Tim Tebow may be strapped for playing time as the Denver Broncos third string quarterback, but regardless of his lack of action on the field the first round draft pick has garnered plenty of attention off of it. Selected 25th overall by the Broncos in the 2010 NFL Draft, Tim Tebow solidified his position as an elite NFL talent and put the naysayers to rest. With a more than stellar career at the University of Florida, Tebow entered the league with an impressive resume and string of accolades that left apparel, beverage and various sport related entertainment companies and sponsors like EA Sports foaming at the mouth, waiting to cash in on this guaranteed cash cow that was set the hit the professional ranks with a bang.
Having garnered so much attention at SEC powerhouse Florida, the Gator "living legend" had an impressive list of on the field accomplishments that would have left any fan, scout, broadcaster or coach in awe. Tebow's long list of awards includes: 2× BCS National Champion (2007, 2009), 2× First-team All-American (2007, 2008), Second-team All-American (2009), First-team All-SEC (2007, 2008, 2009), AP Player of the Year (2007), Davey O'Brien Award (2007), Maxwell Award (2007, 2008), Heisman Trophy (2007), NCAA QB of the Year (2007), Manning Award (2008), and last but not least the William V. Campbell Trophy (2009). With a pedigree like this one would think that it would all go to his head, but this humble natured and well mannered Christian boy (Florida's very own knight in shining armor) has remained poised and patient in his first season as a back up to current franchise quarterback Kyle Orton.
Tebow's work ethic, sense of community and willingness to serve have made him into the ideal candidate for any marketing campaign, business venture or spokesperson role for so many organizations it's hard to believe that this guy has any time whatsoever to concentrate on the game he loves so much. I mean lets face it, what hasn't Tebow done that NFL scouts, the media and coaches have asked of him. He needs to improve his foot speed and drop technique, check! He needs to alter his point of release, check! He can't be a legitimate passer in the NFL, check! There is no way he will get drafted in the first round, and check! But with so much emphasis on his college career and current progress of his professional stint with the Broncos 0-0, 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, I wanted to shed some light on his current off the field accomplishments and highlight why this kid is just so gosh darn marketable.
Tebow's first prime time spot aired as a nationwide ad funded by Focus on the Family that was broadcast during Super Bowl XLIV. The advertisement included two 30-second commercials focusing on Tebow's personal story as part of an overall pro-life stance. While there was a media firestorm surrounding this decision, Tebow held strong to his beliefs and was heralded for doing so. The second major development came from the NCAA and its establishment of "The Tebow Rule," which banned players from writing messages on their eye black during games as was so customary of the Florida QB over his career. So much so that in the 2009 BCS Championship Game, he wore John 3:16 on his eye paint, and as a result, 92 million people Google searched "John 3:16" during or shortly after the game. Additionally, when Tebow switched to another verse, Proverbs 3:5-6, there were 3.43 million searches of "Tim Tebow" and that verse together. Tebow stated of the searches "It just goes to show you the influence and the platform that you have as a student-athlete and as a quarterback at Florida".
Since his introduction into the professional ranks Tebow has also taken time to ad value to his brand through sponsorship and advertising endeavours with nationally recognized companies such as EA Sports and Nike. On April 8, 2010, Tebow was announced as the cover athlete for all three game platforms of the upcoming video game NCAA Football 11 and has recently premiered in a string of Nike commercials with 1st overall pick, and Portland, OR native Ndamukong Suh, Rick Ross and Manny Pacquiao. Quite the group for a guy that held off all promotional and marketing endeavours until after the start of the 2010 campaign as a way of devoting his time to crafting himself into an elite level QB in Broncos camp.
But the list doesn't stop there! The former Heisman Trophy winner, who's dominated NFL jersey sales with the number one selling uniform without taking an NFL snap, has now infiltrated the sneaker industry a well. In conjunction with EA Sports College Football 2011, Nike released the Tim Tebow Trainer 1.2 on August 6th. The sneaker features the Gators' blue and orange color scheme and commemorates Tebow’s “Promise” speech from Sept. 27, 2008. Now for the bad news. Nike only released 500 pairs of the shoe and they sold out in five minutes.
