broncobryce
08-17-2010, 06:57 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/broncos/2010-08-16-nfl-tim-tebow-denver-broncos-josh-mcdaniels_N.htm
By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Tim Tebow smiles a lot — especially for an NFL rookie quarterback. The college legend retains an irrepressibly jaunty outlook, even in the face mask of squinty cynics who forecast a dim pro future for the Denver Bronco.
"I love it," Tebow says, "when someone tells me I cannot do something."
PHOTOS: Broncos training camp
CAMP REPORT: Kyle Orton is the forgotton QB in Denver
Perhaps the beaming, sunny-side-up son of a preacher man knows something the skeptics and pundits do not. Among the most derisive predraft comments were from a Super Bowl champion quarterback. Joe Theismann, speaking on a Jacksonville radio station, advised the Florida Gators folk hero to quit the sport with his "rock-star status preserved."
"Tebow-mania" is not going underground anytime soon. His No. 15 jersey is the No. 1 seller in the NFL.
The Tim Tebow Era commenced Sunday in Cincinnati. Like Frank Sinatra, whom the quarterback sometimes listens to before games, the 6-3, 245-pound left-hander did it his way, if not always the right way, after entering in the third quarter vs. the Bengals.
Tebow, 23, showed flashes of what Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, 34, saw in him in college: arm strength, maneuverability, toughness.
Several throws were impressive; a couple of others could have been intercepted. But it was an old mechanical flaw — slack in his delivery — that reared its ugly mane for the Bronco with the buzz cut. Tebow victimized himself on a safety blitz with a loopy, elongated motion that resulted in what initially was called a sack and fumble (later ruled an incompletion after instant replay).
Tebow finished 8-for-13 for 105 yards. He bulled his way into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown on the game's final play, a run analyst Brian Baldinger says wasn't smart "because you won't survive in the NFL trying to bowl over linebackers."
"I have a long way to go," Tebow says with a smile.
Work in progress
However difficult the transition to the pros, the relentlessly upbeat Bronco is doing anything but singing the blues. Because he frets about getting too "amped-up" before games or scrimmages, he listens to country tunes, Christian music or a Sinatra hit to reduce his natural adrenaline surge.
Listed as Denver's No. 3 signal-caller behind starter Kyle Orton and backup Brady Quinn, the rookie is not ready for prime-time exposure. Maybe with a lucrative marketing campaign — he is the newest endorser for Jockey underwear — but not as a starting NFL quarterback.
After two weeks, no one at the team's Dove Valley training camp confuses Tebow with the Second Coming (of John Elway).
"I've thrown it high, low and behind. Definitely not perfect," Tebow says. "It is tough."
Unlike recent rookie quarterbacks who started immediately and played well, including the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan and the Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco, Tebow faces no such expectations from the Broncos.
"You won't talk to many quarterbacks or reputable quarterback minds who feel that he is going to be successful anytime soon," says Trent Dilfer, the Super Bowl-winning ESPN analyst. Dilfer says he was "absolutely shocked" when McDaniels snatched Tebow in the first round of April's draft.
Tebow remains what McDaniels suspected he was when the second-year coach selected the football-playing missionary with the 25th overall pick — a work in progress.
His athleticism, mobility and southpaw stance remind Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts of a Bobby Douglass-Steve Young quarterback combo.
"Douglass was a phenomenal athlete, and that's what this guy reminds me of a bit; Tebow's a special project," Fouts says. "Young was a wild one and a tremendous athlete, too. But he got into the right system. It depends on the system matching up with a guy's skills."
McDaniels thinks Tebow fits the Broncos to a T. The coach's offense features lots of shotgun and three-receiver sets. Tebow on Sunday lined up in the shotgun for 14 consecutive snaps during three fourth-quarter drives.
Tebow has struggled with transferring what he comprehends in the meeting rooms to the practice field, where junkyard-dog defenses bite back.
Observes Orton: "He looks like all high-draft-pick rookies — good plays, bad plays. He certainly shows glimpses of, 'Hey, that's pretty good.' "
Denver, which has claimed the AFC West once since 1999, will rely on Orton, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, until the franchise's (planned) quarterback for the future is deemed proficient.
