Tim Tebow: Michael Vick Is Still Better

In an article by Robert Littal of Black Sports Online, Littal quotes legendary NFL running back Jim Brown as saying he thinks that Eagles quarterback Mike Vick could learn a thing or two from Denver's Tim Tebow:

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“Michael Vick in the last few games seemed to be afraid to use his legs because they say he’s not a great quarterback because he doesn’t stay in the pocket and throw the ball…

"I think Vick should take note of that and understand how to use his legs, and use Tebow as an example.”

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Either Brown is being serious and thinks that Tebow has had a more successful career than Vick, or he's completely unaware of who Vick is.

Vick has compiled over 5,000 rushing yards, scored 32 rushing touchdowns, averages over seven yards per carry and has had over 1,000 rushing yards in a single season.

That's more than most quarterbacks have in their career, let alone one season.  So, at least by comparison, it's safe to say that Vick rewrote the book on how to scramble in the 21st century.

Tebow's only played roughly a year-and-a-half, so there's still quite a bit of developing for him to do.

As for Brown, Vick will never be like Tebow because he's no longer looked at as a run-first quarterback.  We've seen Vick develop into quite the pocket-passer over the years.

Isn't Brown just ignoring everything that we expect an NFL quarterback to be?

Tebow has improved in the pocket, make no mistake about it, but if anything, he's the one who must develop as an NFL quarterback. 

Vick's been in the league since 2001 (excluding '07 and '08) and has thrown for as many as 3,000 yards in a season.

Let's face it, it's gonna be a while before we see Tebow hit 2,000 yards, let alone three grand. Also, Vick has played in six career playoff games and made a conference title appearance.

Now, it does look like Tebow will be playing in his first playoffs this season, however, he's still going to be behind Vick when it comes to success on the field in pro football. 

Tebow may have potential and time to develop, but if Vick changed into Tebow, well, he'd be backtracking since he's already been there.

Like Littal says at the end of his article, "Until Tebow has those type of credentials, he should strive to be more like Vick than the other way around."

Let's put it this way, if the NFL changed Vick from a scrambling, run-first quarterback into a pocket-passer, then Tebow must develop sooner or later, too. 

There's just no comparing the two when it comes to running the football.

Follow John Rozum on Twitter @Sportswriter27