BroncoMania Overcomes TebowMania

The aftermath from the most important free agent sensation in pro sports history is winding down, but the debates still rage on over a variety of topics.  Where will Tim Tebow end up, if not in Denver?  What other player acquisitions will John Elway and the Bronco brain trust orchestrate?  Are the Denver Broncos realistically now a Super Bowl contender?  Will Peyton Manning's surgically fused cervical vertebrae hold up under the rigors of real NFL competition?

According to Dr. Eric McCarty, chief of sports medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the real danger isn't whether the fused vertebrae can hold up, but whether the nerves that the displaced spinal column protects can regenerate sufficiently to allow full feeling, range of motion and strength of the muscles that the nerves control.  (Remember McCarty, fullback for the CU Buffs for two years, then an All-Big Eight linebacker in his 1988 senior season?  Teammate of Jon Embree, Eric Bieniemy, the late Sal Aunese, Alfred Williams, Darian Hagan, head coach Bill McCartney.)  Here's a link that goes into more detail about the neck thing: http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20210278/questions-swirl-peyton-mannings-post-surgery-power

The bottom line is this:  all of the medical advisors, football executives and contemporaries of Peyton Manning have indicated, and seem convinced, that Manning is prepared to continue his football career at the same level as before his surgeries.  IF Peyton Manning is indeed on track to resume his Hall-of-Fame-bound journey and succeed to become, as John Elway stated, "....the best quarterback, ever", we here in BroncoNation have good reason to be giddy, again.  Take that feeling that we all had as Demaryius Thomas gathered in that first-play-of-overtime pass from Tim Tebow last January 8th against the Steelers, take that 11 seconds and extend it into a season of highlights with Manning and the Peytonettes.  In a perfect Manning World, February 3, 2013 will feature a mind-boggling matchup in Super Bowl XLVII with the Brothers Manning competing for a world championship in their hometown, New Orleans.  Egad, I can hardly stand it!

But, hold on.  There's a lot of work to be done.  I hope it all comes together.  Perhaps Elway and his staff have "targeted" specific free agents that will be more eager to jump on the predominantly orange bandwagon now that Peyton Manning is a Bronco quarterback.  Perhaps the players that Denver drafts this April 26, 27 and 28 can produce some contributors as significant as Elvis Dumervil and Vonn Miller have been.  Perhaps head coach John Fox and Jack del Rio can duplicate the success that they shared in the 2002 season with the Carolina Panthers.  That was John Fox's first year as the head coach of the Panthers and his defensive coordinator was Jack Del Rio.  They had inherited a team that had finished 1-15 the previous year with a defense that was ranked 32nd (dead last) in the NFL.  The 2002 Carolina team finished with the #2 defense in the league, allowing less than 19 points per game (5th), and did not allow a single 300-yard passer, and only one 100-yard rusher, in the season finale (Deuce McAllister, 117 yds).  Though the Panthers finished with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs, the seeds were sown for rapid improvement.  Fox's Panthers finished the 2003 season 11-5, winning the NFC South, beating the Cowboys, Rams and Eagles to earn a spot in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the New England Patriots.  The Pats won the game 32-29 in what ranks as one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time.  The setting was Reliant Stadium in Houston and was the first time that the Super Bowl was played in the now customary first Sunday in February date slot.

Del Rio was tabbed by Fox to be Carolina's defensive coordinator for the '02 season after tutoring Pro-Bowlers Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware as the Baltimore Raven linebacker coach in 1999-2001.  Ray (alleged murder accomplice) Lewis was the Super Bowl XXXV MVP as the Ravens beat the NY Giants 34-7 with, what is regarded as, one of the pre-eminent defenses in NFL history.  In his 9 years as head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Del Rio's teams allowed the sixth-fewest yards per game during his tenure (317.3 yds/gm) and the fifth-fewest 1st downs per game (17.8/gm) in that span.

Bronco linebacker coach, Richard Smith, has also been a defensive coordinator (Miami 2005, Houston 2006-2008).  Smith, a highly regarded defensive coach, is now in his 24th year in the NFL.  He is especially touted as an astute judge of talent and an exceptional nuts-and-bolts teacher of defensive tactics and skills.

