I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
So Peyton Manning is signing with my Denver Broncos. He's a four time MVP, led the Indianapolis Colts to seven AFC South division championships, two AFC championships, and to a Super Bowl championship. His numbers are legendary. Denver could use some leadership in this position.
I should be elated. But I'm not.
Part of it is that I'm genuinely worried about Manning's next few years. I'd say he has three good years tops, assuming his -- what -- four neck surgeries in 18 months turned out all right. I'm not even sure he should be playing and I'm worried he's going to disappoint a bit after a year on the sidelines.
And where will the Broncos be after his three-year run? Who knows? Our management hasn't exactly done the best job of cultivating the bench in recent years.
Also, I'm shocked that I'm saying this, but I'm disappointed that we will lose Tim Tebow. I was not an original Tebow fan and (dare I say) I find some of his more enthusiastic backers to be a bit much.
But I grew to love him and I think he's completely undervalued as a player. I get it. He's young, he's messy, his arm is completely erratic. But I haven't enjoyed Broncos games like last year's second half of the season since Elway was at the helm. He is such a dramatically better player now than when he was drafted. Someone agrees with me:
What NFL people should realize is that regardless of the doubts they had about Tebow going into the draft two years ago, he is a far more polished player now. He has always had an ability to dazzle with his knowledge. Denver coaches and executives in the Broncos room at the draft combine in 2010 were stunned by his ability to not only break down his offense at the University of Florida but theirs too … and San Diego’s and New England’s. They said they had never seen a college quarterback do such a thing.
No player spent as much time studying either. When he finally left the Broncos practice facility to go home at night, Tebow carried with him stacks of DVDs of different offenses that he would watch over and over, often calling his coaches several times at night to ask about things he noticed on the screen. He worked for hours before and during practice on his footwork, based on the Elway belief that if he had the proper balance he would make more accurate throws.
Someone should pick him up and give him another chance. I suspect they won't be disappointed.
And I'll do my best to get behind Manning. I just hope Elway has a plan for what happens a couple of years from now.
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Dec '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
This might be good football, but it seems a bad business decision. The Tebow franchise is a lot of money for any team.
Teams want loyalty from their fans, but when they treat players disloyally, it tarnishes their brand. For me instead of wanting to watch a Broncos game, I would turn the game off.
Aug '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
The solution is right there in front of Elway....if you can convince Manning to come play there in the snow instead of win a superbowl with San Francisco, surely you can convince Tebow his is really a tight end playing QB and get him to change positions. If he can catch, Tebow can be another Witten or Gronkowski (sp?).
I try to feel bad for Tebow (he really is the last boyscout) but alas, he is a Gator and I have no love for him. muahahahaha
Aug '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
While it made for exciting football, I also think the Denver defense will enjoy having a lead every now and then during a game. 4th qtr heroics are great but its not so great for them to always be necessary......
Jul '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
I can't wait to watch Ol' Horse Face (Elway) go down in flames.
Oct '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
As an unreconstructed, unapologetic Bronconoid living deep in Chargerland, I just hope that Elway & Co. are doing the right thing - only time will tell.
I share the worries about Manning's health when hit hard. And then to whom will they they turn once Manning's down, assuming that Tebow goes elsewhere.
It just ain't been the same without ye, Johnny! (Sort of like pining for Reagan.)
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Do you know anything about Broncos history? It's the only way we know how to win ....
Jul '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Do you know anything about Broncos history? It's the only way we know how to win .... · 9 minutes ago
I thought it was by paying players under the table to get around the salary cap? No, I'm not still bitter about it.
Jun '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
What's not to love about Peyton Manning? Its a great move for any team to bring in Manning. I really like Tebow. But whatever happens to Tebow, it's a good move by Elway. The Broncos are a great team for Peyton. John Fox will let him handle the offense I bet. He'll be a great influence for a team that could use some "been there done it" leadership.
Oct '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
I also like the prospect of watching Manning deal with the snow and winter weather of Denver the way he did against my Pats - which is to say, terribly! Go get him, Belichick.
Oct '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Troy Senik, Ed.: ... but he's still something short of a franchise-caliber quarterback, and certainly not a worthy successor to Brady.
And that's fine, because Brady's successor won't be taking over in 2012. By the time Brady's done, his successor will have been sufficiently groomed. I hope it's Tebow.
