It's funny hearing TV talking heads—especially older ones—saying things about Tim Tebow's current run of wins/spectacular finishes like, "In all my years covering the NFL, I've never seen anything like this!"
Now, Tebow seems to be something special, but "never" covers a lot of players in a lot of cities over the course of whole Hell of a lot of seasons. Doesn't it seem there must have been something similar?
Fortunately, here at Harry's Beef Trust, we have the benefit of almost 50 vast years of experience sacking out on the sofa on Sundays and watching the gridiron rumble. How many of you can remember when it did, indeed, happen before?
The guy was a left-handed quarterback with a proclivity to run first and throw later in college, hailing from and playing at school in the South. His throwing motion was not "classic," and there was much talk that he'd make a better running back than a quarterback.
Some pundits believed he could play QB in the NFL, but didn't believe he could make a team win—something that he proved wrong.
And while this guy's athletic ability was terrific, his newsworthy sense of morality seemed to make as many headlines as his play on the field—and sometimes more.
After spending about a year either on the bench or playing 'spot duty,' and languishing during a couple of training camps (and looking bad in pre-season games), he was unexpectedly named a team's starter and ripped off a stretch of play so phenomenal and unexpected that people, after less than a dozen games, were mentioning aloud his candidacy for league MVP.
It was a simply stunning, out-of-nowhere experience that left jaws slack and secondaries in shambles.
Can you recall when all of that happened once before in the NFL?
How about last year?
When Michael Vick was freed from prison, many experts predicted his career was effectively over after two years of prison living and, even worse, a prison diet. It was a rare bird indeed who quoth anything except that Vick's days as an elite athlete had come to an end. He was dubbed 'fit only for the wildcat.'Vick was en fuego last year, in Tebow-esque style but with more explosive weapons, until he damaged cartilage in his rib cage. Since then, his numbers, his play, and his team's won-loss record all have been lacklustre at best.
Tebow? Nice story, but we watched this sort of feel-good story unfold just last year on the Philadelphia Eagles. How soon they forget...
If Tebow throws four interceptions and/or suffers a sprained ankle or concussion this week in a loss against the Patriots, it says here the clock strikes midnight, the coach turns into a pumpkin, and Cinderella has to come home from the ball. He could be going full time to med school by the end of next season, and all of this could be Mark Fidrych-like memory.
But I hope not. I like the kid!
Still, I've also seen a couple of other improbable quarterbacks do some amazing things over sustained periods of time that surpass a mere 6-1 record, and you don't have to be long in the tooth to recall those guys, either. Both played here in the New Millenium.
Ever hear of Kurt Warner or Tom Brady?
It's not like anyone already was polishing Lombardi and league MVP trophies for them when either of those guys first went to camp with the Rams and Patriots respectively—neither team having ever won a Super Bowl.
Tebow's got a looooong way to go before he's even the most unexpectedly amazing QB I've seen in just this century.
1 comments:
Interesting blog.
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