Tebow has also set his sights even higher through the implementation of his own non profit foundation, marketing company, and social media outlets designed to spread the Tebow way and encourage fans to ride the wave. Four days before his first NFL regular season game, the popular rookie launched a Twitter account and a new website, TimTebow.com. Tebow, who also started a Facebook page, drew thousands of followers in just a few hours after joining Twitter and in his first tweet stated,
"Thanks for all the years of support - I'm really excited about being able to keep in touch with all of you on twitter and facebook." The launching of the social media platforms is part of a coordinated unveiling of a new company, XV Enterprises, that will manage Tebow's marketing interests. XV Enterprises (Tebow's uniform number is 15) is run by Tebow's brother, Robby Tebow, and friend Angel Gonzalez.
On top of this, Tebow also launched the debut of the Tim Tebow Foundation, a non profit designed to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The Foundation will utilize the public platform that God has given to Tim Tebow through media, publishing, speaking engagements, special events, and mission trips to inspire friends and supporters to work with the Foundation as a team in helping to make a difference.
With all of this off the field action I feel that I have broken a sweat just trying to get it all into words, yet again it could be the all time record 113 degree Los Angeles heat that is seeping into the office, but non the less the list of accolades of off the field action seems limitless for the first year pro. Yet with all this action and all of the attention it is amazing to me to see a guy with so much poise and dedication to his craft. All of his moves have been well thought out and meticulous planned and executed. But would you expect anything less. Sure I will admit I was a Tebow hater during his days in college, but if there is one thing this guy is good at its turning doubters into believers. Tim Tebow is a model of character, good sportsmanship and class and will undoubtedly have a bright future ahead regardless of what he does on the field. His off the field excellence will surely carry him to a level unmatched by any athlete in light of today's standards and I look forward to seeing how he progresses as a professional in the future.
*Here's a direct quote by Head Coach Josh McDaniels in regards to the acquistion of Tim Tebow in the 1st Round: "We want players who are tough, smart, have great character, love football and are passionate about coming here and helping the Broncos win a championship. I think both players fit that role and I think that’s something that we’re looking for in all of our players. What we’re trying to build here is team chemistry and a team that cares about winning and winning a championship, and that’s it.”
*You can catch Tim Tebow in the new Nike Boom! Ad by clicking on the title of this article
In light of the barrage of NFL fines, talk of subsequent suspensions, player/personnel decisions and injuries the NFL has decided to take a hard stance on the nature and delivery of hits in the league. While the controversy continues to draw hard lines between fans, coaches, players and analysts across the country its the medical community that should undoubtedly have the final say when educating others on the effects of helmet to helmet injuries. To say that the NFL represents a whole new brand of football is an understatement, as the last 10 years have seen a dramatic increase in the incident and severity of injury due to blatant and miscalculated hits. To the point that the ones delivering the blow are at just as much risk as those receiving the shot.
To find a wide receiver willing to go over the middle this day in age, with pure hitters like Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis and Troy Polamalu lurking in the intermediate and deep secondary, it no longer an issue of how many times, but how much money is it going to take to convince a twenty something year old that its a good idea. With a trend away from the foundational techniques and fundamentals from the NFL and college game, the number of concussions and injuries have sky rocketed. The so called originators, for example Roy Williams, and their reincarnated generation of NFL rookies like Taylor Mays, will be forced to learn a new breed of football having had that no arms, projectile approach to tackling acting as their staple during their collegiate and professional careers.
The movement to the old way of doing things: form up, head square, shoot the hips, wrap up and follow through feet churning is without a doubt what the NFL is asking its players to adopt. A concept taught from the earliest days of Pop Warner as a means of protection children from the dangers of head, neck and shoulder injuries, form tackling is almost a lost art outside the box in most NFL games. With the size, speed and skill of NFL running backs improving yearly with players like AD: All-Day Adrian Peterson, Marion Barber and rookie Ryan Mathews, Defensive Backs in particular have found going for the knees a great alternative to getting trampled by on coming tailbacks. The emphasis on lower leg and knee contact is the sole reason why the incident and number of ACL/MCL injuries have sky rocketed amongst the leagues top runners (i.e. Reggie Bush, Ryan Grant).
