Tim Tebow: Why Denver Broncos' Gimmicky QB Is the NFL's Biggest Fraud

Tim Tebow Mania has swept through the NFL over the last two months, to the point where the league's most overrated star is showing up on magazine covers and Pro Bowl ballots, even though he's done little, if anything, on the field the deserve it.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Denver Broncos phenomenon is currently fourth among AFC quarterbacks in Pro Bowl voting, behind only Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Which, given the way veterans tend to skip out on playing in Hawaii, practically ensures Tebowmania will be making a cameo appearance in the Aloha State in January, unless he somehow leads his Broncos to the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, it appears as though the league itself has taken a shining to Tebow and the media circus that follows him wherever he goes. The Washington Post is reporting that NFL Magazine has decided to make Timmy the cover boy for its inaugural edition, which hits newsstands on Dec. 13.

Of course, that wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact he'll be replacing Carolina Panthers rookie Cam Newton, who was originally slated to grace the cover.

All of this for a guy who's completed just 45.5 percent of his passes and hasn't thrown for more than 172 yards in a single game this season. Sure, he's put together some incredibly clutch drives, but to reward him so handsomely for playing well for five-to-10 minutes per game is to implicitly overlook both how poorly he performs under center for the vast majority of any given game and how well Denver's defense has played of late.

If anything, the NFL should be readying Pro Bowl invites and magazine cover spots for Elvis Dumervil, Von Miller and Champ Bailey, who've done a masterful job of holding down opposing offenses just enough to allow Tebow to look like the hero in the end.

Ultimately, though, it's tough to blame the general public and the folks at the league office for showing so much love to Tebow. He's become such a popular, if not polarizing, figure in the world of football, his meteoric ascent to the height of NFL stardom fueled in large part by a media feeding frenzy that's ensued since Kyle Orton was benched in early October. If anything, with all the off-field attention he's garnered and publicity he's brought to the league, it'd be wrong for him to not get some sort of recognition to the level that he's currently enjoying.

That being said, it's important to be clear about why he'll be a Pro Bowler and why he'll be on the cover of NFL Magazine. Unless anyone's about to praise him for his seeming inability to throw a forward pass, Tebow is being put on a pedestal for what he represents rather than what he actually is.

That is, Tebow has become a symbol of the American dream coming true in the NFL, of a quarterback "succeeding" against the odds, defying convention and making the most out of what little actual football talent he has to "help" his team win games.

And, of course, let's not forget, Tebow gets the attention because he's just plain entertaining to watch—maybe not if you're into competent quarterbacking, but rather if the inevitable drama in sports is to be considered reason enough for captivation.

So, give him the trip to Hawaii. Give him the magazine cover. We'll all eat it up, and rightfully so.

Just don't try to tell me he's "earned" it all by being a good football player.