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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTebow being blackballed by NFL teams due to cult-like following...
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--tim-tebow-blackballed-by-nfl-teams-because-of-cult-like-following--media-frenzy-054940389.htmlSnip
Right now, pro-football powerbrokers don't seem to be listening, and that's their prerogative. No man, even one as revered in some quarters as Tebow, has a divine right to wear an NFL uniform. This is a highly competitive sport, performed at its highest level, and players with strong credentials and promising starts to their careers get bounced out of the league with regularity.
This time, however, there's a glaring difference. In virtually every other case, the once-prominent player who washes out does so after flailing on the field, and/or getting into trouble off the field.
Since playing in a pair of playoff games 16 months ago, Tebow, whose only off-the-field baggage comes in the form of his cult-like following and the media frenzy it provokes, hasn't been afforded the opportunity to show that he sucks.
It's certainly possible that he's simply not up to NFL standards, and never will be, but wouldn't it be nice to get some conclusive proof before this story comes to a meek and unfulfilling close?
snip
I thought this was interesting in how owners don't want to mess with the paranoid, cultist behavior of Tebow's followers, their rationalizations about God's interventions, etc, even though there is talent and leadership skills in this player.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)Even in Denver he was hot and cold and practically a ghost in New York. I think that has more to do with it than any controversy or other issues that are connected to or follow him. If he was a better player, he'd be playing. IMO
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,571 posts)his desire to be a QB and convert to TE or HBack or something. He's big, strong and can run a bit. But an NFL QB? No way.........
CincyDem
(6,355 posts)...you better walk on water. As a QB, Tebow is at best a middling pro with a lot to learn. In the end, that's what the NFL pays you for. Just like any other business, the owners are say to Tim - "just do your f'ing job". He seems to be missing that input.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Which, some people say, is kind of an important skill for an NFL quarterback.
Sid
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)Most qbs already know that
Mr. David
(535 posts)When he just handed off to people like Percy Harvin and Aaron Hernandez.
Not much throwing required.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)It's not his warm personality, and it's not his religion. He just sucks.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)He just can't throw and doesn't seem to have much in the way of leadership on the field.
I don't think it has anything to do with religion.
mnmoderatedem
(3,728 posts)I've never seen the media so far in the tank for a player, based on such scant accomplishments.
Case in point: ESPN has a show called Numbers Never Lie. One one particular episode, when Tebow was still with the Broncos, they gave out the number 4. The meaning behind the number 4 was that it marked 4 consecutive games where Tebow had a completion percentage of at least 50%. For those who don't follow football, rest assured that's a remarkably pedestrian stat. Not impressive whatsoever. But because it was Tebow, they built it up as if it were some sort of grand accomplishment. To make matters worse, 2 of those 4 games his percentage was exactly 50%, and another it was barely over 50%. Talk about data mining.
Incidentally, a quarterback named TJ Yates filled in for the injured starter for the Houston Texans last season, and the unheralded guy led his team to a playoff victory just like Tebow did in Denver. I must have missed the media fanfare. Maybe if he got on one knee and "Tebowed"?
madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,423 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)this entirely manufactured "phenom"? Being white and a religious fanatic are not sufficient qualifications to play in the Big Time.
RagAss
(13,832 posts)...and Doug Flutie could hit a rat in the ass with a football at 50 yards. Enough of this Tebow bullshit.
This is rightwing, "Christian persecution" bs.
Give it a rest. He doesn't have the skill set to be an NFL qb. Period.
mnmoderatedem
(3,728 posts)If NFL general managers thought he could play, they would snatch him up in a heartbeat.
ThomThom
(1,486 posts)if they want him
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)We don't run the ball up the middle, over and over and over and over and over and over again up here.
Bigger field + fewer downs = way more throwing.
Tebow would be a very bad fit for the CFL.
Sid
ThomThom
(1,486 posts)except a lot of players go there and play when they don't get a contract in the NFL (W. Moon)
I am not a fan of this guy or really care what happens to him.
Mr. David
(535 posts)Exactly.
liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)hear a real reason; one moment he seemed to be in the spotlight, and the next he wasn't. Why WAS Flutie blackballed? I'm not really a sports person (even though I'm originally from Cleveland, where it's practically required that you bow down and worship their usually pathetic, sorry teams), but I was interested in Flutie somewhat because he son has autism and I raised an aspie son.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Back when he was coaching his nephew in HS, my significant other had met him and spent some time with him at some coaching meetings/breakfasts and was really impressed with what a nice guy he was. His nephew went on to play for BC I think.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Srsly.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)maybe then teams wouldn't be so afraid of him.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Picture, he's the football equivalent of "Box Office Poison." For every holy roller he might bring in with his "Jesus is my coach" schtick, he'd drive three away--and that's assuming he could throw the ball, which, I understand, is a tricky proposition for him.
I do tend to equate his name with the term "insufferable."
