It’s not that Tim Tebow has necessarily been forgotten. After all, we’re even still talking about him right now and how he might be affected by the Peyton Manning caravan coming to Denver. But it is clear that the attention and love has shifted from the Broncos quarterback to the possibility of another Broncos quarterback with the arrival of Manning to town to discuss playing in Mile HIgh with John Elway.
Tebow has been the savior up until this point. Any sportswriter who derides Tebow for his inaccuracy or failure to play well up until the fourth quarter is either chastised or ignored while the fans continue to rally for Tebow. Some have wondered whether John Elway and head coach John Fox would rather have a traditional presence in the pocket and believe their hands might be tied by public perception. Manning would change all of that.
Until Manning leaves town and decides his course of action, Tebow is going to have to simply smile and wait it out. ESPN’s Bill Williamson writes:
The climate in the Rocky Mountains has instantly changed from Tebow Time to Manning Madness. Tebow captured fans’ imagination in Colorado and far beyond, but that all changed in Denver on Friday when television helicopters chased Peyton Manning’s SUV ride to the Broncos’ facility.
Less than two months after Denver executive John Elway and coach John Fox said Tebow will go to training camp as the Broncos’ starting quarterback, the team is putting the full recruitment press on Manning. Some of Tebow’s teammates – players who gave him a standing ovation after a pre-game speech prior to Denver’s playoff loss at New England – were at the Broncos facility, swooning over Manning on Friday.
Now that love is gone — or at least it’s on hold. When the presence of someone like Manning enters Denver, it holds a new candle up to Tebow’s mechanics and game play. The Broncos, simply put, will not win like they did last season if they play as horribly as they did through the bulk of most games. Many times they were lucky. Other times the other team beat themselves.
As the schedule gets tougher and teams know what Tebow can do on the field, there’s no way they will repeat as AFC West champions — that is, unless Tebow either improves (a very real possibility) or they bring in a new quarterback like Manning.
Elway and Fox must realize this is their chance to make a move and they are jumping all over it. The interest must be mutual and there was no reason to believe that the Broncos are high on Manning’s list before now. But his visit and time spent in Denver illustrate that Manning is indeed serious about playing there.
In this in between time there is nothing Tebow can do except roll with the public punches. Or in this case, a lack of a spotlight.
