I was one of the original Tim Tebow "haters". Before it became the cool thing to do, before he was a first round draft pick. I hated Tim Tebow for purely athletic reasons. I hated his style of play. I hated the team he played on. I hated that he received praise while his teammates were making him look that good. I hated him because he beat one of my favorite college players of the last 10 years in the National Championship. I hated all the fans and experts who were championing a QB without a single, discernible, quarterbacking skill whatsoever. I hated that he was getting credit for turning around the Broncos while they won games in spite of him. I immensely enjoyed his pathetic showings in the last 3 games of the regular season, hoping it was the beginning of the end. I hated the whole Tim Tebow hype machine, and couldn't wait for it to go away.
So why in the world was I so ecstatic when he completed an 80 yard TD on the first play of overtime to beat the Steelers?
Tebow is the cause of a war currently going on between the two sides of my sporting brain. On one side is the sensible, analytical sports viewer. This is the side that loves Tim Duncan and his immaculate footwork and fundamentals, that loves the precision passing of the Spanish national soccer team, that watches baseball for beautifully turned double plays and perfectly placed change-ups. This is the side that hates Tim Tebow. From any analytical standpoint, Tim Tebow is a horrible NFL quarterback. He doesn't have a terribly strong arm, he is horrendously inaccurate with his passes, he has no clue how to read defenses, and his timing with his receivers is non-existent. Any statistical measure backs up all these claims. So when hype and praise is heaped upon a player that is so deficient in so many crucial areas of his position, my analytical side goes crazy and goes into hate mode.
The other side is the emotional viewer. This is the side that prefers College Basketball to the NBA because of the emotional intensity present in college players, the side that always roots for the underdog because of the inspirational undertones, that loves Blake Griffin because his jaw dropping athleticism and power is just so freaking entertaining, fundamentals be damned. Tim Tebow's run of late game heroics is the type of thing that would have this side of my brain jumping for joy. Game winning drives and end of game pyrotechnics are my favorite parts of football. Tim Tebow does the things that would make almost any athlete one of my favorite players.
Still, my brain is predominantly analytical. I'm still anti-Tebow because there is no way he can keep this up. With his (lack of) skills he will eventually regress back to the mean, stop getting breaks, and stop winning games. There is no realistic possibility of any other outcome. Because of this, i can't get on board the Tebow train with all the crazy fans who are disregarding all logic. The "Mile High Miracle" has not changed this.
However, if the Broncos happen to stay close to New England, and some bat-shit crazy sequence of events happens and Tebow pulls another last-minute win out of thin air, I'll fully enjoy it. Regardless of my hate for the man, if Tebow insists on these ridiculous endings, I might as well sit back and enjoy them. Hate or not, those type of plays are fun to watch.
Tebow hasn't made me a fan, but the hate has softened to the point I can at least enjoy his work.
Now that, is a miracle.
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