Tim Tebow had no impact on the field in his one-and-done season with the Jets, but the collateral damage caused by last year’s ill-conceived and misguided trade has left careers shattered — including his own, which may be irreparably harmed.
Tebow never said anything controversial or did anything wrong, but his presence overwhelmed the organization, left the coaching staff clueless on how to take advantage of his limited skill set and unnerved Mark Sanchez, hardly secure enough to share the locker room with the most popular and polarizing player in the NFL whose character far outdistances his ability as a quarterback.
“It was a disaster,” one source said. “The ramifications and repercussions are unbelievable.”
The Jets endured the chaos with little return for a supremely religious young man who is not a supremely gifted NFL quarterback, a position in which mechanics, instincts, throwing spirals and throwing them accurately are prerequisites for success. He produced 141 yards of offense for the Jets.
“He’s not Otto Graham,” one personnel executive said Monday. “He’s Billy Graham.”
I could care less about Tim Tebow’s religion and politics but he got a raw deal from the Jets.
As a college quarterback Tebow took his team to two national championships and won the Heisman Trophy. Then he got drafted by Denver in 2010. He didn’t play much his first year. During his second season with the Broncos he took over a 1-4 team and led them to the playoffs by winning 7 of their next 11 games. Then against all expectations he led Denver to a victory in their playoff game against Pittsburgh. The following week they lost to the eventual AFC champions.
In the off-season he was traded to the NY Jets after the Broncos acquired Peyton Manning. In New York Tebow basically rode the bench all season. Now they have cut him.
Tim Tebow is a winner. In college and the pros he has won games when he got the chance to play. They might be ugly wins, but they count the same as the pretty ones.
Tim Tebow reminds me of Doug Flutie. They were both Heisman Trophy winners who did well in college but who never got the respect they deserved in the pros. All they ever did was win.
The lights went out at the Superdome during the Super Bowl. Only then did the game really begin.
In a sporting event that has had spectacular finishes as well as an infamous wardrobe malfunction during a halftime performance, the electricity at the Superdome stole the show on Sunday night, interrupting the third quarter for more than a half-hour and seemingly shifting the momentum of the game in a dramatic way.
Moments after the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the second half 108 yards for a touchdown, giving Baltimore a 22-point lead, the stadium’s power failed. That plunged the teams, the 71,024 fans in attendance and millions of television viewers into low light and raised the sort of question that sports fans love to ponder: how might such a weird interruption affect the game?
After 34 minutes in which players stretched, fans did the wave and Ravens Coach John Harbaugh screamed at a league official in a suit, play resumed, and the teams had their answer. The energy had leaked out of the Ravens during the unexpected break, allowing the San Francisco 49ers to surge to within 2 points, but Baltimore held on for a 34-31 victory.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I picked the Niners to win. But y’all should know better than to listen to me. I’m lousy at picking winners. Seriously. If I could pick winners I’d be rich. That’s why I didn’t bet any money on the game.
Today is the holiest day of the year for NFL fans. The San Francisco 49ers will be facing the Baltimore Colts Ravens for the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. It should be a good game. I really don’t like either team but I’m taking the Niners.
The bad news is President Attention Whore will getting his knob slobbed by Scott Pelley in a pregame interview. I’m guessing that football fans across the nation will be thrilled, just like when he preempted Monday Night Football to give a speech.
I’ll be watching the game at my son’s house. I expect y’all to behave until I get back.
Taco Bell has pulled an outrageously offensive Super Bowl ad after a Twitter campaign shamed the fast good chain into doing the right thing. (Except not really.)
Taco Bell’s alleged offense? Discouraging people from eating their vegetables.
In the ad, the narrator suggests that bringing a tray of raw vegetables to a football party is a really lame decision (which it is).
“Veggies on game day is like punting on fourth and one. It’s a cop out,” Taco Bell guy says, and then suggests that people will “secretly hate you” unless you bring a Taco 12 Pack.
But the health advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest asked Twitter users to tweet their disappointment at Taco Bell for encouraging people to eat delicious tacos rather than carrot sticks, The Associated Press reports.
Soon after, Taco Bell pulled the ad. “We didn’t want anyone to misinterpret the intent of the ad,” spokesman Rob Poetsch said.
You don’t bring veggies to a Super Bowl party! Condiments like ketchup, relish and salsa are okay, along with lettuce, tomato and onion for burgers and tacos. But bringing bunny chow like carrots, broccoli and cauliflower is a major foo paw. Sushi and tofu are out too.
Somebody at Taco Bell is obviously unclear on the concept of “fast food”. The management at Taco Bell really needs to talk to the guys at Carls Jr./Hardees. They understand their target audience.
Today is the second-biggest day of the year for pro football fans. Four teams will play today. The two winners will meet in the Super Bowl. In the end there can be only one champion.
