I love all this media attention that Jets OTA’s is receiving. Literally haven’t heard much about the other 31 teams. Outside of the Saints and their mess, or Alex Smith making comments about how Cam Newton isn’t as good as his numbers show. Or Lamar Woodley from the Steelers mouthing sour grapes in saying that there is no way the Steelers should have lost to Denver in the playoffs this past January. And yes, that is very true. But it’s just ignorance. But other than that, the focus has pretty much been solely on Jets spring OTA’s and mostly Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez, and how many snaps Tebow is getting on Special Teams and how Tebow’s throwing motion is looking. But this past month is basically all centered on Tim Tebow.

Either you love him or you hate him. There really is no in between with Tim Tebow.

Reporters crowd his locker, teammates chant his name, fans pack every speaking engagement he does, and his endorsement companies make tons of money off of him. He is Tim Tebow.

ESPN coined him “The Chosen One” while he was still in High School. Gator Nation coined him “Superman” while he was in college. And Skip Bayless called him a “force of competitive nature” entering his NFL career. Tim Tebow is entering his 3rd season in the National Football League and subsequently playing for his second team; a team that he did beat last season with a 95 yard drive in the final minute of regulation. But all that is overlooked of course.

Hard to imagine a guy that Mel Kiper Jr. said was a fullback and could not make it in the NFL as a quarterback has a 9-7 record in his first 16 starts as a quarterback. ESPN’s Merrill Hoge said “it’s embarrassing to think that the Broncos can win with Tim Tebow as their starting quarterback”. Whelp, that starting quarterback, went 8-5 last year, won the division, and threw for 316 yards on the NFL’s #1 defense in a playoff victory.

And yes, I’ll only hear; His completion percent was a dismal 47 percent. He was saved by the great defense Denver had. Or my personal favorite……he got lucky.

Well to answer the first excuse people make. The Broncos ran the ball over 70% of offensive plays called. 65% of Tebow’s passes were thrown in second half of games he started. How can ANY quarterback get in any rhythm with their receivers when they throw the ball less than 5 times in the first half? Ask a QB that question. I dare you. He might give you the answer you didn’t want to hear.

To answer the second excuse I hear. Yes at times Denver’s defense played extremely well. But isn’t football a team sport? Don’t all 22 starters have to play well enough to win a ball game? Denver’s defense by the numbers: They allowed 24.4 points per game, which was 24th in the league. They allowed 357.8 total yards per game, which was 20th in the league. They allowed 231.5 passing yards per game, which was 18th in the league. And lastly, they allowed 126.3 rushing yards per game, which was 22nd in the league. Hardly a defensive juggernaut wouldn’t you say?

The last excuse and the most prevalent one is the luck factor……ah yes…the luck factor. I personally do not believe in luck, but if you ask any professional athlete, many will say they’d rather be lucky than good. Either way I have no way to prove this was luck or anything beyond that. Yes Marion Barber ran out of bounds and stopped the clock; yes Matt Prater kicked bombs in final seconds. But if those things happened to any other QB or team…they’d be just thought of as “part of the game”. But with Tim Tebow it’s a higher power, it has to be luck, it’s unreal. Some are just so dead set on him not being successful that they will simply dismiss his success as an “act of God”. I am a God fearing man, and I like most, believe that God shows no favor in athletics nor determines outcomes of sporting events.

One thing I do know is that statistics prove that Tim Tebow is 1-1 in the playoffs and 9-7 in his first 16 starts with a less-than-stellar defense and sub-par offensive weapons. Yes I am talking about you Eric Decker, SUB-PAR. After successfully proving many wrong, shaming opposing teams and opposing players, winning against all odds, making sick children and their families have hope for another day, and doing all this while John Elway was trying to secretly replace him week after week. How can someone despise a man like this? Still trying to figure that one out. I find it impossible to root against Tim Tebow. But others…find it impossible to root for him. They find it impossible to root for someone that represents everything good in this world; they find it impossible to root for an underdog, for someone that has a higher calling than football, and someone that has some flawed mechanics.

Former NFL head coach and Super Bowl champion Jon Gruden called Tim Tebow the most mentally tough guy he’s ever met. Gruden hosts a show called “Gruden’s QB Camp” every year; this is a place where quarterbacks entering the NFL draft work out with him and study film and he grades them on overall ratings. He hosted Tim Tebow back in early 2010 before the draft and gave Tebow an extremely high grade and believes he will be a very successful quarterback in the future. I’ll take his word for it.

Just some food for thought, as I leave you with this.

I would never compare Tim Tebow to the likes of Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or even Tebow’s former Florida teammate/backup Cam Newton. But if I was a betting man, you could put your paycheck up against Tim Tebow and I’ll put mine on him and I promise that I will beat you every time.

Written by Brody