So, it will be highly interesting to monitor what personnel that the Broncos attract, draft and discard.  The very reason that helped inject Tim Tebow into a role that ultimately exploded into the national and worldwide phenomenon known as TebowMania, is largely responsible for his status at this time.  He is on the outside, looking in, at the future of the Denver Broncos.  As John Elway, maybe not-so-jokingly stated, "There is no Plan B, we're going with plan A."  Plan B is not-so-subtle, keeping Tebow as a backup to Peyton Manning. 

Plan A is what Elway has been hoping for since that historical come-from-behind victory by Timmy at Miami's Sun Life Stadium on October 23rd, when the Broncos trailed 15-0 with 2:44 left in regulation.  Tebow was a miserable 4 for 14 with a paltry 40 yards passing as the Dolphins were poised to earn their first victory after a 0-5 start to the 2011 season, on Tim Tebow Day in Miami (go figure).  Then, Magical Tim and the Broncos went 9 for 13 for 121 yards and two touchdowns and a two-point conversion by Tebow to tie the game with 17 seconds left in regulation.  It was the first time in modern NFL history that a team was behind by that many points with less than 3 minutes and won, thanks to a 52-yard Matt Prater field goal in overtime.  Tebow had won the 2005 Florida State High School Championship and the 2008 NCAA National Championship in that same stadium.  And the legend was born, the latest version.  Let the tebowing begin!

The fanatical (largely non-football-purist) Tebow following had pressured the Bronco organization to give Timmy a chance, with billboards and blogs (not mine) and sermons, to supplant ineffective Denver interim quarterback Kyle Orton.  After a 1-4 start and a bye week, head coach John Fox and his staff unveiled the Tebow Era in Miami with a largely audible thud, painful and embarassing to watch for 3-1/2 quarters.  Even a pasting by the Detroit Lions 45-10 at home the following week couldn't douse the growing fervor.  Then, consecutive, often miraculous victories in succession: 

• At Oakland (38-24, out-dueling Carson Palmer in his first game with the Raiders)
• In Kansas City (17-10, two completions by Tebow for the entire game!)
• Over the NY Jets (17-13 on a 95-yard 4th quarter drive capped by Tebow's end run with 58 seconds left)
• In San Diego (16-13, another overtime thriller, Prater field goal with 29 seconds left in sudden death)
• At Minnesota (35-32, two field goals in the last minute-and-a-half to win)
• Beat Chicago and Jay Cutler (13-10 in overtime again, remember Marion Barber going out of bounds to stop the clock in regulation, then fumbling in overtime?)

Six consecutive wins, with five consecutive road wins, miracle finishes, gritty performance after gritty performance.  National media stoking the fires of Tebowmania.  Bronco fans at a fever pitch, well, most of them.  Many were still looking at the stats and at the ugliness of some of the wins, and the total helplessness in the three losses to end the regular season.  The rest of the AFC West Division folded, handing the Broncos the division title and their first playoff berth since their run to the AFC Championship game against Pittsburgh after the 2005 season.  Then, the most miraculous 11-second sudden death victory in the history of the NFL Playoffs.

Tebow-Bronco euphoria was quashed by an efficient and precise New England Patriot team when the Broncos were exposed and dismantled in the Divisional Playoff game on January 14th.  Tom Brady had 6 touchdown passes, Tebow had 9 completions.  The game plan was certain to be a blueprint for every Bronco opponent next year if Tim Tebow was going to be the starting quarterback.

Now, he is officially a New York Jet.  The circus is moving to the Big Apple and Jersey Swamp.  I wish Tim Tebow well, I still believe that his character will overcome the obstacles that will be placed in front of him in this next phase of his professional football career.  I hope the fans back east embrace him and his sterling traits and ethos.  Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain Region is basking in the glow of Peyton Manning Ecstasy.  Master of the fourth quarter comeback, John Elway, pulled another one out of the fire.

Let 'em have Linsteria and TebowMania.  We're happy with Mile High Manning.

