The Authoritative Pros and Cons Guide to Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow

I've been writing, analyzing and commenting on football in some way, shape or form for about a decade and I can't recall any football player provoking nearly as severe a reaction as Tim Tebow.

Sure, there are huge reactions to various players that might dwarf the current Tebowmania. Usually it's for a brief time though and because they did something so far over the top that it was too incredible to believe if not completely unconscionable or fantastic.

All Tebow does is play football to varying degrees of success which, while worthy of some hours on talk radio, shouldn't be the source of the amount of ink it is.

If you think about it, Tebow hasn't really done anything (insert joke about his quarterbacking skill here). The media frenzy, the very strong opinions, the haters and the faithful—that's all on us.

For any other second-year quarterback the conversation would have quieted down long ago, but with Timmy, it's only picking up steam.

What is it about Tim Tebow that gets everyone's knickers in a twist?

Why do we hate and like him or hate liking him or like hating him so much?

The following is my attempt to figure out what makes our Tebows tick.

Fans: Tebow Is an Inspiration

For his fans, Tebow is living, breathing proof that hard work pays off. Heck, I think even his detractors will give him that.

Here's a guy who puts in countless hours on and off the practice field, is tirelessly trying to improve his game and achieving improvement as time goes on.

We can debate how much improvement he's shown, but over the course of the last few games he has thrown the ball better and better.

Is he lighting up secondaries for 300-plus yards and four touchdowns a game? No, but that's not where his skill-set is anyway. Tebow is never going to be Aaron Rodgers.

Then again, nobody in Denver is asking him to be.

All he does is put in tremendous amounts of work, grind it out every day and focus on getting better.

The end result? He won the starting job and against all odds achieved a 7-2 record.

Let's face it. In today's world we all have to put in a ton of work to even achieve a modicum of success. We grind away at our jobs, often doing something we tolerate but don't love and hope that things get better. If we take that overtime shift, work that holiday, sacrifice that weekend, we'll be recognized for our ability and dedication and move up the ladder.

It doesn't often work out that way.

Tebow is the example that sometimes it does. His backers love him for that because maybe that means they too can reach their goals if they work hard enough.

Critics: He's a Gimmick Quarterback

One of the biggest knocks on Tebow—and I know it because I've said it in the past—is that Tebow is not a good traditional quarterback.

Even after the first nine games he has started this year, Tebow is called a gimmick. He's the new wildcat, his critics say, and we know that defenses will figure him out eventually.

They'll point to this past weekend and his inability to light up one of the worst defenses in the league.

As I said, I've got my own concerns about it. New wrinkles always throw defenses for a loop, but eventually they figure them out. Even if you look at some of his wins, it wasn't that the offense stifled them. Quite often, the Broncos took advantage of the opposition's mistakes.

The Jets' defense missed easy tackles and called a terrible defensive play on the final drive. Marion Barber fumbled away the Bears' victory. Miami played prevent and got burned.

Critics will point out events like those and say "Hey, Tebow didn't win. The other team lost."

It drives those critics nuts when Tebow's believers refuse to acknowledge that the spread option isn't all that tough to stop. That at some point, likely this offseason, defensive coordinators will adjust their schemes and slam the door on the option like many before.

It's baffling they haven't been able to do it yet.

I'll admit I can't wrap my head around the success of this offense. I watch the games and I see things—admittedly in hindsight—that scream out to be done to slow and stop Tebow.

Yet each week, the offense runs the spread and often cannot be stopped for all four quarters.

Even the Patriots struggled early in this game.

This offense shouldn't be working. Yet, quite often that's what it does.

Fans: Tebow Challenges Our Definition of What an NFL Quarterback Is

When you think of an NFL quarterback, what do you see?

Likely, it's a guy who stays cool in the pocket, can scramble, throws deep and accurately and puts up huge passing yards.

You see Aaron Rodgers. Drew Brees. Matt Schaub. Matt Stafford.

You don't see Tim Tebow.

Sure, Michael Vick was and still is an incredibly mobile quarterback who can make solid throws, but is deadlier with his feet. So Tebow, while unique, isn't breaking new ground in terms of style.

However, the fact that the Broncos are molding an offense to him, not jamming him into another offense is pretty unprecedented. That it succeeds for the most part fuels the fire but step back for a second and consider the long term implications of this offense if it works out.

How long have we been told mobile quarterbacks aka running quarterbacks could not survive in the NFL? Only, I don't know.... forever? We've functioned under the assumption that you couldn't run this offense because 1) it's easy to stop the run and 2) no quarterback could take the pounding.

If the quarterback is the aforementioned Vick, you might be right. He's got a very lean build and is built more like a wide receiver (or quarterback) than a fullback. Tebow is built like a brick [expletive deleted] house and can take a beating.

This isn't to say he shouldn't invest in lessons on how to hook slide. He needs to be smart about contact as he's as human as anyone else.

However, he's likely to be able to withstand more punishment than you'd expect. If this works, what stops a team from searching out a mack-truck sized quarterback who can run a bit and take a hit?

Tebow is not your traditional quarterback. He doesn't compute and he's not going to fit into our usual definition of what a quarterback is.

I think it makes us uncomfortable and like his fans I think that's a positive thing.

Critics: His Constant Religious Proselytizing

To be honest, Tebow's constant mentioning of his savior and Lord doesn't bother me. I don't know that I feel it's appropriate on the football field but it's not like I have to listen if I don't want to.

For what it's worth, he can thank Allah, Buddha and Darth Vader for all I care. I don't mean to trivialize, but honestly, I worry about his actions on the field, not off or in interviews.

It gets weary for many people though, right Jake Plummer?

