Tim Tebow - America's Antihero

Adversity is the pressure point of life that produces greatness. America's most iconic figures all have one thing in common: they overcame overwhelming adversity. We are a nation of underdogs who love rooting for winners who persevere when everything is stacked against them. For me, this is the root of "American exceptionalism" or whatever you wanna call what we claim to stand for. We want people to succeed, we want them to surpass our expectations; at some level we really do care for each other. This explains why Tim Tebow has become so popular. We identify with him because we all are underdogs of some sort. People project their own emotions on to Tebow. When they watch him go two for eight and win, that acts as a small victory for all those who feel as if they have been marginalized by someone in power. Tebow proves to those individuals that it is possible for the unconventional to succeed. For those of you who want this story to go away let me present some facts that you probably will not like.

1. Tim Tebow regressed last week against Buffalo after improving for six consecutive games.
2. If the Broncos win on Sunday, they win the division

Sunday's game is kind of a big one in terms of the arc of the Tim Tebow storyline. Over the last two games we learned that the Broncos cannot afford to have him turn the ball over. If they win on Sunday, the story will be about what Tebow did to help them succeed. If they lose, it will be about what Tebow didn't do. This is the third biggest game of his career in my opinion (which is really saying something if you think about how many big games other successful young quarterbacks like Andy Dalton, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman have played in).

The other 2?

The 2009 National Championship win against Oklahoma is one of his big games for obvious reasons but it ranks behind the following season's SEC Championship in terms of career importance.

Remember, if Florida beats Alabama, Tim Tebow heads to the national championship to face Colt McCoy and Texas. If Florida had won the championship that year, his college resume would look like this

• Three National Championships (two as the starting quarterback, one splitting time)
• One Heisman Trophy
• Three Heisman Trophy top five finishes
• Three SEC Championships
• One National Championship Game MVP (possibly two if Florida had won in 2009)
• One SEC Championship MVP (could be two as well)

This was the biggest game of Tim Tebow's life and it will be difficult to surpass its importance. If he wins the SEC Championship against Alabama, his Gators are the favorite heading into the National Championship against Texas (to be fair, that game actually would have been the biggest game of his life to date). If that is Tim Tebow's final resume, he is the greatest college football player of all time, period. He already is in the discussion but another trophy would have ended the discussion. There are very few players in today's NFL that have played in a game that meant that much in terms of career importance.

This experience is part of the reason why I have confidence in Tebow heading into Sunday. Every quarterback has had some forgettable days, how you get back up after those days is what matters. After the debacle in Buffalo, the NFL punditsphere is declaring a victory over the overhyped Tim Tebow. He is regressing, he is turning the ball over, he is doing all the horrible things that these wise men said he would do. They downplay the fact that Tim Tebow's learning curve is steeper because of his unorthodox style and instead stress his current deficiencies. "Will take time to work on" is substituted by "can't" in today's perverse media culture.

Tim Tebow is a young quarterback ladies and gentlemen. He is not some new age prophet for you to project your struggles on to. Nor is he a fraud that defies all logic about football (even if it seems that way at times). He has some serious flaws in his game that can only be fixed by thousands of hours of practice (10,000 if you ask Malcolm Gladwell). He may be further behind right now than most quarterbacks would be but remember that he has not had an offseason where he was able to work with coaches and the first team offense. 2012 will be his first opportunity to do this and Elway will be there to help as well. I place my trust behind Tim Tebow's work ethic and I am enthralled to witness this new wrinkle to the NFL play out in Denver. Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's game, I feel like it will be a positive experience for Tebow. I can't wait to watch.