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)He just sucks.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Two of the biggest hyped quarterbacks, and neither one would start for most NFL teams. I thought Sanchez was going to be a good qb, but the last two years have proven otherwise. Some of the things he has done have left me scratching my head. Then he gets the deer in the headlights look.
There were times when I just wanted to pet him like a little dog and say "it will be all right".
joeunderdog
(2,563 posts)Fortunate to have already made millions on the talent level of a star collegiate player. And he's grateful fo it. He should be.
Lots of God-Squauders in the nfl. But they need talent to stay on.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)and yes, plently of the cross-signing-fingers-to-the skywaving-kneeling-after-a-tocuhdown players in the NFL, but, THEY can play.
Bake
(21,977 posts)Because Sanchez sucks pretty badly himself.
Bake
Response to Ilsa (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)just not where it is supposed to go.
liberal N proud
(60,334 posts):rolf:
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)He is even a good leader as a back-up. He just doesn't have the arm to run a west-coast offense. Look at the stats in the NFL over the last couple of years. The winners are all throwing the ball and racking up historically absurd yards doing so. He has every right to make an attempt at becoming an NFL quarterback. I think he can spend another year or two working on that. If it doesn't work out, which it looks like it won't, I see him going back to UF as an offensive coordinator or offensive line coach. This would be his foot in the door. He is loved there. With his energy and enthusiasm he would make a great recruiter. And Whatever the hate for him, he is a student of the game and I believe he would make an excellent coach. In ten years he could become one of the youngest and highest paid coaches in college ball.
GoneOffShore
(17,339 posts)Of course he'd probably think that teaching college ball was a fertile field full of prospects to convert.
Frank Cannon
(7,570 posts)Wearing a headset mic, riding the circuit where the fools and their money are soon parted.
marmar
(77,078 posts)...... who's generated this much press coverage.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Botany
(70,501 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Truer words were never spoken, my friend.
TlalocW
(15,381 posts)Had the makings of a fine punter but choked.
TlalocW
Mr. David
(535 posts)Not a punter.
'84 Dolphins, right?
TlalocW
(15,381 posts)If my only contribution to a sports discussion is from a 1994 Jim Carrey movie, I obviously don't know my terminology.
TlalocW
GeorgeGist
(25,320 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)And it isn't so much that the owners are bothered by his cult like following as much as the fact that the fool himself seems to encourage his followers by his on field antics and statements to the press.
If he would just chill with all that hayzoos crap his nuttier fans would disappear pretty damn quick, so it's in his power to show potential employers he's serious about playing football and not just a religious whackadoodle.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)Response to southernyankeebelle (Reply #16)
Name removed Message auto-removed
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)It's not that I mind him being religious. I just think you should practice it in your home and in your church. I have a feeling they really don't want him on a team because some see him as cult like. You don't need that on the ball field.
Champion Jack
(5,378 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)With his size, speed and what we'll call "football vision" (the ability to see the play unfold and where the hole is or will be or identify the weak point in the defense) he'd be one of the top RBs or TEs in the league on offense or potentially an even better DB (The most common position for QBs changing position at the NFL level is actually FS) after a season or so to adjust to being on the other side of the ball.
As a QB...he's not good enough for any team to deal with the headaches he brings in terms of his "fans".
orwell
(7,771 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)But we all know he wouldn't accept being a FB.
get the red out
(13,462 posts)I don't know why he hasn't.
I also think he got way too used to being loved for his fanaticism in the SEC. Culture shock.
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Tebow demonstrated that he has undying enthusiasm, a great work ethic, and a lack of the skills needed to be a premier, NFL quarterback.
If you are going to be an intentional distraction, you'd better be a hugely talented one. Tebow is the former but not the latter.
Yavin4
(35,438 posts)For Tebow to be effective.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)Oh, hahahahaha. Only because he played in a division which, other than Denver, included San Diego, Oakland and Kansas City; three teams that needed special assistance to tie their collective shoe laces.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)for insisting on the quarterback position. He should have gone with tight end or something that didn't require throwing (as he sucks at that).
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)It would seem from what he preaches he should have the humility to play another position and just be grateful for the chance.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)who led him to believe it was G-d's will for him to play quarterback in the NFL - as no other position matters.
Ganja Ninja
(15,953 posts)The media circus and the cult following wouldn't make any difference.
denverbill
(11,489 posts)The powerbrokers are all coming to this decision on their own accord. They saw how his cult pushed Josh McDaniels to play him. Then how they forced Fox to play him. Elway knew the only way to get rid of him was to grab a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The Jets grabbed Tebow to boost their ratings and they now know the power of the Tebow cult.
I do kind of wish some team would let him play though. Of course, if he was a miserable failure, the cult would just blame his teammates (who hate Christians) or officials (who hate Christians). They just have to keep the myth of the persecuted Christian football star alive.
