RAMSEY: Tebow provides all with talking points
DENVER – Tim Tebow is the Denver Broncos quarterback of the future, and that means the future won’t be boring.
At times, the future will be infuriating and baffling. At other times, it will be thrilling.
Don’t worry. Ho-hum won’t be the problem.
Give Tebow credit. He recovered, almost instantly, from one of the dumbest football throws of 2010 and helped the Broncos power to a 34-17 exhibition victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With 12:44 left in the fourth quarter, Tim Tebow took a long look at receiver Britt Davis and went into an extended windup remindful of Ubaldo Jimenez.
Tebow’s seemingly eternal delivery gave Pittsburgh cornerback Crezdon Butler time to jump in front of Davis, swipe the pass and, it seemed, romp to the end zone.
But when Butler saw Tebow and his 245-pound frame, he decided the safety of the sideline was more inviting than six points.
Cowardly? Sure, but this was a fake game, not a real one.
For millions of Tebow doubters, this pass served as proof for their long list of criticisms. In a flash, Tebow displayed flawed delivery, lack of field vision and, when Butler fled from his arms, even hinted he would make a better NFL linebacker than quarterback.
But Tebow wasn’t finished, and before the night was over he would provide hope for the millions of believers who see him as an NFL star of tomorrow.
On the Broncos next drive, Tebow threw his best pass of the night, a 24-yard fastball to Matthew Willis.
Tebow was under heavy pressure from linebacker Thaddeus Gibson, but that wasn’t his biggest problem.
He had to almost instantly wrestle and defeat memories of his interception.
“I made a bad mistake and I’ve got to learn from that and get better,” Tebow said. “… When you make a mistake you have to learn from it and try to bounce back. You have to get rid of it.”
He picked the right way to dump his pain. A 43-yard run by Lance Ball pushed the ball to the Steelers 6, and a play later Tebow lobbed a throw to Eric Decker in the corner of the end zone.
It was a tricky, potentially dangerous throw.
It also was a touchdown.
For much of the summer, Tebow-mania has overtaken Colorado, and the mania should soon subside. In two weeks, Tebow will be just another player on the bench, where he appears destined to watch Kyle Orton take the vast majority of the snaps this season.
But if the Broncos stumble to, say, a 3-5 record heading into November, expect the rumbling for Tebow to overtake the state.
Tebow isn’t ready to destroy NFL defenses. Anyone with clear vision could see his shortcomings on Sunday.
In a cameo appearance, he forced a pass into a crowd of Steelers in the end zone and missed a wide-open Eddie Royal in the flat.
Tebow could be the quarterback of 2012.
He’s not the quarterback of 2010, even if he followed foolishness with brilliance on Sunday night.
