The Ever Elusive Question: Why the hate?

Why the Hate? 

Will Fairbanks

Time and time again, we have seen the epitome of victory flow through the veins of a young Tim Tebow.  We have followed him through the ranks of his last years as a home-schooled, allowed to play for a public high school, football player.  We watched him dominate, and I mean dominate, the college football ranks winning "two" national championships (The quotes will be explained later).   Now, we watch him play quarterback for the Denver Broncos in the National Football League.  Yet, time and time again we wait for him to falter.  We wait for him to collapse in the face of adversity.  Why?  Why do we want such a successful individual to fail?  After taking a look at some of the details surrounding the player Tebow actually is, we can finally find out the source of this hatred and animosity towards such prominent sports figure.

 Tebow and the Gators won against the Seminoles all four years that he attended the University of Florida. As a Seminole fan, I can tell you that I did not enjoy watching Tebow dismantle the teams that we put on the field. However, this blurb is not directed towards why I may not be a fan of Tebow, but rather the reasons why Tebow is such a controversial person. I am going to divulge my thesis; I believe that Tebow gets more credit than he deserves.  This is not to say that he is a terrible athlete by any means, nor does he not deserve some of the credit he does get, I simply feel that he gets too much. 

Let me begin with the quoted “two” at this beginning of this piece.  The Florida Gators won a BCS National Championship in 2006.  Tim Tebow, while a freshman backup QB, is often noted for helping to win the Gators “two” national championships during his tenure.  The second championship, in 2009, can indeed be attributed to Tebow.  The first, however, cannot.  The 2005-2006 Florida Gators were led by Chris Leak, the Gators all-time passing yardage leader; it was Chris Leak’s team.  Tebow was battling for the position for starting quarterback as a freshman, but Leak eventually won out.  As a result, Tebow became the backup.  Tebow only threw 33 passes that year and attempted only 89 rushes.  Many of these came in garbage time or against weaker opponents.  In 2006, he did score touchdowns against the likes of LSU, Alabama, and 2 against Ohio State in the championship game but to say that he won those games for the Gators is a far stretch. Tebow led the Gators to the second championship while providing spot work for the first. 

Statistically speaking, Tebow was a monster in college, but realistically, he was merely a fullback who could throw.  The reason behind his success?  The spread offense.  The spread offense makes any quarterback look better than he really is.  Take a look at the success of Oklahoma, Houston, and Oregon.  When you employ many of the read-option plays on the run and pass, it automatically gives the quarterback an advantage in reading coverage, as well as choosing to hand off or take off.  While playing in a pro-style offense in college, quarterbacks are relied upon to do so much more in diagnosing coverage, choosing a receiver, and rarely run.  Tebow is the perfect player for the spread.  Possessing less than perfect accuracy, it was easy for Tebow to find an open receiver rather than try to fit it into coverage.  The spread allows for this with its many option plays because the defense is forced to play a fake first.  Tebow’s running also opened up his passing game.  Not to mention the number of skilled players (Percy Harvin, the Pouncey twins, Jeff Demps, Aaron Hernandez, etc.) that have come through and played with Tebow, allowing him to put up big numbers. This is reason number two as to why Tebow receives too much credit.  He is less of a quarterback and more of an individual who could simply fit the role that the spread offense requires.

Since joining the professional ranks, Tebow has faced nonstop criticism for his poor mechanics and his lack of football knowledge.  Because of the spread offense, he was never really required to improve his mechanics to have a quicker release.  He did try to improve in order to prepare for the NFL draft, but upon playing his first pro game, he retreated back to the poor throwing motion he started out with.  Since becoming the starter for the Broncos, Tebow has gone 6-1. This record has caused every media outlet in the country to scream Tebow’s name, calling him Denver’s “chosen one.” Fans have even started to craft personalized #15 Broncos jerseys to say “Jesus.”  While making references to Tebow’s faith, this is also reflecting on his coming on strong to, how do we say, “save” Denver’s season.  His faith is simply that.  His faith.  I will not harp on that.  But for fans to call him Jesus after going 6-1 as the starter is simply absurd.

This is my last point.  Tebow is not the reason for Denver’s 6-1 record.  Tebow has the lowest completion percentage out of anyone in the league (47.5%) while only throwing 158 passes through 7 games.  Denver’s pass game is 31^st in the league at just over 155 yards per game.  The games where Tebow shines are against teams who rank in the bottom tier in pass defense and pressure on the QB.  The two games that Tebow started and had QB ratings over 100 were against Kansas City and Minnesota.  He still only completed 52% of his passes between the two games.  Kansas City simply cannot get pressure on the quarterback and ranks 29^th in the league in sacks. Tebow completed 2 of 8 passes in this game.  Minnesota is the exact opposite.  They are tied for 2^nd in the league in sacks but have been destroyed by injury in their secondary and have the 26^th ranked pass defense in the league.  When he faced an above average front 7 in Detroit, he was absolutely destroyed.  He had a rating of 56.8 with 3 fumbles (1 lost) and an interception on 39 pass attempts and 10 rush attempts.

  

This nonsense of Tebow being the Broncos’ “savior” or “chosen one” is ludicrous.  He is a vital part of the system in Denver as he was in Florida, but he is just that, a part. Head Coach John Fox has had to implement the spread option zone read just to give Tebow what he needs, proving he is not fit for the pro game.  While it is working now, it will not work much longer.  Tebow and Denver have only faced one defense ranked in the top 10 (New York Jets; they have enough problems of their own though).  I would even go and say that Cam Newton has done more as a quarterback for Carolina, while facing more capable defenses, than Tebow has done for Denver.  However, regardless of Tebow’s completion percentage, I will give him the credit he deserves in regards to not turning the ball over.  He only has 1 interception on the year and has 6 fumbles, only one of which he lost.  He is simply being the game manager that Fox needs.  If it was not for having the 1^st ranked rush offense (led by McGahee, not Tebow), Denver would fall.  The day that this is completely shut down, Denver will lose.  The true test of this theory will come against Chicago’s 7^th ranked rush defense.

 I understand what he has gone through.  I understand what he is going through.  I understand that he is a winner simply because he is part of a TEAM that is winning.  In the pro game, I cannot believe that he can win a game by himself. To say that he is the sole reason why Denver has gone 6-1 since he became starter is unrealistic.  The defense has gotten key players back from injury while playing subpar offenses.   Denver’s pass offense is almost dead last and probably won’t improve with some of the most recent injuries.  Right now, with the way he is playing…Denver is not winning because of him, they are winning despite him.  He is playing poor to mediocre football against subpar teams, winning and gets heralded as a “Savior.”  Tebow is receiving more credit than he deserves.  This is why he is hated.  This is why we wait.  This is why we want him to fail.