"If Tim would give us the best chance to win, he would play," McDaniels says. "If not, it is a learning process for him."
McDaniels thinks the scrambler's versatility makes him unpredictable and problematic for defenses. McDaniels would love to see Tebow, a double threat, master enough plays out of the Wildcat offense to justify making him Orton's backup.
But while Tebow says he has mastered the playbook, he must still locate a comfort zone as he tries to decipher tricked-up defensive schemes.
During a recent practice, a corner blitz rattled Tebow, who continues to practice better footwork after rarely playing under center in college. At times Tebow presses because he wants to impress; non-starters get limited reps. Also, McDaniels isn't shy about information overload when preparing quarterbacks.
That has left Tebow on a steep learning curve.
"It's going to take some time," agent Jimmy Sexton says. "He never gets too high or too low. Only thing I ever see him get (worked up) about is when he sees people on TV say he cannot do something. Drives him crazy."
Heart and soul
The most-repeated predraft criticism of Tebow was his unrefined delivery. In college, Tebow's low-slung, slower release and imprecise footwork were not issues. With Tebow in the shotgun, the receivers were often superior athletes who effortlessly outplayed defenders.
In the NFL, quarterbacks operate in what Dilfer calls the "cluttered space" — where a quick, compact delivery is often the difference between a completion and a sack. That is why Dilfer says Tebow's instincts have to be retrained from the pocket.
"I love it when people say, 'All you have to do is make good decisions, put points on the board,' " he says. "Well, yeah, all a PGA golfer has to do is get it in the hole. But what helps is proper technique. ... Tim has to reconstruct that, which can be done. He has a great mind."
McDaniels does not sound overly preoccupied, at least publicly, regarding his protégé's mechanics. Tebow's throwing motion is improved, McDaniels says, "(But) we didn't ask him to change it entirely."
"He may look different (than most NFL quarterbacks), but that doesn't matter," McDaniels says.
The coach also likes Tebow's accuracy and ability to put a fine-artist's touch on the football.
"He uses touch and zip. He has not disappointed us in that area," says McDaniels, who is most impressed with Tebow's game above the shoulder pads. He should know: McDaniels was on the New England Patriots coaching staff from 2004 to 2008 with Tom Brady at quarterback.
"Tim is probably the brightest quarterback I have ever had at this stage of his career."
McDaniels pauses. "But processing information and using it are two different things."
Tebow's work ethic cannot be questioned, particularly when he has something to prove.
"He accepts a challenge like no one I have met," says Zeke Bratkowski, 78, a former NFL quarterback who schooled Tebow on his release last spring. "Tim has to generate the finesse aspect of his passing game, and he has the ability to do it."
Tebow has a college pedigree that produced two national titles and a trough full of records. Tebow was rewarded when he signed a five-year contract last month guaranteeing him $9.79 million. If he were to fulfill all incentives, the deal maxes out at $33 million.
He has been subjected to what all rookies confront, such as getting a crown-of-thorns haircut, lugging equipment and surviving the embarrassment of pranks — including blue feet from dissolving dye surreptitiously put in his socks.
"The veterans were all looking for a reason to hate him," eighth-year receiver Brandon Lloyd says. "It is hard not to like him."
The ever-tenacious quarterback says he loves everything about football — including the violence of the sport.
"I know it is going to take a lot of work, dedication and perseverance," Tebow says. "What the future holds, I do not know."
Receiver Brandon Stokley is no fan of catching balls fired by a southpaw — the football tails the opposite direction from a right-handed throw — but says he is an admirer because Tebow has such a good attitude.
That is one reason he is so popular, if sometimes polarizing because of his outspoken Christian beliefs.
"Tebow-mania" has migrated from its Southern roots. The team's first practice in suburban Denver drew more than 3,000 people as Gator Nation fanatics camped out in a parking lot. Tebow regularly signs autographs for the orange crush that is held in check by multiple guards.
"He just kept signing and smiling, signing and smiling," says Linnea Schramm, a Florida grad. "He never got ruffled or was rude. He never looked bored. He just had that big smile."
One afternoon, Tebow asked Teagan Davis — wearing a tot-sized South Carolina Gamecocks jersey — if he would exclaim, "Go Gators!" The 4-year-old slowly wagged his head. Uh-uh.
