Tebow Time!

Every day I look for topics that will spur people to call in to my radio show? On this particular day, after the Cowboys blew a 12-point lead to lose the New York Giants and Tim Tebow rallied his Denver Broncos to another improbable fourth quarter comeback, this one a 13-10 win over the Chicago Bears, the question was an easy one.

What does Tim Tebow have that the Dallas Cowboys don’t [Fig. A]?

Tebow drives the NFL “experts” crazy. He’s not the prototype NFL quarterback [Fig. B]. He has an unorthodox throwing motion, terrible accuracy, poor early game QB ratings and an in-your-face Christian faith. All he does is win games. At deadline for this article, he’s 7-1 since he took over as a the starting quarterback for the team.

It’s been a great source of entertainment watching Broncos' Coach John Fox and General Manager John Elway refuse to commit to Tebow longterm even as he leads his team to victory week after week. It must drive Hall-of- Famer Elway crazy to watch his field general defy all pro football odds to put his team in position to actually make the playoffs.

Detractors refuse to give Tebow any credit for the Broncos’ incredible run. I point to the record: 7-1.

The Dallas Cowboys would kill for a 7-1 record at this point of the season. They are the anti-Tebow. As of Dec. 12, the Cowboys have held leads in five of their six losses. Dallas led 30-17 in the fourth quarter vs. Detroit, 24-10 vs. the Jets, 34-22 vs. the Giants, and 13-6 against an inferior Arizona team. They lost all those games. At deadline, Dallas is 7-6. They could win the NFC East or they could completely miss the playoffs this year.

How can Tim Tebow be so wrong as an NFL Quarterback, yet be so right in the win column? How can the Cowboys blow fourth quarter leads every week and find new ways to lose?

When players and coaches are asked about Tebow, they talk about his will to win, the way he performs under pressure.

With the Cowboys, it’s about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, their tendency to fold under pressure.

I went on-record on my radio show saying Tim Tebow is the greatest college football player I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes. Not on TV, in person. Callers questioned my sanity. They remind me of all the great players who ever existed, including East Texans like Earl Campbell.

I saw Tebow play vs. LSU in 2007, the year Tyler’s Matt Flynn led the Tigers to the BCS Championship. Tebow was only a sophomore, but he would go on to win the Heisman Trophy [Fig. C]. LSU beat Florida that night, 28-24, but if it was possible, I would have stuffed the ballot box for Tebow. The guy was unstoppable.

He would scramble toward the sideline, the defense in desperate pursuit. You just knew the Tigers would track him down and knock him into the third row. And then, just before he went out of bounds, Tebow would throw across his body, into the end zone. TOUCHDOWN, GATORS. AGHHHHHH!

The man drove you absolutely nuts. You knew he was dead in the water, and yet he would make play after play to keep his team alive. He refused to lose. And most of the time, he didn’t.

He’s doing the same thing in the pros. And it drives NFL traditionalists (and Cowboys fans) crazy. You’re supposed to win games a certain way. Tebow blows up the mold. The ‘experts’ want him to fail.

Yet, Cowboy fans would sell their souls to have a guy like Tebow on their team. A guy with heart [Fig. D], a guy who made everyone around them better, a guy who gave his team confidence, a reason to believe. A guy who refused to lose. It may not be pretty, but it looks a lot better than a team that invents new ways to blow leads, and lose, every time they have an opportunity to lock up a playoff berth.

Given the choice, I’ll take an unorthodox Tim Tebow any day of the week.

Bryan Houston is in his fifth decade in broadcasting, first as a music radio disc jockey, then as a play-by-play announcer, TV sportscaster and finally a TV news anchor in the East Texas area since 1991.

Now he’s returned to his roots. Sports and Radio.
Bryan is the sports director and host of Bryan Houston’s Sports Radio Live on 99.3 TALK FM, Monday through Friday from 3-6p.m.