PDA

View Full Version : Krieger: The next Elway? Oh, c'mon now



TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 07:32 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15106536

Krieger: The next Elway? Oh, c'mon now
By Dave Krieger
The Denver Post
Posted: 05/18/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

Like Jay Cutler, Jake Plummer and Brian Griese before him, Tim Tebow got the John Elway question on his first day.

"I'm not really worrying about it," he said, and you can only hope that's true. At least nobody asked what kind of tree he would be.

Seriously, can we just stop?

I thought we'd kicked our Elway comparison fetish with Kyle Orton. Even in a fragmented media world in which the silliest claims get the most attention, I didn't hear anyone compare Orton to Elway.

Before that, we always found some slender straw to grasp. Griese actually succeeded Elway — we're pretending that weird Bubby Brister thing never happened, OK? — so he got the questions full force until Mike Shana- han took the heat off by comparing him to Joe Montana instead.

Plummer was a scrambler, a risk-taker, an improviser. That was the only common ground with Elway we required.

Cutler had the big arm, so we went back to the well again.

The main thing Tebow has in common with Elway at this point is celebrity, which, as Brady Quinn can tell you, doesn't have that much to do with whether you get to play in the NFL.

In fact, Quinn had the best answer of the day to an Elway question. Unlike Tebow, he wasn't asked about being compared to Elway because, amazingly, he hasn't been, although I'm guessing we'll correct that by training camp.

No, Quinn was asked if there was a brighter spotlight on the quarterback competition in Denver because of Elway's legacy.

"I don't know, don't discredit Bernie (Kosar) now," the Cleveland refugee said with a laugh. "Come on."

When Elway first arrived on the scene 27 years ago, the fascination was based principally on three things. First, he was controversial nationally because he had forced Baltimore to trade him. Tebow may be controversial politically, but the football world doesn't really care.

Second, Elway had a howitzer where you and I and Tebow have a shoulder. Long before he became an accomplished quarterback, Elway was a huge attraction because he might uncork a 70-yard rocket at any time. Many people had never seen an arm like that. I know I hadn't. He was part football player, part Ripley's Believe It Or Not exhibit.

There was little evidence in college, and none Monday at Dove Valley, that Tebow has that sort of rocket launcher.

Third, Elway was the No. 1 pick in the draft, almost unanimously considered the best player available in 1983. The Broncos had never before acquired such a prized commodity.

Tebow was the 25th pick in the draft, and a fair number of teams had him ranked lower than that. The closer comparison in Broncos history on that basis is Tommy Maddox, the 25th pick in 1992 as Dan Reeves prepared prematurely for Elway's departure. Reeves' pick was called a reach in some quarters, as was Josh Mc- Daniels' pick of Tebow this year.

But no one asked Tebow how he was going to deal with the Tommy Maddox comparisons.

Covering the Broncos back in the 1980s, I used to think that if major- league baseball ever came to Colorado, we wouldn't spend nearly so much time documenting our football team's offseason study halls.

Like so many things I believed in the '80s, this turned out to be completely wrong. Maybe Def Leppard wasn't the greatest band of all time, either. I just don't know anymore.

There was roughly one media wretch for every 7-on-7 repetition Monday at the Broncos' first full team workout of 2010.

Well, unless you count Tebow's fake repetitions, in which case there were two reps for every wretch, but one of them was pantomimed.

For most of the morning, whenever Orton, Quinn or Tom Brandstater took a snap in the 7-on-7 drill, Tebow, standing well behind the line of scrimmage, pretended to take the same snap and drop, sort of like an on-deck hitter timing his practice swing to the pitch.

"We're changing some stuff with our offense," McDaniels said later. So maybe Tebow was just practicing, and maybe they have some really innovative new formations planned for 2010.

Either way, Tebow is no Elway. And we will do him and everybody else a favor if we kick the habit of pretending he is. More than a decade after Elway retired, this tick of ours is like nicotine. We might need a patch.

On the first day of his first full team workout, Tebow checked down rather than throw deep. He looked like a rookie trying to learn an NFL playbook for the first time, with a steep learning curve in front of him.

Which, coincidentally, is exactly what he is.

Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com or twitter.com/DaveKrieger

TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 07:34 AM
This is my favorite line in the article:


Like so many things I believed in the '80s, this turned out to be completely wrong. Maybe Def Leppard wasn't the greatest band of all time, either. I just don't know anymore.


Dave how could you doubt that Def Leppard is the greatest band of all time? :lol:

Dirk
05-18-2010, 08:04 AM
Actually a good article from Krieger.

We all know that after so many years with Elway...everyone will be compared. I think that even if we have a QB 3-peat in SB wins, the Elway mystic will always be around. He was afterall the first true beloved QB in Denver.

TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 08:17 AM
Actually a good article from Krieger.

We all know that after so many years with Elway...everyone will be compared. I think that even if we have a QB 3-peat in SB wins, the Elway mystic will always be around. He was afterall the first true beloved QB in Denver.

True the Elway mystic will always be there but if our next frachise quarterback Tebow or someone else should be fortunate enough to win a Super Bowl they would at least be out from underneath the shadow imo.

