To the Tebowists

Kyle Sundman

Professor Leake

Writing 1122

1 March 2012

The Man, The Myth, and The Magic

     I’d like to start by saying that I am not a “Tebowist”. I do not participate in the act of Tebowing, nor was I one of the 94 million people to search John 3:16 after Tebow sported the numbers on his eye black during the 2009 BCS National Championship. But on the other hand, I wouldn’t say I have a problem with him. I recognize that he has “it”. Whatever “it” is, be it his leadership skills, his fearless broadcasting of his faith or the fact that he is one of the greatest athletes (notice I said athletes, not quarterbacks) ever to play the game, that man is in no short supply of “it”. These attributes mesmerize everybody and your mother and, for a while there, it seemed nothing could get Tebowists out of their warm stupor. In essence, Tebow was (and still is) a drug; a drug that addicts love and haters condemn. And that’s what the news feeds on; this drug that evoked the controversy of the year in the sports world.

     Being a news icon is no new gig for Tebow: he has been talked about since he was a senior in high school. His recruiting profile describes him as “[having] a strong arm and above average speed and elusiveness…shows positive leadership ability…” (Yahoo) Attributes like this got him recruited to the acclaimed football powerhouse, University of Florida, where the coaches had nothing but positive things to say about their new quarterback. Even ESPN college analysis’s raved about him, saying that he was “revolutionizing the position…as a dual threat quarterback;” (Person) a quarterback who can run and who can throw. This was the first stage of Tebow’s life of fame; the news loved him and he did nothing to disappoint his loyal fans. He first helped the Gators win the national championship during the 2006 college football season. The next year, he was named the Gators' starting quarterback during which he became the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. In ’08, Tebow led Florida to a 13-1 record and its second national championship in three years, and was named the offensive MVP of the national championship game. The Gators again went 13–1 in 2009, Tebow's senior year. At the conclusion of his college career, he held the Southeastern Conference’s all-time records in both career passing efficiency and total rushing touchdowns, appearing second and tenth, respectively, in the NCAA record book in these categories. (NCAA)

     But now we face an entirely new game: the NFL. Tebow was the perfect college quarterback; he had an incredible offensive line who could give him time to think and execute an accurate throw, should he choose to pass, or he could do what he does best and use his 6- foot -3, 235 pound hulk frame and plow through anyone in his way. But this is not the case in the NFL. Long story short, professional QB’s, by default, just don’t run the ball. Tom Brady, for example, has rushed for under 700 yards in his entire career; Tebow could get that in a season. Hence the skepticism about him; nobody questioned the fact that he was great in college, but almost everyone wondered if that could translate into the big leagues. Rick Reilly, easily one of the most decorated sports writers in the world (boasting a mere 11 titles as  “Sports Writer of the Year”) spearheaded the campaign denouncing the NFL version of Tebow. He says Tim looked like a man “being chased by bees in the pocket” and that he is a “nice kid, sincere as a first kiss, but he's not ready yet, and might never be ready.” He continues, “but if I were playing in a streetball game where the losing team has to move permanently to a time-share in Kabul, I'd take Tebow [over then-starter Kyle Orton] every time.” (Reilly, Tebow Prime Time) Wow. Harsh. I cant remember the last time a player dubbed “Best in the Nation” by way of the Heisman Trophy was ever criticized anywhere near this much. And Reilly is not the only one. Arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game, John Elway, who is Tim’s acting boss as VP of the Denver Broncos isn’t too sure about him either. “He has that unique ability to make something happen when the play breaks down," Elway says. "That gives him a great advantage there … but you have to win games from the pocket in this league. You can't rely on your improvising.” (Reilly, Tebow Prime Time) Keep in mind that these two individuals (Reilly and Elway) are extremely influential in the world of football, and because of this, why would any football fans, (save the die-hard Florida Gator-ites), think any differently? If Tebow weren’t such a perfect human being, im sure he would have had a couple choice words on my mind, the first starting with “F” and the latter with “Y”, especially after Reilly gave him one last slap in the face saying that “he is going to be a great cheerleader.” 

