Today while I was sitting in the dentist office I was watching Sportscenter and Herm Edwards, Hannah Storm and Adam Scheffter were talking about, you guessed it, Tim Tebow. Scheffter says that not only is Denver caught up in Tebow-mania but the whole country is on-board. First off, I might not represent the entire country, but those I know in it are not Tim Tebow fans, in fact it’s quite the opposite. My dentist, a Falcon season ticket holder is so sick of hearing about Tebow she joked that it makes her wish Favre would come out of retirement. I don’t know if I’d get that carried away but I feel her pain. I don’t know where ESPiN gets its information but the threads I’ve read have not just doubters about his football abilities they’re ticked off by the lack of separation between church and sport and I can’t blame them, this “Touchdown Jesus” mentality is really nauseating.

How many times have we seen a player hit a home run or score a TD and point to the man upstairs then pound his heart with his fist or during an interview proclaim his love for the Lord and thank him for the win, like God is only a fan of his team? That’s what Tebowmania is, and the media is shoveling it down our throats. This kid may be the holiest of Christians, he may tithe half his salary to his church, but when it comes to football and church the only thing they have in common is both are popular on Sunday. If Tebow were to make the playoffs and his team is down by two points and they’re going for a field goal with only four seconds left in the game and while praying his place kicker misses wide right, does that mean Jesus is a fan of the opposition? Maybe the miss is God saying, “sorry kid I can’t give you this one because sometimes the answer is NO”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for religion, but what’s driving this media frenzy isn’t his spectacular QB play, it’s because he’s unlike any other player because he wears his religion on his sleeve and that’s the wrong reason. Football is a team sport and your team only wins when a lot of things work together and just because the Broncos have been able to pencil in a few wins doesn’t mean that his mediocre skills are being enhanced because he prays, if that’s the case then we should expect the Bronco’s to win out and there goes Green Bay’s perfect season. Something tells me that Aaron Rodgers might have something to say about that and the only thing I’ve seen him do is celebrate a TD using the Discount Double Check, but no praying.

His fandom is so blinded by a few wins they’re forgetting that four of these wins were by a FG, one was by 4 points, 5 of the 6 never had more than 18 points scored, Denver was romped by the Lions and they only scored more than 20 once in a 38-24 win over that offensive power house Oakland.  His stats in 11 games – 96/198 for a scorching 48% completion rate and 1,944 yds, 11 TD’s, 2 INT, 4 fumbles and an 83.4 passer rating. These are the numbers for this rising star, pretty mediocre eh? Let’s look at another QB for comparison, I think we can all agree Mark Sanchez is pretty average, nothing spectacular is ever expected from this guy…here’s his numbers – in 13 games, 242/426, 56% completion avg, 2,859 yds, 21 TD’s, 11 picks, 4 fumbles. If you’re Sanchez and look at this you’d probably think the only thing missing is a TD Jesus pose, add that to his repertoire and he just might end up winning the Super Bowl.

There’s someone else out there that might be sick of hearing Tebow’s name thrown around and that’s Cam Newton. If we’re only looking at stats, Newton has an argument too. We know that Carolina is still rebuilding but Newton has certainly demonstrated he’s got game – in 13 games Newton is 270-452 for a 59.7% pass comps, 3,573 yds, 15 TD’s, 16 INT’s and only 3 fumbles for a 81.1 Passer rating. Looking at Sanchez and Newton it would appear the only thing missing is religion, my question – If God has anything to do with what’s going on in Denver why do these two QB’s have better stats? And just for the record, I realize that Tebow played 2 less games, but honestly, would he make up the difference if he had those two starts under his belt? I doubt it. Tebow is hardly a superstar and he doesn’t do it alone but if you watch the highlights you’d swear he was the only guy on the field, well him and the Good Lord.