I feel kind of sorry for Tebow. I don't think he's done much that an awful lot of football, baseball, and other players don't do as far as wearing religion on their sleeve. And I think he's sincere in his beliefs. It is not his fault that he's become a cult figure.
mnmoderatedem
(3,728 posts)check this out. Talk about coukoo for cocoa puffs.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-tim-tebow-plea-20130506,0,6931958.story
Sissyk
(12,665 posts)that can not consistently throw a football!
msongs
(67,405 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)and every team in the NFL would be begging him to play for them.
Tebow's skills were great for a run offense in college football. His release is simply too slow for a pro QB.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)even though he's got bible verses tattooed all over him, because he's a talented quarterback.
Harbs is also super religious, he missed the first few days of camp last year because he was on a mission.
Mr. David
(535 posts)That'll kick in soon.
And once Kapernick fails, they'll be pining for Alex Smith again.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)Didn't make him a good head coach. But he is doing ok at Minnesota, apparently, as an assistant. The NFL is full of religious people. Tebow just blows, that's all.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)BB will try anything if he thinks it gives him an edge.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Preachiness and in your face type religion doesn't play well here.
bluedigger
(17,086 posts)But BB is on record as being very complimentary of Tebow's skills in the past. Of course, he could have just been setting up the opposition. He is an evil genius, after all.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)btw, that is a serious accusation to throw around without solid proof (even in hyperbole)...
If Tebow ever considered being more open to a position change, he'd be on a roster right now...Nevermind the fact that he had a chance to go to Jacksonville last offseason with the opportunity to play right away...
madville
(7,410 posts)If he made the move to fullback or tight end he would have no problem getting a NFL job and playing time. They would also probably let him sit third or fourth on the QB depth chart as well for an emergency situation.
JRLeft
(7,010 posts)snail slow.
Botany
(70,501 posts)Last edited Sat May 11, 2013, 10:51 AM - Edit history (1)
in the NFL a QB needs to have a 3 to 7 step drop back and be able to read the
"D" and throw the ball into a tight window in under 5 seconds. Tim was a hell of
a college player but he might not have what the NFL needs as per a QB..
TeamPooka
(24,223 posts)Mr. David
(535 posts)Chris Kluwe will get another job.
Jason Collins has a job, playing for Washington Wizards, although I hear he is a FA now, and will find another team to play for.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)I don't think he'll have an NFL job next year.
Sid
TeamPooka
(24,223 posts)HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)not to be a Minister and proselytize his RELIGION. End of story. Contract Law 101.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)If he spent less time on his image and more on his game he would not be in this situation. No tears from me for him.
Bennyboy
(10,440 posts)Tebow sucks. everyone saw it on the field. He is horrible. He is a bad football player and everyone, except the devout Tebow'rs, knows it. this has NOTHING to do with his religious beliefs anymore than Kareem Abdul Jabbar's religion had anything to do with his career.(remember when we wuz afraid of dem Muslims?) One was a great player however, and one sucks. (You can guess which one) Shame on you all for trying to play the victim card here. "Damn non-believers are persecuting us Christians" yeah, tell me more. this is the kind of thing that just makes the entire Christian religion so distasteful. (well that and screwing little kids and stealing money).
otohara
(24,135 posts)they threw Timmy under the bus because money and winning beats prayer.
Proving once again they are faux Christians, like John Elway who was the first to toss Tim.
nachosgrande
(66 posts)Tebow isn't as horrible of a player as some in this thread make him out to be. Truth is he is a long-term project at the position. Ideally, he'd serve as a third string QB and continue to work on his mechanics until his next opportunity to start came along. Problem is, his "cult like following" does bring bad publicity and a media frenzy to any team that signs him.
jmowreader
(50,557 posts)I think the Broncos proved Tebow's worth.
There's an old book on infantry combat titled Defense Does Not Win Wars! Unfortunately, when Tebow is your QB it wins football games because Tebow isn't able to.
Tebow's best bet right now would be to go back to Florida as an assistant coach, then try for a head coach slot at a fundy school like Air Force.
kentuck
(111,089 posts)I wish he could get a chance to prove himself. He was in Denver for one year before he was traded to the NY Jets. In Denver, he took a team that was 1-4 and led them to the playoffs where they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first playoff game. Then he was traded to the NY Jets when the Broncos picked up the contract of Peyton Manning...
Mr. David
(535 posts)No more heart attack games.... I hate those... and Tebow induced each one. Seriously.
I've always *said* that Tebow is a fifth-rate player that doesn't even deserve a first round money and Josh McDumbass *STILL* needs to cough up the dough for that disaster. Tebow was the main reason that McDumbass got fired. That, and Spygate 2.
kentuck
(111,089 posts)It's only a game. Tebow was not treated well by Denver or New York, but especially bad by New York.
LostOne4Ever
(9,288 posts)I don't think hes getting a fair chance to prove himself.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)It's all about the benjamins, if he cant make them any, he doesnt play...simple
kentuck
(111,089 posts)So, if its about the Benjamins, no problem.
edbermac
(15,939 posts)Good running QB but his passing skills are for shit, there are high school QB's that pass better than him.