April 2010

It’s fair to judge that the Denver Broncos gambled, a heavy burden many NFL franchises take every year. It’s a franchise equivalent to Oakland of making a fool of itself in the NFL Draft, even though it remains a mystery as to whether Tim Tebow develops and flourishes as an immediate impact at quarterback in the NFL.

Whenever critics and skeptics do the Broncos a favor, and quit doubting the mental capacities and passing mechanics of Tebow, maybe it won’t be considered franchise suicide. Like other players who were selected off the boards, he can very well emerge and adjust to the pro-style offense, be observed as a megastar, and shimmer in the pro spotlight.

In reality, he’s the least NFL ready among big names, polarized for his religious beliefs and throwing deficiencies. His presence means a lot to a league with many off-the-field issues and criminal misdeeds that has pillaged the valuable NFL image.

Every season, a misbehaved athlete brings chaotic drama and pointless baggage, sabotaging teams’ personality and soundness. So when Tebow was picked by the Denver Broncos with the 25th pick overall, the franchise drafted a player worth trusting, and a quarterback with acceptable class. He acts with strong character and manages to keep his self-control on the field. He’s not a wicked individual or a suspect of unlawful crimes, but an evangelistic and polarizing figure. It’s amazing that he handles adversity with maturity and humility, devoting much of his life to the practice of Christianity.

If there’s someone as modest and humble as Oprah within our violent, senseless, and poor economic society, it’s Tebow, setting positive examples and unselfishly giving back to children and prisoners. The league is laughing at Denver, a franchise suddenly portrayed as a laughingstock. All of the sudden, people are taunting the Broncos for all the wrong reasons, after a unanimous selection is calculated as an inauspicious blunder and the dumbest decision.

In a strange draft, of which the top projected quarterbacks were outcasts, other than Sam Bradford, who found his first NFL home with the St. Louis Rams as first choice overall in the NFL Draft, Tebow was the second quarterback taken and appreciated.

He is, indeed, an endearing and hyped athlete because of his passion, prodigy, and prosperous status in the playing days at Florida, where he captured national limelight in his four years, and engineered the Gators to a pair of national championships. It’s almost easy to suggest that the Broncos are revamping its franchise, when it nearly advanced to the playoffs a year ago after getting off to an unexpected start. Whichever way anyone reckons this pick, it wasn’t an awful or wasteful pick, and he wasn’t chosen with the perception of being the savior in the NFL and the one player who cannot do wrong.

Even though it’s a huge gamble, Josh McDaniels, the 34-year old head coach of the Broncos, was willing to give Tebow a chance of showcasing his abilities and perspicacity. By trading three second-round picks to the Baltimore Ravens, McDaniels was given the 25th pick, and recognized the improvement in his accuracy and throwing mechanics during workouts, when he began building a relationship with Tebow.

And now, he has a liking for his personality and talent, in which he demonstrated at Florida by conducting a high-powered offense with his option style formations, stamina, and explosiveness on the ground. During his collegiate career, we were accustomed to witnessing his powerful stiffed-arms, his unstoppable speed, and his agility and strength to exert effortless speed and find the end zone, which normally resulted in a touchdown.

The last three months, he has spent ample time working on his passes and precision, convincing McDaniels that in prior weeks he has improved his throwing motions. In short, the Broncos and McDaniels weren’t reluctant acquiring an uncertain quarterback whose delivery still has an unsettling and dubious throwing motion. Tebow is precisely a nice fit in Denver, where he’ll be cultivated and could excel at the highest level under McDaniels, who’s profound at molding and developing quarterbacks into an elite thrower.

Convincingly, Tebow’s style was relevant and beneficial at Florida, but in a transition to the NFL, he’s irrelevant and skeptics doubt that he’ll ever thrive as an elite quarterback.

He’s a beloved and iconic college athlete, while some dislike his overexposed and overhyped exaltation. We’ve either revered Tebow as a religious savior, or an overrated quarterback without an assuring throwing motion. But whatever critics believes, he’s relentlessly a valuable piece.

And he also can fool us all, becoming an instrumental piece in Denver’s offensive schemes. It’s easy to foreshadow that he’ll turn into a bust and disappoint all. Because he’s an unproven and polarizing athlete, he’s figured a fallen star and discounted for his irritating flaws.

Many people are judgmental and categorize Tebow as a high risk, questioning whether his lack of arm strength and footwork is well-equipped for a pro-style offense. Very well, he can develop a brilliant delivery and nifty footwork, and evolve into a pro quarterback. Consider it a gracious landing spot, where he’ll learn under McDaniels, a coach with overwhelming confidence and hopes he could upgrade his level of consistency.

But if there’s someone more skeptical of Tebow, it’s Todd McShay. He’s clearly critical of the Broncos wasting a valuable first-round pick on an unproven player. “When you still have so many needs to address as a Denver Broncos team, how do you draft Tim Tebow,” said McShay during the draft on Saturday.

“You brought in Brady Quinn, you hope that you can handle your situation at quarterback inside. And the bottom line is Tim Tebow is not an NFL quarterback. You now have to take the next two years and try to get some contribution out of him or develop him into a good starting quarterback to make that pick worthwhile. I understand Josh McDaniels is as good as anyone in the business at developing quarterbacks, but Tim Tebow I just don’t know that he can be develop into a good starting quarterback.”

At the expense of McDaniels, Tebow brings in cleverness and inspirational leadership, appropriate character that the Broncos demand. This was a gamble, but a smart gamble, one any franchise should have been willing to take. Image is important to most teams, particularity with the Broncos, after recently trading its top receiver Brandon Marshall to Miami because of detrimental behavior and foolish baggage that became weary in an organization, seeking to climb atop an undermined AFC West division.

Was this a good pick? Maybe it was. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. I personally think it was a nice pick. These days, hypocrisy and riskiness engenders thought whether a player becomes an NFL superstar or a bust. It’s the NFL. Any pick is near-dangerous, and could settle as the worst selection ever, which means picks that don’t seem valuable might mean much to a franchise years later.

It’s simple to overstate that Tebow is destined to dazzle as a big-name quarterback. As a franchise that emphasizes strong character, a trend religiously followed by Tebow, he grasps a sense of humility within a Heisman Trophy winner and decorated college player.

In pregame warm-ups and talks, he writes Bible verses and inspirits teammates with his advice. Across the world, he’s admired for his missionary and charitable work, he’s well-known for writing Bible verses on his eyeblack, and he’s a gracious athlete with much promise.

It’s really not foolish of the Broncos to pick Tebow. He’s an authentic and generous individual, and also can prosper as a pro quarterback.

Eventually, he’ll glorify football with thrilling throws and accurate passes, just as he does by the heartwarming goodness that he exposes in our society.

Josh Dhani

Josh has been writing since January 2009 and founded FootBasket in April 2009. He also owns the websites, Hardcourt Mayhem and Gridiron Mayhem. For a full bio, check out JoshDhani.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshDhani