the NFL for him. The faith in Tebow, it seems, is rooted in intangibles a winner's attitude and a desire to overcome.
Tangibly? He's not nearly as impressive. At the owner's meetings in Orlando, a league source man who coached multiple Hall of Fame quarterbacks and won Super Bowls told me Tebow's arm motion is the least of the young man's worries.
Tebow's "base" is a mess, he said. Tebow doesn't set his feet. He doesn't consistently drive off his back foot. He doesn't stay behind the ball and rotate through it properly. As a result of all that, his accuracy isn't nearly what it needs to be, 70 percent completion rate at Florida be damned (side note: David Carr completed 68.2 percent of his passes for the 6-10 Texans in 2006).
Meanwhile, the running aspect of Tebow's game isn't a sidelight. He ran as often or more than he passed five times in 2009. He carried the ball 13 or more times in 11 of 14 games. He is conditioned to play the position in an unusual way that won't fly in the NFL.
Which brings us to the conversation about Tebow switching positions in the NFL. Now understand this, Tebow's father has information his son will go in the first 15 picks. Falcons GM Tom Dimitroff told me Tebow won't make it out of the first round.
Do you use a first-round pick on someone about to learn a new position? Or the second round, for that matter?
If you want a tight end, though, there's a ton of good ones in this draft. Why take Tebow? Same goes for a short-yardage back, a linebacker, a special teams ace.
Wildcat quarterback? Last summer, when Michael Vick was rumored to be in New England, owner Robert Kraft peed on that notion, saying who in their right mind would take Tom Brady off the field to give Michael Vick reps. How would Tebow be different or better than Vick? Or, for that matter, backup quarterback Brian Hoyer?
Thinking locally for a second, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert told me he's never seen a deeper defensive draft than this one. The Patriots need a pass-rusher badly. And a right defensive end for the 3-4. And they need to make up for second-round picks blown in recent seasons.
Meanwhile, they have no tight end to speak of. Nor do they have what anyone would call a reliable stable of running backs. Or a young, promising wide receiver who can stretch the field.
And yet Tim Tebow – who could be Steve Young but is more likely an amalgamation of Eric Crouch, Scott Frost, Jason White, Andre Ware and Matt Jones -- is gnoshing saltimbocca with the modern-day Lombardi?
Add it all up. You know what you get?
The fact that someday, 40 years down the road, Tim Tebow will bounce a grandkid on his knee and recall that heady spring of 2010 when he had the attention of everybody who cares about American football. And the March night he ate dinner with Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick at an Italian place in Boston. A great night, he'll say wistfully, before adding that he never really talked to Belichick again.
That's the way this is going to go . . . isn't it?
Pats can't really want Tebow . . . can they?
<!- START SINGLE BAR --><EMBED src=http://player.theplatform.com/ps/player/pds/s0xoi4jFlF&pid=RLDeSbZsRpcufBAHRIqiXSzJmlNsOZV0 width=600 height=355 type=application/x-shockwave-flash allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#000000">
<!- END SINGLE BAR -->March 31, 2010
By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com
All right, let's cut the prosciutto here.
Why in Tebow's name are the Patriots sniffing so vigorously around the hindquarters of the project/lightning rod/icon that played quarterback for the University of Florida for the past four years?
Bill Belichick, Nick Caserio and Tim Tebow sharing dinner at Tresca in the North End? What, the Red Wing on Route 1 wasn't taking reservations?
Why is Belichick, who's done more for the identity-shielding hooded sweatshirt than the Unibomber, wearing a University of Florida visor at the owner's meetings and then publicly breaking bread with the most recognizable college football player in recent memory 30 days before the draft?
Is he being so conspicuous in an effort to pump up Tebow's draft value, thereby enticing a rival to stay ahead of the Pats? Is he doing his friend, Florida coach Urban Meyer, a solid since Meyer's been getting heat for not fine-tuning Tebow for the pro game? Is he genuinely interested in taking Tebow in the (dear Tebow, say it can't be) first round?!
The only five-letter name beginning with a T that's bigger than Tebow right now is Tiger. And the two men – very different men, it seems – will be firestarter topics until the end of April.
Tebow is a wellspring of conversation. You can toggle back and forth between draft projections, abortion, the spread offense, race, quick releases, the place of religion in sports, the Wildcat offense and the sliminess of big-time college athletics.