I have a theory about why Tebow's up front faith is disconcerting for many to the point that they can't see past it.

Ready? I think it might make you uncomfortable so be forewarned.

Over the past decade or so, so-called Conservative Christianity has spent a lot of time and money demanding things, forcing legislation and generally being very in-your-face.

When you have organizations like the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at military funerals, it doesn't show a very compassionate face for the religion.

Whether it's marriage equality, priest sex scandals or just politics in general it's been a rough patch for American Christianity.

I don't think I'm stretching it to say that a ton of Americans have ended up with a pretty bad taste in their mouths when headlines keep showing us a religion's less than stellar side.

What the heck does this have to do with Tebow? Well, he's only the biggest Christian icon to come along in years, he wears his faith on his sleeve and it makes him a target.

A target for all the grievances many have in this country over actions taken by a religion which Tebow is a part of.

Is it fair? No and again, this is my $2 Psych 101 thesis.

I think Tebow's faith rubs many people the wrong way because others in his faith have been doing the same for years.

Ultimately, there are much worse ways he can celebrate and things he could say.

That doesn't make it less grating for some people.

Fans: His Good Humor about Shots at His Religion

When the Detroit Lions decided to do a little Tebowing post-sack, lots of people lost their minds over it. They said it was rude, they said it was a cheap shot, they said it was unfair.

You know who wasn't in the "they" in the above sentence?

That's right: Mr. Tebowing himself.

For all the fervent beliefs he clearly has, he's got a remarkable good sense of humor about his faith.

If you think the Tebowing by the Lions was bad, try and imagine what must be getting said on the field of play.

Tebow has a tendency—some might add "annoying" to that—to let stuff like that roll off his back like water off a duck. Criticism of his faith as well as his game just whip right past him.

It's not that he doesn't hear them or that he doesn't take them to heart.

It's that he takes it with a grain of salt and goes about his business.

I have a young son who just started to play tackle football and we have talked about trash talking and taunting and how some guys will try to get you angry and off your game. You can't let them because that's when you make mistakes.

Tebow is a great example of that. You just aren't getting in this kid's head.

Critics: The Hype

Critics will tell you that for a guy with a questionable throwing motion playing in a gimmick offense, Tebow gets a little too much press.

ESPN might as well go 24/7 Tebow coverage—all it would take is adding one extra half hour show. Everything else is all Timmy, All the Time on TebowSPN.

This isn't even in Denver—nationally Tebow gets endless amounts of publicity. You can't swing a Kyle Orton without hitting a Tebow article.

What was the line in Jerry Maguire?

"

I'm sick of me already. I got Cushlash.

"

Tebowlash. It's a real thing. Skip Bayless was hospitalized for it last week. Protect yourself.

Tebow was hyped up in college and it just kept on going until we are where we are today. 

There's always resentment when a guy gets the hype Tebow did before he plays a snap. It creates a lingering image of someone who is getting praise for something they haven't done yet and it's praise they don't deserve.

It can cloud the reality of whether the player can actually play or is just cruising along on goodwill and a media frenzy.

It also makes for a bigger fall if the subject fails.

Tim Tebow is a phenomenon. Cam Newton aspires to be an icon and an entertainer?

Tebow is already there and it's exhausting to watch.

A tremendous amount of people have Tebowlash.

Critics and Fans: ALL HE DOES IS WIN

"All he does is win."

Five words. Five words which will send a calm pre-dinner cocktail gathering into a drunken barroom brawl.

To his critics, it's a straw man. You can't argue with it, but it doesn't mean much in terms of long-term viability. So he wins? So what? He's not good enough to come from behind, he can't carry his team for all four quarters and eventually he'll play enough good teams to where it will stop happening.

To his fans, it's validation. Who cares what he looks like when he's winning football games? Isn't that what counts in the NFL? At the end of the day, do you get fired for winning or losing? John Fox and John Elway are getting W's on the board and that's all that counts. As long as he's winning more than he's losing, how much does the rest matter?

Both sides are right. Winning is critical but can also mask inadequacies until it's too late to fix them. The perception is that Tebow is often bailed out by his defense, though that defense didn't show up against New England and Tebow had them in the game for much of the match.

The truth is Tebow gets too much credit for the wins and too much blame for a loss. Just like every other quarterback in the NFL.

His intangibles are a real thing and clearly have made a difference. This team believes in Tebow and will keep doing so. In which case they will win more than they lose.

This is a team game though. He can only go so far as the players around him can go. Ultimately the phrase for good or ill should be "all THEY do is win."

Ultimately it's not really about Tebow. It's about winning as a team.

Fans and Critics: The Existence of Tebow Brought Us This Awesomeness

Frantic Skip Bayless. Annoyed Stephen A Smith (is there any other kind?). Hulk freaking Hogan.

What's not to love about this video?

I don't much like Skip Bayless but he's been out in front of the Tebow thing. Plus, this is a hilarious cutup of his Tebow takes so that's a notch in his favor.

You have to like any quarterback who is the source of this type of genius.

Ultimately, Tebow is a great thing for the NFL. He keeps us talking and he's an intriguing puzzle as a player.

I enjoy looking over Broncos games, trying to figure out how he and the offense does what they do so well.

I've come around on him quite a bit. I always say "prove me wrong" and Tebow is doing so a little bit every game.

He works hard.

He's a gimmick.

He makes us think about what a quarterback is.

He won't shut his yap about God.

He can take ribbing and jokes at his expense.

He's overhyped.

He wins.

All of those things spark a visceral reaction in observers, somewhere deep inside each of us. It can be good, it can be bad.

It keeps us talking though and that's only good for the NFL.