I’ve been a Florida Gators football fan for as long as I can remember. And like many fans I enjoy the successes of my favorite college players whenever they transition from amateur to the pro ranks, even when they don’t play for my beloved San Francisco 49ers. Thus, you can imagine that I’m a huge Tim Tebow fan, since he helped my beloved Gators win two BCS National Championships in three years (2006, 2008).
I like everyone who follows the NFL read and listened to the naysayers joke about his belief in Jesus Christ; while commentators and analysts talked about his subpar throwing ability and how he’d probably end up as a solid fullback in the NFL. Yet, over the course of the season when he began starting games, he ran off 5 consecutive wins and finished the season with a 7-3 record as the starting quarterback, winning the division and leading the Denver Broncos to the playoffs.
When the playoffs roll around, all that happened in the regular season has no bearing on results. Everyone’s 0-0 and the inability to execute and secure a win means no game next week. It means we’ll see you in August for the preseason. That was especially true for Tebow and the Broncos, who were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. The defending AFC Champions and a quarterback in Ben Rothlisberger who led his team to 2 of 3 victories in the Super Bowls he’s played in.
The Broncos led by Tim Tebow were cruising for the first 3 quarters, leading 20-6 and then Rothlisberger and the battle tested Steelers clawed back into the game and by the end of regulation, the score stood 23 – 23. This year, the NFL having always had sudden death overtime instituted new rules for playoff games for the first time in its history. As long as the first team to get the ball didn’t score a touchdown, each team would be entitled to a possession. The coin toss was called by the Steelers, tails, it was heads, and the Broncos of course elected to receive. The ball was kicked off out of the end zone for a touchback, and the Broncos would start from the twenty yard line. The Broncos line up, Tebow calls the snap, drops back, flings the ball down the center of the field to Demaryius Thomas for the catch, who then stiffs arms a Steeler defender and outruns two defenders to the end zone and the win. The Broncos fans go wild. Tim Tebow has done it again, leading the Broncos to a divisional collision with the New England Patriots next Saturday. Check out the footage courtesy of the NFL.
We’ll see what happens when the Broncos meet the Patriots for the second time this season, after having lost to New England 41-23 week 15. One thing’s for sure. After this season, tonight’s overtime victory, and regardless of what happens next Saturday, Tim Tebow will have less detractors. What I thought all year as he ran off wins and proved so many people wrong was what will happen if and when his mechanics improve. If he becomes the kind of quarterback who can read defenses even half as well as Peyton Manning and throws with the fearlessness and accuracy of Tom Brady. Already being a bruiser on the run and a true football player at heart. I dare say he could likely be one of the scariest guys to stare at from the other side of the line of scrimmage.
I hope to see the day. Today “The Magic of Tim Tebow” from my beloved Gator Nation lives on in the Mile High of Denver Colorado. I’m all smiles.
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