John Elway never understood Tim Tebow and never will. His ego won’t let him. Elway is a legend in the Denver Broncos organization and has deserved every accolade he has ever received. But does being a Hall of Fame quarterback and Denver icon mean he is beyond repute?
Elway’s ego wouldn’t want you to know the comparison between his first 365 pass attempts and Tim Tebow’s first 353 pass attempts:
John Elway: Comp. Percentage 52.1%, 2282 yards passing, 10 TD’s, 19 INT, QB Rating of 60, 43 rushes for 214 yards with 1 TD.
His defenses were 9th in points allowed in 1983 and 2nd in 1984. His record was 8-7 through 365 passes, including one playoff loss.
Tim Tebow: Comp. Percentage 47.3%, 2383 yards passing, 17 TD’s, 9 INT, QB Rating of 75, 165 rushes for 887 yards with 12 TD’s.
His defenses were 32nd in points allowed in 2010 and 24th in 2011. His record was 8-6 through 353 passes, including one playoff win.
Using John Elway’s standards, he himself should have not been considered a franchise quarterback at that point in his career. Luckily, his ownership believed in him.
In all fairness, Tebow was never John Elway’s choice. However, his handling of the situation has been poor by even his own admission. In a ESPN article last year which cited his comments to a Denver radio station, Elway said “No” when asked if he and the team were any closer to finding the quarterback of the future. Yet after Tebow’s fourth win and ever increasing public support, Elway backed off. The article stated:
“I was disappointed, and obviously I need to do a better job communicating that message, because the way it was taken was taken more negative than obviously I really meant it to be,” Elway said. “So that’s just one of those situations, and it’s something I’ll learn from also.”
The reality is Elway was playing to the fans though his original “No” was always the truth. Now that Peyton Manning is the new Denver Broncos quarterback, that much can be affirmed.
Though nobody can ever truly know what went on in Elway’s head, to speculate he couldn’t stand having a young unorthodox quarterback stealing his thunder doesn’t seem out of reach. He never gave Tebow true stamp of approval, never tried to mentor him and never committed to him. Even though Tebow had just taken the Broncos to their first playoff game in 7 years, Elway was willing to help him during training camp. Tebow, realizing he needed more that shallow offer, took it upon himself to go to UCLA this off-season and get coached by Noel Mazzone.
There was Elway’s constant appearances at Stanford games, gazing on at the play of quarterback Andrew Luck while Tebow was winning games. Was it simple “Luck” that the Stanford quarterback would set up Elway’s ultimate signing of Peyton Manning? Tebow may have taken Luck out of the Broncos equation but in doing so he allowed for Manning to become the apple of Elway’s eye. To think Elway never had a clue of how things could shake out would be foolish. Tebow was stealing his thunder, becoming the top selling player’s jersey, breaking into ESPN’s Poll of “Favorite Athlete”, and winning his first playoff game. A feat Elway did not accomplish his first time around. Even worse, Tebow broke Elway’s Broncos record of 123 yards passing in his playoff debut by shattering it with 316 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Elway just couldn’t deal with the fact this odd playing quarterback was winning and could possibly be the future of the position. He needed someone more orthodox, more of a pocket passer, more like him. If he was going to take a back seat, it better be by a player he respected based on his own style of play. Welcome to Denver Mr. Manning. Nobody can say bringing Peyton in was a bad move. He is a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and may go down as the best at the position. Tebow is NOT John Elway either, but to say Tebow was not deserving or could not have been the answer isn’t looking at the numbers or results.