The quarterback laughed ... and kept signing.
By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Tim Tebow smiles a lot — especially for an NFL rookie quarterback. The college legend retains an irrepressibly jaunty outlook, even in the face mask of squinty cynics who forecast a dim pro future for the Denver Bronco.
"I love it," Tebow says, "when someone tells me I cannot do something."
PHOTOS: Broncos training camp
CAMP REPORT: Kyle Orton is the forgotton QB in Denver
Perhaps the beaming, sunny-side-up son of a preacher man knows something the skeptics and pundits do not. Among the most derisive predraft comments were from a Super Bowl champion quarterback. Joe Theismann, speaking on a Jacksonville radio station, advised the Florida Gators folk hero to quit the sport with his "rock-star status preserved."
"Tebow-mania" is not going underground anytime soon. His No. 15 jersey is the No. 1 seller in the NFL.
The Tim Tebow Era commenced Sunday in Cincinnati. Like Frank Sinatra, whom the quarterback sometimes listens to before games, the 6-3, 245-pound left-hander did it his way, if not always the right way, after entering in the third quarter vs. the Bengals.
Tebow, 23, showed flashes of what Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, 34, saw in him in college: arm strength, maneuverability, toughness.
Several throws were impressive; a couple of others could have been intercepted. But it was an old mechanical flaw — slack in his delivery — that reared its ugly mane for the Bronco with the buzz cut. Tebow victimized himself on a safety blitz with a loopy, elongated motion that resulted in what initially was called a sack and fumble (later ruled an incompletion after instant replay).
Tebow finished 8-for-13 for 105 yards. He bulled his way into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown on the game's final play, a run analyst Brian Baldinger says wasn't smart "because you won't survive in the NFL trying to bowl over linebackers."
"I have a long way to go," Tebow says with a smile.
Work in progress
However difficult the transition to the pros, the relentlessly upbeat Bronco is doing anything but singing the blues. Because he frets about getting too "amped-up" before games or scrimmages, he listens to country tunes, Christian music or a Sinatra hit to reduce his natural adrenaline surge.
Listed as Denver's No. 3 signal-caller behind starter Kyle Orton and backup Brady Quinn, the rookie is not ready for prime-time exposure. Maybe with a lucrative marketing campaign — he is the newest endorser for Jockey underwear — but not as a starting NFL quarterback.
After two weeks, no one at the team's Dove Valley training camp confuses Tebow with the Second Coming (of John Elway).
"I've thrown it high, low and behind. Definitely not perfect," Tebow says. "It is tough."
Unlike recent rookie quarterbacks who started immediately and played well, including the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan and the Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco, Tebow faces no such expectations from the Broncos.
"You won't talk to many quarterbacks or reputable quarterback minds who feel that he is going to be successful anytime soon," says Trent Dilfer, the Super Bowl-winning ESPN analyst. Dilfer says he was "absolutely shocked" when McDaniels snatched Tebow in the first round of April's draft.
Tebow remains what McDaniels suspected he was when the second-year coach selected the football-playing missionary with the 25th overall pick — a work in progress.
His athleticism, mobility and southpaw stance remind Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts of a Bobby Douglass-Steve Young quarterback combo.
"Douglass was a phenomenal athlete, and that's what this guy reminds me of a bit; Tebow's a special project," Fouts says. "Young was a wild one and a tremendous athlete, too. But he got into the right system. It depends on the system matching up with a guy's skills."
McDaniels thinks Tebow fits the Broncos to a T. The coach's offense features lots of shotgun and three-receiver sets. Tebow on Sunday lined up in the shotgun for 14 consecutive snaps during three fourth-quarter drives.
Tebow has struggled with transferring what he comprehends in the meeting rooms to the practice field, where junkyard-dog defenses bite back.
Observes Orton: "He looks like all high-draft-pick rookies — good plays, bad plays. He certainly shows glimpses of, 'Hey, that's pretty good.' "
Denver, which has claimed the AFC West once since 1999, will rely on Orton, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, until the franchise's (planned) quarterback for the future is deemed proficient.
"If Tim would give us the best chance to win, he would play," McDaniels says. "If not, it is a learning process for him."