Dec '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
dittoheadadt
I also like the prospect of watching Manning deal with the snow and winter weather of Denver the way he did against my Pats - which is to say, terribly! Go get him, Belichick. · 2 hours ago
You obviously haven't spent a winter in Denver. Despite what you would think, it is more like a slightly cooler version of San Diego than a parallel of Minneapolis or Boston. Our only season is "what the ...?!?!?" if for no other reason than it always throws you off by being 70 degrees in February and snowing 2 ft. in the same week.
Dec '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
I don't see him in San Francisco, particularly because I can't imagine two of the biggest Alphas in the NFL (Manning, Harbaugh) working together in a harmonious and productive manner.
Sep '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
I can certainly understand the concern with Manning and his neck but I think the Broncos are wise to replace Tebow. Tebow is not, and I doubt, ever will be a quality NFL quarterback. Yes, the Broncos won plenty of games with him at quarterback but footbball is a team game. The list of quarterbacks who had one or two good years before their shortcomings were exploited and their careers over is legion. Yes, Tebow is a competitor and a great leader but despite the romantic notions of fans, talent and innate skills like rading defenses are needed at what is arguably the most difficult position in sports. Having coached the game myself for over ten years, I see a guy who has way too long a delivery, making it easy for the defense to read where he's throwing. I also see a guy with no ability to read defenses in relation to how his offense functions, therefore only able to complete it to wide open receivers or over WRs shoulders on fades. Elway knows the position better than I and probably saw a lot more problems and knew in the long run the franchise needed someone else.
Sep '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
etoiledunord: The Broncos could learn something from NASCAR. The best attraction, commercially, is someone who's equally loved and hated. People cannot not watch if he's on the screen. Manning is okay, but he's no Tebow.
A pretty good backgrounder:
Tim Tebow - Outside the Lines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2vb_0Qjof4 · 8 hours ago
Terrible comparison. NFL and NASCAR revenue is completely different. Memorabilia and sponsorship revenue is tiny for franchises in comparison to their worth for NASCAR teams. NFL teams make almost all of their money on shared tv revenue and ticket sales. NASCAR teams make ALL of their money on race winnings, sponsorship and memorabilia. So yes, a driver like Earnhardt Jr can go 132 races with a victory (since 2008) and still find plenty of sponsorship. A Michael Waltrip, who's career as a driver has never been great, is never wanting when looking for sponsorship. NFL teams need to win long-term to be successful and if Manning does better than the Broncos 8-6 record this year no one will be regretting the decision commercially.
Sep '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Players are just as "disloyal". If Tebow was a free agent and offered more money to go to another team (and therefore had more money to fund his ministries) would you accuse him of being disloyal?
Also, teams are smart enough to know that fans have very short memories and will not pay for their alleged disloyalty to Tebow. Case in point:
Jake Plummer led the Broncos to a better record than Tebow all four seasons he was the Broncos starting QB, including a 13-3 record in 2005 with a victory over the Patriots in the playoffs and trip to the AFC Championship game (Broncos lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champs, Steelers). Furthermore, Plummer's stats as a starting QB were superior to Tebow's in just about every category.
And yet the Broncos had the temerity to let Plummer go. I hear no one holding a grudge against the Broncos for their disloyal treatment of Plummer. The Broncos have sold out every game for 42 years straight and will continue to do so with or without Tebow.
Apr '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Troy Senik, Ed.:
It's a tertiary concern, but I think that a New England fan base would also be considerably more hostile to the religious aspect of his public persona.
I'm a native-born New Englander and I admire Tebow for the strength of his convictions. Those who might not - and as I write this I'm thinking of a certain class of folk in Cambridge MA or, as I like to think of it, "The Embassy of the Tenth Planet" - don't watch football. (Excepting, of course THE GAME : Harvard v. Yale)
I think Tebow might find the people in New England a whole lot more welcoming than you think precisely because he is such a good and decent guy.
Jun '11
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
It will be fun to look back at this thread sixteen years from now when the Republican ticket will be: Manning/Tebow 2028
Oct '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
May '10
Re: I'm The Only Broncos Fan Not Excited About Manning
Mollie -- I think the whole episode can be summed up with the phrase: "The Lord works in mysterious ways."