Lets face it, you no longer win a Fantasy Football season by drafting the best ball carriers or wide receivers, because we all know that the odds of them making to week 6 or 7 in one piece is a joke. Its now better to go two or in some cases three deep with the boys in the backfield because they will drop like flies throughout the brutal 16 game schedule. With an increased emphasis on stacked backfields and personnel, the principle behind trading, waiving and putting players on injured reserve has become more of a weekly occurrence than at any other time that I can recall in my nearly 20 years of watching football. Sure guys get banged up, its a violent game made for the biggest, baddest, most physical specimen on the planet, but ones physiology and anatomical features like tendons, ligaments and muscles can only put up with so much wear and tear before they break, tear, shear or just plain give out.
With NFL career lengths dropping significantly, its easy to see why their is such an emphasis on players expectations and wanting to get paid before they take a snap. Let them make their money before their bodies are so worthless or have taken so much abuse that they aren't worth it to anybody else, in which case you get cut or have to look to early retirement as a means of not killing yourself after taking hundreds, or in most cases thousands of life threatening hits. How else are you supposed to afford treatment, medical bills, prescriptions and therapy if you had to retire early because of injury during a less than stellar career where you were underpaid, spent you money poorly, and didn't finish college because everyone and their mom was telling you to leave school and go pro.
Its this back to basics approach that should teach players, if anything, about the importance of finishing school and obtaining their degree before making the jump. In that case (situation), you at least have a viable career waiting for you and can support yourself outside of your first pro contract, because we all know that money tends to dry up real quick for rookies (i.e. Dez Bryant's $54,000 team dinner tab). Players like Florida State Safety Myron Rolle represent the pinnacle of the so called student-athlete and he will forever benefit from his experiences both within football, and more importantly the classroom. Having been drafted late and then released due to scouts, GMs and owners understanding that he may not be fully committed to the game of football, I for one was glad to see him go and use his mind to further the life of himself and those around him. The mind is a precious resource, a tool used to calculate equations, figure out complex formulas, and coordinate your daily functions, not something you wrap in a thin layer of plastic and metal only to be throw around a field with reckless abandonment in the pursuit of landing that one awe inspiring shot.
Regardless if the guy was talking trash, busy burning you on every play or simply looked at you the wrong way, this increased emphasis on helmet to helmet contact will be responsible for the death of an NFL player in the future, period. I for one do not want to be watching a game on Sunday and see that happen. What a terrible thing to see and what a waste of a perfectly good life that would be. In light of the paralysis of Rutgers DT Eric LeGrand last week, another perfectly healthy players life was FOREVER changed due to the nature of a game that has gone too far. While this is not the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last, take it as a wake up call to the dangers of playing the great game of football in todays environment.
In my eyes the NFL's release of a video detailing illegal hits, which included last weekends helmet to helmet hit on the Eagles WR DeSean Jackson should serve as a means of ending this stream of violent play. While I encourage players, including my own to play aggressive and with a chip on their shoulder, there is a fine line between aggressive, reckless and/or violent. Today on Twitter Reggie Bush said it best when he states that, "Worst case scenario you get hit up top = concussion. Worst case scenario you get hit down low = knee surgery or possible end of career." With players not knowing what to expect week in and week out on both sides of the ball, players, coaches and the league must adopt a protocol of legal, back to basic tackling fundamentals before changes are going to be made in the NFL regardless of player fines, improvements in equipment and treatment initiatives restricting players returning to the field. Ultimately it is in the medical communities hands to educate others on the long term and life altering affects of these hits, only then will younger players fully understand the impact and consequences of their thoughtless actions on the field of play.
*For footage of the DeSean Jackson hit, simply click on the title of this article
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