T.K.O.
05-18-2010, 10:03 AM
Sun Tzu once wrote, “If your enemy is weaker, conquer him. If he is stronger, join him. If he is Tim Tebow, you’re f***ing dead.”

Northman
05-18-2010, 10:31 AM
There will never be another Elway. /thread

Elevation inc
05-18-2010, 11:00 AM
i like this article elway is elway and tebow is tebow...the comparisons do get old.....

TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 11:28 AM
Let's hope that someday we'll be able to say Tim Tebow was great quarterback that lead Denver to Championships.

silkamilkamonico
05-18-2010, 01:54 PM
There will never be another Elway. /thread

I agree. The obsession from the general fanbase has placed a curse on Denver QB's, and I do think Denver should find other ways about building championship teams, because I do not think we will ever get a QB to lead us, like the Mannings/Bradys/Brees/Rivers etc...

TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 03:58 PM
I agree. The obsession from the general fanbase has placed a curse on Denver QB's, and I do think Denver should find other ways about building championship teams, because I do not think we will ever get a QB to lead us, like the Mannings/Bradys/Brees/Rivers etc...


Maybe we wont ever get another great quarterback but that's not an absolute. It's a quarterback driven league we should be looking. Building a championship team without a franchise quarterback is much more difficult than building one without.

LRtagger
05-18-2010, 04:22 PM
I thought the Elway stuff didnt so much end with Orton, but with Shanahan leaving and McDaniels coming in.

Now it's all "Oh he looks like Tom Brady...he is playing like Matt Cassell did in 2008"

TXBRONC
05-18-2010, 04:25 PM
I thought the Elway stuff didnt so much end with Orton, but with Shanahan leaving and McDaniels coming in.

Now it's all "Oh he looks like Tom Brady...he is playing like Matt Cassell did in 2008"

Until we get another franchise quarterback who makes a name for himself Elway's name is always going to pop up.

silkamilkamonico
05-18-2010, 04:30 PM
I thought the Elway stuff didnt so much end with Orton, but with Shanahan leaving and McDaniels coming in.

Now it's all "Oh he looks like Tom Brady...he is playing like Matt Cassell did in 2008"

I would have hoped Shanahan would have had a better eye for QB's. He knows how to install a great offense, and he knows how to develops QB's, and I think it's proven with what he did with guys like Griese, Plummer, and even Cutler.

But at the same time, he came to Denver and we had Elway. He thought Griese was the answer, but he was wrong. He thought Plummer would have been "that guy", but Shanahan obviously overvalued Plummers actual ability.

He was doing a good job with Cutler, but at that point the damage he put into the organization through the 90's was just too much and a change needed to happen.

Like what's been said, we do need a franchise QB. It's just a great thing that the NFL is so passy happy, and with the different systems, the rules allow "franchise QB's" to be found much easier.

BigBroncLove
05-18-2010, 04:33 PM
I don't mind the Elway comparisons to much. It's often ridiculous and I don't pay much attention to them because honestly no one will ever be Elway again. He was singular in my mind and occupied a pair of shoes that can't be filled, simply replaced. But... It's good to know that the legend of Elway lives on and I'm sure for the great himself on some small level its a more than flattering homage to one of the greatest if not the greatest Bronco of all time.

Actually I'm not looking forward to when the comparison isn't made anymore because that means Elway will run in the ranks of the greats of yester year (not yesterday) and that will just make me feel old.

Lonestar
05-18-2010, 04:47 PM
when cutler was drafted I commented about him Ruing the day he was. Because of the Duke would always be king here.

His inability to deal with pressure that came with following a GOAT, soon came pouring out and NOW I suspect he is glad to be out of Johns shadow.

broncophan
05-18-2010, 05:26 PM
There will never be another Elway. /thread

I dunno.........I heard his wife is pregnant.....:D

T.K.O.
05-18-2010, 07:18 PM
I dunno.........I heard his wife is pregnant.....:D

yeah but she's a former raiders cheerleader so the kid's blood is tainted !:lol:

GGMoogly
05-19-2010, 12:25 PM
I posted this elsewhere:

There are so many threads, so many opinion pieces saying Tebow won't succeed because he doesn't have a cannon arm, but they're missing the point. Tebow's magic doesn't rest in his arm, or his legs for that matter. It's in his heart, his ultra-competitive nature. Sure, Elway had the gun, but he HATED to lose at ANYTHING! Whether it was ping pong or pool, stories abound about his intensity. That's why comparisons to John are valid. Same thing with Dan Reeves. Absolutely HATED to lose. And it's that way with Tebow.

That the NFL and its players are competitive goes without saying, but some players transcend even that level. Tebow is one of those guys. I liked Quinn enough out of college. I wasn't a HUGE fan, but I thought - think - he can play in this league. It's just that Tebow...well...is different.

Ravage!!!
05-19-2010, 01:37 PM
I agree. The obsession from the general fanbase has placed a curse on Denver QB's, and I do think Denver should find other ways about building championship teams, because I do not think we will ever get a QB to lead us, like the Mannings/Bradys/Brees/Rivers etc...

I hope you are wrong.. since it appears that this is the best way to go to the Super Bowl and to continue to be contenders. If you don't find that QB, then your franchise is bound into the cycle of mediocrity.