McDaniels thinks the scrambler's versatility makes him unpredictable and problematic for defenses. McDaniels would love to see Tebow, a double threat, master enough plays out of the Wildcat offense to justify making him Orton's backup.
But while Tebow says he has mastered the playbook, he must still locate a comfort zone as he tries to decipher tricked-up defensive schemes.
During a recent practice, a corner blitz rattled Tebow, who continues to practice better footwork after rarely playing under center in college. At times Tebow presses because he wants to impress; non-starters get limited reps. Also, McDaniels isn't shy about information overload when preparing quarterbacks.
That has left Tebow on a steep learning curve.
"It's going to take some time," agent Jimmy Sexton says. "He never gets too high or too low. Only thing I ever see him get (worked up) about is when he sees people on TV say he cannot do something. Drives him crazy."
Heart and soul
The most-repeated predraft criticism of Tebow was his unrefined delivery. In college, Tebow's low-slung, slower release and imprecise footwork were not issues. With Tebow in the shotgun, the receivers were often superior athletes who effortlessly outplayed defenders.
In the NFL, quarterbacks operate in what Dilfer calls the "cluttered space" — where a quick, compact delivery is often the difference between a completion and a sack. That is why Dilfer says Tebow's instincts have to be retrained from the pocket.
"I love it when people say, 'All you have to do is make good decisions, put points on the board,' " he says. "Well, yeah, all a PGA golfer has to do is get it in the hole. But what helps is proper technique. ... Tim has to reconstruct that, which can be done. He has a great mind."
McDaniels does not sound overly preoccupied, at least publicly, regarding his protégé's mechanics. Tebow's throwing motion is improved, McDaniels says, "(But) we didn't ask him to change it entirely."
"He may look different (than most NFL quarterbacks), but that doesn't matter," McDaniels says.
The coach also likes Tebow's accuracy and ability to put a fine-artist's touch on the football.
"He uses touch and zip. He has not disappointed us in that area," says McDaniels, who is most impressed with Tebow's game above the shoulder pads. He should know: McDaniels was on the New England Patriots coaching staff from 2004 to 2008 with Tom Brady at quarterback.
"Tim is probably the brightest quarterback I have ever had at this stage of his career."
McDaniels pauses. "But processing information and using it are two different things."
Tebow's work ethic cannot be questioned, particularly when he has something to prove.
"He accepts a challenge like no one I have met," says Zeke Bratkowski, 78, a former NFL quarterback who schooled Tebow on his release last spring. "Tim has to generate the finesse aspect of his passing game, and he has the ability to do it."
Tebow has a college pedigree that produced two national titles and a trough full of records. Tebow was rewarded when he signed a five-year contract last month guaranteeing him $9.79 million. If he were to fulfill all incentives, the deal maxes out at $33 million.
He has been subjected to what all rookies confront, such as getting a crown-of-thorns haircut, lugging equipment and surviving the embarrassment of pranks — including blue feet from dissolving dye surreptitiously put in his socks.
"The veterans were all looking for a reason to hate him," eighth-year receiver Brandon Lloyd says. "It is hard not to like him."
The ever-tenacious quarterback says he loves everything about football — including the violence of the sport.
"I know it is going to take a lot of work, dedication and perseverance," Tebow says. "What the future holds, I do not know."
Receiver Brandon Stokley is no fan of catching balls fired by a southpaw — the football tails the opposite direction from a right-handed throw — but says he is an admirer because Tebow has such a good attitude.
That is one reason he is so popular, if sometimes polarizing because of his outspoken Christian beliefs.
"Tebow-mania" has migrated from its Southern roots. The team's first practice in suburban Denver drew more than 3,000 people as Gator Nation fanatics camped out in a parking lot. Tebow regularly signs autographs for the orange crush that is held in check by multiple guards.
"He just kept signing and smiling, signing and smiling," says Linnea Schramm, a Florida grad. "He never got ruffled or was rude. He never looked bored. He just had that big smile."
One afternoon, Tebow asked Teagan Davis — wearing a tot-sized South Carolina Gamecocks jersey — if he would exclaim, "Go Gators!" The 4-year-old slowly wagged his head. Uh-uh.
The quarterback laughed ... and kept signing.