     Fast forward a couple months, and Tebow is about to start his first NFL game for the Denver Broncos. Down 15 points with less than 3 minutes to go, it seemed all hope was lost. But then, by a stroke of God, or so it would appear, Tebow rallied the Broncos to an 18-15 OT win against the Miami Dolphins, ironically in the same stadium that he won a High School title in 2005 and a College National Championship in 2008, silencing critics and starting an era of what would be hence fourth known as Tebow Time. The ensuing news stories were a mix of joy, disbelief, and at the very least, acknowledgement of what this young quarterback had just accomplished. Most of the post game analyses noted the poor late game performance of the Dolphins mixed with strokes of luck for the Broncos as opposed to skill coming from Tebow. CBS’ Bill Cowher says, “He has limitations but ultimately can become a legitimate quarterback. But they won’t win a championship with him.” They give him credit…but not that much credit. (Jackson)

     Its now December 15, 2011, and Tebow has somehow managed to lead the struggling Broncos on a 6 game win streak. One cant help but wonder what negative nancy Rick Reilly thinks of the situation. Instead of another cheeky, contemptuous article, however, he writes of a tale of two quarterbacks. In regards to Tebow, many aspects are negative: “Tom is second in passing yards among NFL starters this season. Tim is dead last.” At least a few are acknowledging: “Tom finished his second season with a passer rating of 86.5. Tim's passer rating is about the same, 83.9.” And, (incredibly), there are a couple positive ones: “Tom has 24 fourth-quarter comeback victories in his 11 years as a starter, with a QB rating of 90.1. Tim has six in, basically, one, with a rating of 99.6.” (Reilly, Fox Broncos Hunt) Could the biggest hater in the game be coming around? Timmy went on to lead the Denver Broncos to an 8-8 season, and another come-from-behind OT win in his first ever playoff appearance against the powerhouse Pittsburgh Steelers. Not bad for a rookie.

     When I searched “Tim Tebow” on Google, an astonishing 91,600,000 results appeared at my disposal. Now I cant imagine all of these are entire articles about America’s new golden boy, but even so, he is at least referenced that many times. As a point of comparison, when searching for David Beckham, arguably the worlds most popular soccer player, a mere 75,000,000 results came up, despite the fact that soccer has a significantly larger worldwide following.

     I think there is essentially two ways that the news analyzes Tim Tebow. One is with logos, the other with pathos.  The use of logos is generally on the negative side, seeing as statistically, he really isn’t that great of a quarterback. (In his defense, this statement is comparing him to all current quarterbacks, including the many to-be hall of famers. His first year stats, compared to stats of even the best during their first season is respectable) According to a telecast of SportsCenter, Tebow had the lowest quarterback rating of all eligible players in the position. I wouldn’t generally associate someone with this ranking as being a winning quarterback, much less the most popular athlete in the America. (Rohlin) The Harvard Sports Analysis Collective is a “student-run organization at Harvard College dedicated to the quantitative analysis of sports strategy and management.” After all they hype on this young quarterback, they decided to figure out statistically how he should be doing. The article turned out to essentially augment the skepticism of Tebow’s success. According to their calculations, “for the last 5 weeks, [during which Tebow led the Broncos to a record of 4-1], taking into account strength of opponent and location of the game, the Broncos would have been expected to win 1.9 games over that 5 game stretch.” So, what, did he just pull the other 2.1 wins out of mid-air? The article uses the terms EPA and WPA, or Expected Points Added and Win Probability Added, respectively. They go on to say

Tebow [compared to Kyle Orton] has a much worse EPA – meaning that he has objectively produced worse results over all of his plays – but a significantly better (though still negative) WPA – meaning that his plays have contributed more to the chances of his team winning. While Tebow’s plays have produced much fewer expected points than Orton’s, Tebow’s positive plays have come at crucial points in the game, when they have a much larger impact on the final result. (Bruce)

Unfortunately for Broncos fans, however, “the vast majority of players who started their careers with similar characteristics (a relatively high WPA given their EPA) eventually regressed towards the mean and saw their numbers come in line with expectations” (Bruce) So what does this mean? The news coverage that utilizes logos as the primary way to analyze Tebow seem to suggest that he is really no more than a lucky, albeit mediocre quarterback. But this isn’t what brought Tebow into the spotlight, and it’s definitely not what kept him there.