The kid is a walking photo-op. When Tim Tebow gets drafted and by whom are the questions that dwarf all others in this year's draft.
And the close-to-the-vest Patriots – who often eyeroll about the creeping paparazzi nature of the Boston media – are chowing down in the city with a kid ESPN built a cottage industry around? In the age of Twitter and cell-phone cameras? And lest anyone not recognize Tebow, he's seen flipping a football around on the sidewalk after dinner?
None of it aligns with the Patriots normal M.O. Tebow is a celebrity quarterback. And that gets in the way of a lot of things.
For instance, one of the biggest hurdles to a discussion of "Tim Tebow, football player" is wading through the sidebars that distract from the football conversation. One of the more difficult aspects to processing information about him is determining what prejudices (football or othwerwise) inform the opinions you're listening to.
Tebow isn't blameless in this. He's as much responsible for muddying the football waters with his overt religiosity and willingness to allow himself to be the prop in non-football discussions as the people who've canonized him. I mean, how do we know the kid's a virgin? He talks about it. And just as it's his right to talk about it, it's the right of observers to wonder what the motivations for doing so are. Is he a football player? A spokesman? A vessel of the Lord? A well-crafted public relations creation? All of the above?
Regardless, Tebow's stock is rising. Rising despite having his potential sullied by a wide range of detractors ranging from Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, Bengals receiver Andre Caldwell, Gators receiver Deonte Thompson (kinda) to Joe Theismann and assorted draft gurus. Rising despite a horrific week at the Senior Bowl and the mechanical overhaul his delivery is undergoing.
Surely there are many who think well of Tebow . . . Belichick being one. But no one is predicting an easy transition to the NFL for him. The faith in Tebow, it seems, is rooted in intangibles a winner's attitude and a desire to overcome.
Tangibly? He's not nearly as impressive. At the owner's meetings in Orlando, a league source man who coached multiple Hall of Fame quarterbacks and won Super Bowls told me Tebow's arm motion is the least of the young man's worries.
Tebow's "base" is a mess, he said. Tebow doesn't set his feet. He doesn't consistently drive off his back foot. He doesn't stay behind the ball and rotate through it properly. As a result of all that, his accuracy isn't nearly what it needs to be, 70 percent completion rate at Florida be damned (side note: David Carr completed 68.2 percent of his passes for the 6-10 Texans in 2006).
Meanwhile, the running aspect of Tebow's game isn't a sidelight. He ran as often or more than he passed five times in 2009. He carried the ball 13 or more times in 11 of 14 games. He is conditioned to play the position in an unusual way that won't fly in the NFL.
Which brings us to the conversation about Tebow switching positions in the NFL. Now understand this, Tebow's father has information his son will go in the first 15 picks. Falcons GM Tom Dimitroff told me Tebow won't make it out of the first round.
Do you use a first-round pick on someone about to learn a new position? Or the second round, for that matter?
If you want a tight end, though, there's a ton of good ones in this draft. Why take Tebow? Same goes for a short-yardage back, a linebacker, a special teams ace.
Wildcat quarterback? Last summer, when Michael Vick was rumored to be in New England, owner Robert Kraft peed on that notion, saying who in their right mind would take Tom Brady off the field to give Michael Vick reps. How would Tebow be different or better than Vick? Or, for that matter, backup quarterback Brian Hoyer?
Thinking locally for a second, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert told me he's never seen a deeper defensive draft than this one. The Patriots need a pass-rusher badly. And a right defensive end for the 3-4. And they need to make up for second-round picks blown in recent seasons.
Meanwhile, they have no tight end to speak of. Nor do they have what anyone would call a reliable stable of running backs. Or a young, promising wide receiver who can stretch the field.
And yet Tim Tebow – who could be Steve Young but is more likely an amalgamation of Eric Crouch, Scott Frost, Jason White, Andre Ware and Matt Jones -- is gnoshing saltimbocca with the modern-day Lombardi?
Add it all up. You know what you get?
The fact that someday, 40 years down the road, Tim Tebow will bounce a grandkid on his knee and recall that heady spring of 2010 when he had the attention of everybody who cares about American football. And the March night he ate dinner with Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick at an Italian place in Boston. A great night, he'll say wistfully, before adding that he never really talked to Belichick again.
That's the way this is going to go . . . isn't it?