The early game will be the SF Niners at Atlanta Falcons. The late game will feature the Baltimore Ravens at the New England Patriots.
Network execs are hoping for a Niner-Patriots Super Bowl because that should get the maximum ratings. A Ravens-Falcons Super Bowl would suck (unless you’re a Ravens or a Falcons fan).
Tim Tebow will not be playing for his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars next season, not if new General Manager David Caldwell has his way.
In his introductory news conference Thursday, Caldwell was adamant that the former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida and current failed Jets quarterback is not part of the team’s rebuilding plan.
“I can’t imagine a scenario in which he’ll be a Jacksonville Jaguar — even if he’s released,” Caldwell said.
And the Jets have indicated they will release Tebow, who was the odd man out when New York shuffled struggling starter Mark Sanchez and third-stringer Greg McElroy in and out of the lineup.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has been intrigued by Tebow possibly returning to his hometown. Jacksonville has had a revolving door at quarterback recently, with heralded second-year pro Blaine Gabbert getting injured and veteran Chad Henne having mixed results this season.
“It’s not my decision,” Khan said Thursday. “I want to do whatever to help this team win. Who the players are is really the general manager’s and coaches’ [decision]…. It’s a football-side operation decision. It’s really not my decision.
“I’m telling them to take a look at Tebow and they’re saying, ‘We’re going to go in a different direction.’”
I can see why nobody wants Timmy on their team. All he has ever done is win. He took his college team to two BCS championships. His only year in the pros as a regular starter he took his team (Denver Broncos) to the playoffs and won the first game. Then he was traded to the Jets where he rode the bench all year. Now they’re dumping him.
At the end of his college career, Tebow held 5 NCAA, 14 Southeastern Conference, and 28 University of Florida statistical records.[75] He was the SEC’s all-time leader in career passing efficiency (170.8), completion percentage (67.1%), passing touchdown to interception ratio (5.5 to 1), rushing yards by a quarterback (2947), rushing touchdowns (any position) (57), and total touchdowns responsible for (145).[7][76] Among many mentions in the NCAA Division-I record book, Tebow is ranked second in career passing efficiency, third in career yards per attempt (9.33), 8th in career rushing touchdowns, and also owns the record for most consecutive games in which he both threw at least one touchdown pass and scored at least one rushing touchdown (14).[77]
Tim Tebow’s awards and honors:
2× BCS National Championship (2007, 2009)
2× SEC Championship (2006, 2008)
2× First-team All-American (2007, 2008)
Second-team All-American (2009)
3× First-team All-SEC (2007, 2008, 2009)
AP Player of the Year (2007)
Davey O’Brien Award (2007)
2× Maxwell Award (2007, 2008)
Heisman Trophy (2007)
Quarterback of the Year (2007)
SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2008)
Manning Award (2008)
William V. Campbell Trophy (2009)
The Giants and the Raiders are both on television tonight. One game starts at 5:30 and the other one at 7:15 pm. The Giants are in playoff contention and this is the Raiders’ home opener against division foe San Diego.
I guess I should pray that the Giants don’t go to extra innings.
Shannon Eastin is in the starting lineup, set to become the first female official in an NFL regular-season game.
The 42-year-old has been assigned to work the Rams-Lions game Sunday in Detroit, where she will be the line judge.
Of course, this historic moment comes courtesy of a labor disagreement between the regular officials and the NFL, which is using replacements to start the season, Eastin among them.
Eastin, who has 16 years of experience, including most recently with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, worked NFL exhibition games this summer, making her debut during the Packers-Chargers preseason game.
NFL and MEAC representatives didn’t want to comment on her abilities, but plenty of other people have, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did weigh in on the subject when it was first announced she would be a replacement.
“She’s well-prepared for it, and I think she’ll do terrific,” Goodell said. “So we’re excited about that. And there are more coming, by the way. We’ve been working along this path to try to properly train and prepare a female official, and now we have the opportunity.”
Eastin, who has a background in judo and owns a school that trains football officials, is taking the groundbreaking moments in stride.
“Knowing that I’m a female in a man’s world, I have always put the most pressure on myself,” she said earlier this summer. “I understand that pretty much everything I do is going to be magnified.
“I know what I signed up for.”
I know, I know – it’s not the same as winning the White House.
When you look at what his dad and older brother Peyton have accomplished, it’s really saying something that Eli outshined them both. He is the hero of little brothers everywhere.
The last time they met Eli spoiled Tom’s perfect season. Eli wants a second ring to move ahead of his brother. Tom wants a fourth one to tie Joe and Terry. I want Super Bowl Sunday to be a national holiday.
Forget the stats. Ignore history. The only thing that matters is the final score.
Football season ends today. In the end there can be only one.
