Illustration: Kevin Howdeshell/kevincredible.com
The whole Tim Tebow Tempest that blew through the Rockies more regularly than any snowfall for three months this winter started on October 23rd, when God’s own quarterback rallied the Broncos past the Dolphins, scoring 15 points in less than three minutes. Two days later, ESPN’s Jim Rome said so much bandwidth was being eaten online following that win, that if Tebow could lead the team to a win against the Detroit Lions the following weekend, “It might just break the Internet.”
Except Tebow didn’t win. The Lions absolutely outmanned the Donkeys (or, as more than one Facebook post read, “Lions devour Christian”), winning 45 to 10, which of course, was the same score when the Broncos lost to the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. But Rome was still right. Because from that point on, Tim Tebow pretty much was the Internet.
From endless Tebowing (the act of kneeling in prayer wherever you are, regardless of what everyone is doing around you) photos, to SNL skits to Jimmy Fallon’s “Tebowie” send-up to being romantically linked to World Cup ski goddess Lindsey Vonn to being regularly name-checked by hopelessly back-running Republican presidential candidates—and not even counting the actual sports coverage—for about 90 days it seemed as if there was no part of American culture that Tebow couldn’t touch. And for those of us in the Rockies, it was pretty amazing to watch as the kid took us all on a magical six game win streak, becoming the pop culture phenomena of the year at the same time that he put Denver Broncos football back on the map.
Fans had already labeled him the Mile High Messiah before he even took a professional snap, counting on the ravenously ever-optimistic twinkle in the young quarterback’s eye, his National Championship winning college record, and the cheerleading transparency of his Christian faith to all help lead his team to some pigskin promise. They bought his jersey almost as fast as iPhones while he was still a rookie in training camp. But after he actually started getting the victories, the level of passion—both for and against him—only ratcheted up.
And not just because he was winning, but really because he looked so bad doing it, pulling out miracle after miracle finish after looking so bad for most of the game that diehard Broncos fans across the West had run out of beers to throw at the TV set. He seriously cannot throw (despite that overtime-winning toss to Demaryius Thomas against the Pittsburgh Steelers). When he’s blitzed he often runs around like some steroid-pumped rooster trying not to get his head cut off. And compared to all the slim-hipped elite NFL gunslingers like Tom Brady, Peyton and Eli Manning, and Aaron Rodgers, he looks less like a quarterback than he does some thick-necked guy from shipping who comes to the company picnic and starts playing volleyball likes it’s supposed to be full contact.
But damn, he sure is fun to watch.
Which is really the point that I think people keep deciding to forget. They’d rather argue about whether the way he plays really is some extended metaphor for existence and faith, as if the fact that he can suck so badly for the first three and a half quarters of each game and still lead his team to overtime is some gridiron equivalent of reaching for the afterlife.
Sure, he brings a lot of it on himself, repeating so many times that, “We just never stop believing, in ourselves and as a team,” that it has become a kind of mantra (i.e., cliché) in its own right. And for anyone who wants to argue about the role of religion in sports, Timothy Tebow is providing his own test case that it exists.
So what? I think that anyone who’s surprised by that, or offended, is just looking for a fight. The only difference between Tebow and some evangelically devout shot putter or steeple chaser is that there are so many more cameras around, and so many more public opportunities to exercise his right to free speech—even if it involves admitting to asking the Lord for a little cross breeze to help the opposing team’s field goal kicker miss.
I guess what’s strange to me is how little of that I actually noticed. What’s always been important to me as a Broncos fan is whether or not they win the game. When they don’t, it puts a little hole in my weekend. When they do, I feel good about myself. It’s as simple as that. And even though John Elway had his own remarkable knack for unbelievable comebacks, what made him such a lasting hero to this writer and the town of Denver, was the fact that he also brought us two Super Bowl championships, and absolutely nothing in the wide world of fandom has ever felt better than that.
Great as some athletes like say, Dan Marino or Charles Barkley ever were, the fact that they never won-it-all means that next to their names there will always be a little “not quite” asterisk. It’s the risk that Lebron James is facing in his own sports career, especially after all of the predictions of all of the NBA Championship rings he was supposed to have won by now. And, if Tebow keeps starting for the Broncos (he’s already been named the starter heading into next season’s training camp), then it’s the weight that he will have to carry as well. To anybody who watched this season, I think he welcomes it.
Bottom line for me though, is that after a 1-4 start this season, two years of suffering through the misanthropic weirdness of the mini-hoodied Josh McDaniels as the Broncos head coach, and a kind of playoff purgatory since 2005, when the Broncos last faced the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoffs (beating them before falling to the Steelers in one of those recurring cycles of sport), it felt really good to have a reason to even hope for a win, and I certainly thank Tebow for that. He turned what could have been another miserable season in the AFC Worst into the kind of non-stop roller coaster ride of a good time that will be hard to forget.
As to whether he’s done enough to earn a lasting spot in the list of all-time Denver sports greats, or even, as some of you have suggested, prompt the consideration of changing the name of this column from Elwayville to Tebowville. I would say, “not yet.” But after this season, I sure can’t wait to see what he does next.
Peter Kray is an East High School graduate who married a Cherry Creek girl. He keeps a framed copy of John Elway’s Broncos rookie card next to his wedding photo. You can read more of his writing, including excerpts of his upcoming novel, The God of Skiing, at shredwhiteandblue.com.
