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.
Tim Tebow, the Broncos' rookie third-string quarterback out of Florida, is working on his technique and footwork to help mold his passing game for the NFL.
"I love it," Tebow says, "when someone tells me I cannot do something."
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.
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SOURCE: USA Today
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