Professional football is a sport that dominates America, the forward pass dominates football, and Rodgers dominates the pass. Or rather, he dominates opposing defenses, and he does it like no passer in football history. Just by snapping his right wrist, he can zip a football 60 yards downfield with a spiral tighter than the plot to Casablanca and with a trajectory so flat he could throw the ball down the aisle of an Airbus 380 from one end to the other without hitting the ceiling. And he can put it in the hands of any of six talented receivers with precision—on the run and at almost any spot on a football field.
Rodgers has just completed his fourth spectacular season in a row with the Green Bay Packers. He is 28 years old and at his physical peak; though he has never been the league’s most valuable player—he is the odds-on favorite to win the award this season—he has had a four-year run unlike any quarterback who has ever played the game.
Based on the evidence so far, he is the greatest to play the game. I know, you’re probably not much into football statistics, you only want to watch the big games, but bear with me for a moment. After four full seasons and parts of three others, Rodgers is the highest-rated QB ever by the NFL’s method (a Byzantine formula that rates quarterbacks by a combination of statistics, including pass completion percentage, touchdowns, and passes-to-interceptions ratio), 7.7 points ahead of the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady and 9.2 ahead of the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning. His QB rating of 122 this year is the highest by any passer of all time.
Stick with me for another moment: Rodgers has thrown 132 career touchdown passes against just 38 interceptions, a ratio of 3.5 touchdowns per pick; his idol, Joe Montana, averaged just under two TDs for every interception (273/139). Rodgers did not throw for the most yards of any passer in the league this year: that was New Orleans’s Drew Brees, but that’s only because Rodgers was able to put away most of the Green Bay Packers’ opponents with fewer passes. (The Packers are 15-1 this season and play the New York Giants in the second round of the playoffs today.)
Not only is Rodgers the greatest ever, he may just be getting started. He has now won four straight games in the postseason, including a 31–25 victory over Pittsburgh in last year’s Super Bowl, and it seems highly unlikely that anyone is going to stop him this year. Face it: even if you don’t follow the sport all season, he’s the main reason you’re going to be watching for the next couple of Sundays.
Horseshit.
The best quarterback ever was Joe Montana.
He wasn’t the biggest. He wasn’t the fastest. He didn’t have the best arm. But he had the most important thing – he won.
Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played for the next 14 seasons.[3] He spent the 1993 and 1994 seasons, his final two years in the NFL, with the Kansas City Chiefs. While a member of the 49ers, Montana started in four Super Bowl games and won all of them. In 2000, Montana was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[4]
In 1989, and again in 1990, the Associated Press named Montana the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and Sports Illustrated magazine named Montana the 1990 “Sportsman of the Year”.[5] Four years earlier, in 1986, Montana won the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.[6] Montana was elected to eight Pro Bowls, as well as being voted 1st team All-Pro by the AP in 1987, 1989, and 1990. Montana had the highest passer rating in the National Football Conference (NFC) five times (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1989); and, in both 1987 and 1989, Montana had the highest passer rating in the entire NFL.[7]
Noted for his ability to remain calm under pressure, Montana helped his teams to 31 fourth quarter come-from-behind wins.[3] In the closing moments of the 1981 NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXIII, Montana threw game-winning touchdown passes. The touchdown at the end of the championship game was so memorable that sports journalists, fans, and many others, refer to the play simply as “The Catch”. The touchdown in the closing moments of Super Bowl XXIII came at the end of a 92-yard drive.
Montana’s comeback heroics started at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to a victory over the University of Houston in the 1979 Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame scored 23 points in the final 7:30 of the game.
But his greatest comeback ever was in Super Bowl XXIII
BTW: I hate the SF 49ers and I lost more money than I want to think about because of Joe Montana.
Today is Divisional Saturday. The early game will be Saints and Niners in San Francisco. With any luck New Orleans will do Raider fans a huge favor and send the Forty-Whiners out of the playoffs.
This evening game will feature Tim Tebow vs. Tom Terrific. If Tebow wins I gotta go to church tomorrow.
Today’s winners will face tomorrow’s winners next weekend. The winners of those games go to the Super Bowl.
If you don’t like football, SyFy Channel is running a Firefly marathon. What are you up to today?
There are thirty-two teams in the National Football League. Twenty of them will play their last game of the season today. Twelve of them will play at least one more game (four division winners and two wildcards from each conference). For the first time in years the Oakland Raiders are still in it this late in the season:
To win the AFC West, Oakland needs a win and a Denver loss at home to Kansas City. To get a wild-card spot, the Raiders need a win, a win by the Broncos, a home loss by Cincinnati (9-6) to Baltimore and either a Tennessee loss at Houston or a Jets win at Miami.
The Raiders play San Diego in Oakland at 1:00 pm pacific. The Broncos play at the same time. Two of the other three games will be decided by the time the Raiders take the field.
The Cowboys and Giants will play for the NFC East title tonight in the regular season finale.
