WOW!! Just freaking WOW!!!
Comments like these are incredible, especially coming from Boomer Esisaon, who "God knows" really ought to know better.
CBS Sports analysts cool on Tim Tebow's NFL chances – USATODAY.com:
"Esiason, an analyst for The NFL Today pregame show, dismissed the job prospects of the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, whose stock is plummeting rapidly. From potential franchise quarterback, Tebow has dropped to third on the depth chart behind starting quarterback Kyle Orton and backup Brady Quinn.
"He can't play. He can't throw," Esiason said at a CBS press event in New York on Tuesday. "I'm not here to insult him. The reality is he was a great college football player, maybe the greatest college football player of his time. But he's not an NFL quarterback right now. Just because he's God-fearing, and a great person off the field, and was a winner with the team that had the best athletes in college football, doesn't mean his game is going to translate to the NFL.""
Tebow's throwing mechanics are so poor, Esiason says, he wouldn't be surprised if the Broncos cut him loose. "What (former Broncos coach) Josh McDaniel saw in him God only knows. Maybe God does know — because the rest of us don't," Esiason said.
Why do I say Esiason, of all people should know better? Let's go to Stat-Man for some perspective.
Because even if I take out the Randy Cross position that people hate on Tim Tebow because he wears his Christianity on his sleeve for just a moment (and I don't), a cursory look at the rookie stats of Tim Tebow versus the rookie stats of one Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason shows that Tebow not only compares favorably, but actually performed better as a rookie than Norman did.
Don't believe me?
- Tebow 41 for 82 for 50% completion percentage, Esiason 51 for 102 for 50% completion percentage. - PUSH.
- Tebow 654 yards passed 8.0 avg per attempt, Esiason 530 yards 5.2 avg. - ADVANTAGE TEBOW.
- Tebow 5 TD vs. 3 INT (6.1% and 3.7% resp.), Esiason 3 TD vs. 3 INT (3% each) - ADVANTAGE TEBOW.
- QB rating, a flawed stat, but good for apples to apples comparison. Tebow 82.1, Esiason 62.9 - ADVANTAGE TEBOW.
- Rushing stats, C'mon don't make me laugh. That's like comparing a freight train versus a Volkswagen bus. - ADVANTAGE TEBOW.
So, pretty clearly, the advantage is to Tebow over Esiason. Sorry Boomer.
So, if in fact, Esiason is only doing his job as a "respected analyst" he should know better than most that maybe we haven't seen all there is to see in Mr. Tebow. And that indeed, what we have seen so far, is pretty good.
So, let's bring back the Randy Cross argument, that a lot of the ant-Tebow fervor is a soft form of religious bigotry.
1) All one has to do is look back at the comments section of any pro-Tebow article, from the University of Florida days to the NFL, to get a flavor for the religious bigotry angle. I don't recommend making a habit of reading the comments section, you might lose your confidence in your fellow man, but to deny the anti-religion angle, or soft-peddle it is nonsense. And Esiason should know better.
2) Ironically, the example I believe Tebow fits the best in terms of comparability -- and doubts about whether his success in college would translate into NFL success -- is Michael Vick. There were many doubters, and Vicks' early returns appeared to vindicate the doubters. Many of the arguments against predicted future success -- the run first mind-set versus staying in the pocket and reading defenses, the dreaded "bad mechanics" curse -- were all brought against Michael Vick. And he turned out OK as a QB.
Given time.
And if you recall, there was much wringing of hands and soul-searching as to whether or not the criticism was a result of race in the Vick example. This occurred long before the dog-fighting issue clouded the argument. And again ironically, Vick seems to have become a better QB -- AFTER he became a better person. Funny how THAT worked out.
We are seeing the same dynamic at play here, IMO. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, folks.
To deny that there is not a significant number of folks who would like to see Tim Tebow fail entirely based on who he is and what he represents is fool-hardy.
I can't put the religious bigot label on anybody's opinion any more than I can use the racist label. And neither can anyone else for that matter. None of us know what is in another person heart or mind.
But that is speaking INDIVIDUALLY. On a case by case basis.
On a larger, societal basis though, C'mon folks. Who are we trying to kid here? Who are we trying to convince? Are we delusional or in denial? You know where that gets you. It doesn't help trying to cure a problem --any problem -- if you don't think it exists. That seems to be what we're trying to do here, IMO. Remain in denial, and convince ourselves that there isn't a problem. And that's pretty shameful.
I think so many of these so-called experts want to be first on-board either calling someone a success or a bust that they don't do any reasoned analysis any more.
And that's pretty shameful. If your going to play the "just a professional analyst" doing his job angle. Some of these braying jackasses ought to know better as well.
Full Disclosure:
- I like Tim Tebow and I hope he succeeds.
- I do not understand anyone who WOULD root against him.
- If that makes ME a bad person, I can live with that.
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