NFL Network's excellent series "A Football Life" continues. Yes! This time with the faces of Tim Tebow. Rarely has an NFL player gotten so much attention having done so little. Despite some heroics last year he's a backup quarterback right now. Now he's the subject of an episode of "A Football Life." Nearly everyone has an extreme opinion of Tebow. I actually see no reason for anyone to hate him. The only thing that bothers me about Tebow is the attention paid to him. That's hardly his fault. He's certainly of high character, has an incredible passion for the game and he's actually a terrific football player. He just has some work to do as a quarterback. Unfortunately he plays quarterback.
NFL Films is the production behind "A Football Life." They are always great. This faces of Tebow is no different. They took an interesting approach to this profile. As the description suggest they look at five different aspects of Tebow and his game. His faces. They brought in five former quarterbacks to talk about a particular face.
1) Fame-Joe Namath knows a thing or two about this face. Tebow and Namath have zero in common off the field. On the field they were quarterbacks. The old one threw the ball a lot better. Each had fame, attention and women follow them everywhere. I always find Namath hilarious when he talks of his days in the game. There always seems to be a fun mix of pride and disbelief about his career.
2) The Outsider-Doug Flutie had a bunch of interesting things to say about quarterbacks that don't fit the typical mold. He also seemed a little bitter about his treatment as a talented but little quarterback. His comment, "A 6'4" or 6'5" quarterback has to prove that he can't play" was terrific and unfortunate. Quarterbacks like Flutie and Tebow have to prove, often throughout their entire career, that they can play the position of quarterback.
3) Faith-Roger Staubach was a terrific choice for this face. He may not have been as outspoken as Tebow about his faith but he would still speak easily about it. I prefer devout players like Aaron Rodgers or Jared Allen that will freely talk about their faith if asked. It's just not the first thing that you get from them.
4) Football Player-Kordell Stewart took this face. It was an interesting choice. Like Tebow, Stewart could do many things on a football field. Stewart never showed the sustained consistency to play quarterback. I actually think that Tebow has a better chance to play the position than Stewart ever did mostly because I think that Tebow will work harder to get there.
5) The Quarterback Within-This one was the most interesting as Steve Young always has great things to say about football. He's a bright guy and is very well spoken. He sees the quarterback that Tebow could become. Young sees the flaws now but sees the potential. He says that whatever team has Tebow must be patient. At the same time he says that Tebow has to do whatever it takes to be consistent, be great. He has to put in the work. The things that have most intrigued me about Tebow is that he is simply a terrific football player, his passion for the game is incredible and most importantly his work ethic seems to have no end. He will do whatever it takes to succeed. If he fails to ever become a competent quarterback it absolutely won't be due to a lack of effort.
Once again, "A Football Life" is excellent. Whether you love Tebow or hate Tebow, this was a very interesting look at the hopeful quarterback. They brought in five quarterbacks that know some things about what Tebow is going through. It was very well done.
Next week "A Football Life" tackles Ray Lewis. That should be awesome!
Go Bears(Cal)!
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