     The stories using pathos to analyze the star are much more interesting and revealing about how he came to be the most compelling story in sports. Chuck Klosterman, a contributing author to the widely read blog Grantland, explains the unorthodox divide between those who like him vs. dislike him most eloquently. In this, he notes that the people who dislike him, dislike him essentially because he is “too good of a person”. The people who like him like him because he “succeeds at his job while being uniquely unskilled at its traditional requirements.” For the life of this story, Tebow has never been a great passer. And everybody from SportsCenter to church blogs has acknowledged that. But, like I said earlier, he has “it.” Tebow is more than football. And people across the nation are just starting to realize it. He has a knack for saying just the right things at just the right times…all the time. Our boy Rick literally hired a lip reader during one of the games to try and catch Tebow swearing or doing something that could prove that he wasn’t perfect. What kind of dirt did he get? “A very spirited, arguably angry, ‘Lets GO!’” (Weed Against Speed) Yes, his interviews always include arguably obnoxious references to his “lord and savior Jesus Christ”, but maybe, as much as we moan and gripe about him shoving his faith down everyone’s throats, we have a subconscious appreciation for his antics.

The crux here, the issue driving this whole "Tebow Thing," is the matter of faith. …His faith in God, his followers' faith in him — it all defies modernity. This is why people care so much. He is making people wonder if they should try to believe things they don't actually believe. (Klosterman)

What is going on here? Are people starting to realize that Tebow is more than just a football player? Are they starting to realize that although Tebow would chew through a cement wall to win a football game, what he cares about most is not the game, but living a life of valor, and generosity, and faith? Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster's), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts. (Reilly, I believe) Is it this that landed Tebow an entire hour long special on SportsCenter, a very rare occurrence that puts him in a class with the likes of LeBron James and his “decision?” Probably. And for those of us who don’t shut the door on Tebow because we are “annoyed” by all the talk about him, we must turn back to our friend Rick Reilly, who, despite ripping on Tebow for months, has finally come around with the perfect summary of how I expect most onlookers are feeling:

So that's it. I've given up giving up on him. I'm a 100 percent believer. Not in his arm. Not in his skills. I believe in his heart, his there-will-definitely-be-a-pony-under-the-tree optimism, the way his love pours into people, right up to their eyeballs, until they believe they can master the hopeless comeback, too."

(Reilly, I Believe)

Works Cited

Bruce, Chris, and Andrew Mooney. "A Statistical Analysis of the Miracles of Tim Tebow." The Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://harvardsportsanalysis.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-miracles-of-tim-tebow/>.

Jackson, Barry. "Tebow Mainia Upstaging Miami Dolphins vs. Denver Broncos." The Miami Herald. 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/21/2464362/tebow-mania-upstaging-miami-dolphins.html>.

Klosterman, Chuck. "The People Who Hate Tim Tebow." Grantland. 6 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7319858/the-people-hate-tim-tebow>.

NCAA. "Football Bowl Subdivision Records." Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Person, Joseph. "Dual Threat." The State. 10 Nov. 2007. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://web.archive.org/web/20071111084832/http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/225436.html>.

Reilly, Rick. "Fox Has Broncos in the Hunt." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 8 Dec. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7326446/rick-reilly-john-fox-leading-broncos>.

Reilly, Rick. "I Believe in Tim Tebow." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. <http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7455943/believing-tim-tebow>.

Reilly, Rick. "Tim Tebow Not Ready for Prime Time." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 9 Aug. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/6846531/tim-tebow-not-ready-prime-time>.

Rohlin, Melissa. "Poll Names Tim Tebow Most Popular Athlete." LA Times. 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2012/01/poll-tim-tebow-most-popular.html>.

"Tim Tebow." Yahoo! Sports. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Tim-Tebow-31436>.

Weed Against Speed. "Rick Reilly Tweets That He Hired Lipreader To See If Tim Tebow Swore During Game." Sportress of Blogitude. 8 Dec. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.sportressofblogitude.com/2011/12/08/rick-reilly-tweets-that-he-hired-lipreader-to-see-if-tim-tebow-swore-during-game/>.