Denver Wins the Peyton Manning Lotto

Wow.  Two weeks after watching the emotional separation between the Indianapolis Colts and iconic QB Peyton Manning, we here in the Rocky Mountain area are treated to the news that Manning has agreed to become a Denver Bronco.  We have watched breathlessly as the drama unfolded over the last ten days.  Many secret and very public meetings and workouts, conjecture from every sports writer and network, the pursuit of the most important free agent in NFL history dominated the sports scene even as MLB Spring Training and NCAA March Madness proceeded with their customary annual rituals.  It is almost a relief for the Colorado Rockies that so much attention has been focused on the Peyton Manning sweepstakes, so that Jim Tracy and his squad have performed almost under the radar this spring.  Proof again, that this is, has always been, and shall forever be, a Bronco town.  Any bets as to who just might be a special guest at the Colorado Rockies home opener?

Feelings of Bronco fans, and Tebow fans, and football and sports fans in general, are split.  Though Peyton Manning's credentials are hall-of-fame worthy, there is nagging concern over his surgically repaired neck.  Tim Tebow was the focal point of one of the most incredible sports stories ever last season, as he led the Broncos from the doorstep of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, to a frenzied and unlikely march to a division title and a playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers with a jaw-dropping one-play, 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime.  So, in a way, Tim Tebow's heroics in lifting the Broncos from a possible #1 draft pick, to the 25th overall pick, ensured the seriousness of the Bronco brain trust to aggressively court Peyton Manning.  Until it became official that the Indianapolis Colts would not excercise the $28 million option due to Manning before the NFL free agency was set to begin on March 13, it was clear that he would be a very popular target as a free agent.  Great insight, foresight, by Peyton Manning's representatives to add that contract deadline when they negotiated the restructured deal last year.  It gave the Colts an escape clause if Manning's physical condition precluded a performance worthy of a $17 million salary cap hit, and it gave Peyton leverage to pick whatever team and circumstance would best fit his requirements.  That he chose Denver over San Francisco and Tennessee was a mild shock.  There had to be assurances from John Elway and the Bronco brass that the Tebow situation and other personnel issues would be addressed as the franchise moves forward.

In my mind, Tim Tebow would benefit greatly and progress as a backup to Peyton Manning here with the Broncos.  But, it's becoming fairly clear that Denver wants to see what, if any, marketability that Tebow has in the eyes of the rest of the NFL.  I do not sell Tebow's character, grit and determination short, that if given the situation as the #2 QB behind Manning, he would grab the opportunity with dignity and class, and really improve.  I think that in this scenario, he'd have the best chance to satisfy the question of his ability to become a "true NFL quarterback".  I do not see that happening for him in any other organization.  If the Broncos do trade Tebow, it'll be interesting to see if the manning-euphoria can counteract the tebow-manic depression.  My advice, John Elway, keep Timmy, he's more valuable as a backup here than a 5th rounder will be this season.  If you can wrest a 2nd round pick from Jacksonville, good-bye Tebow.  I would like to hear what Tim Tebow has to say about the whole deal.  The way that the entire Manning pursuit has been conducted thus far is so much more palatable than how LeBron James conducted his orchestrated move out of Cleveland, or Carmelo Anthony's departure from the Nuggets.

I'd be surprised if Tim Tebow would subjugate his goal of remaining a QB in the NFL by agreeing to be a backup QB/fullback/tight end in the new Peyton Manning offense, but I wouldn't put it totally out of the realm of possibility.  I'd like to see him stay, in any capacity, sports have so few truly good characters, that it'd be a shame to say good-bye to one.  I'd also like to see Manning request the #17 to honor his pal, fellow Tennessee Volunteer alumnus, Todd Helton.  All in all, a very uplifting day here in the Rocky Mountain sports scene.

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge another bit of great news.  My son Ted and his fiance Amber Boro have decided to get married this Friday.  We will be celebrating this event at the Paris Resort in Las Vegas, at the roof-top Soleil Pool, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.  Ted and Amber have been together for seven years, are both in the midst of their Masters programs, both through the University of Colorado, Ted in Education and Amber in Nursing.  Both Ted and Amber are gems that have exhibited great drive and focus in their scholastic, professional and personal lives.  As a parent, I am proud and happy beyond explanation.  Kudos to Amber's parents, Troy and Jenni, for molding such a grounded and bright daughter.  And thanks and gratitude to Ted's mom, Kathy, for instilling excellent qualities in our son.

March Madness, indeed!