And to think we were concerned with his draft status.
There were times, when Timothy Richard Tebow was expected to fall as low as a second-rounder, with speculations of him converting to the tight end or linebacker position, given his muscular size and incredible speed.
In an unpredictable, crazy, out-of-this-world draft, enormous bucks and talented youth was guaranteed for two gifted quarterbacks.
The nuisance, rowdy crowd sat petulantly or tensed and were curious to know what the home franchise’s ideas were. To all the prejudices and nonsense that he’s not NFL-ready and a bust, today it seems he’s the second-best quarterback in the draft, other than Sam Bradford, the first selection in the draft who went to the revamped St. Louis Rams with the No. 1 pick overall.
He was selected later than expected, in which he was snatched late in the first round of the NFL draft with the No. 25 overall pick after the Denver Broncos traded twice and with the Baltimore Ravens.
Throughout Radio City Music Hall in New York, it was a dramatic night, delivered with raucous shouts and obnoxious chants on a surprising evening and a million-dollar future for all the players departing the campus lifestyle.
As we are aspired to escape outrageous images that has poisoned the highest market and a productive enterprise, the kids are enhancing upon an upstart and soothing a troublesome league and enduring emotional memories. And now, we really know how touching it is receiving a phone call from executives, then moments later, hearing their names called by commissioner Roger Goodell.
So this is an event when we’re forced to take a bold guess, and evaluate whether the selection was the next biggest bust, akin to JaMarcus Russell, an abysmal pick that the Oakland Raiders squandered when the world projected him as the most talented quarterback in the draft.
These days, however, teams take a huge gamble on draftees, and later blow an ill-advised pick. But happily, the St. Louis Rams selected wisely and was impressed with Bradford ever since evaluating his throwing motion and passing mechanics during workouts.
This wasn’t much of a surprise, mainly because the Rams released veteran quarterback Marc Bulger on his 33rd birthday, and emotionally ended an eight-year tenure with a franchise that plunged and transformed into a disoriented team.
It’s easy to predict that he’s the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning in football, but at this point, his mental capacities and pro-style adjustments remains a mind-boggler. Either way, he validated his stock and value during pre-draft workouts, after traveling or approving Dr. James Andrews (a.k.a. Dr. Doom), to surgically repair his right shoulder, an injury that he re-injured and blew-out and horrified the Oklahoma crowd with his frequent shoulder episodes.
It was quite enough fear to jeopardize Bradford’s college career and future in the pros, affecting his accuracy and abilities to loft downfield throws.
The saga surrounding his health enlarged Bradford’s willpower and devotion in a sport he zests and is confident he’ll produce consistently, and now become the face of a renovating franchise still developing as a divisional competitor. Given the assortment of his injuries, skeptics doubted he’d be selected in the early rounds, but taken in the late rounds.
He may have fooled us all, viewed as the comeback player with heart and determination to compete at the next level, seizing the national spotlight among all quarterbacks.
He received a phone call, while the Rams were on the clock. Moments later, he was beckoned to the stage and walked across, where Goodell greeted him with a friendly, welcome-to-the-NFL handshake. Relieved of the draining anxiety, he wore his Rams cap and acted with class and was gracious to absorb sentimental attainments.
As it happens, it’s a risk the Rams couldn’t turn down and had to take Bradford with the No. 1 choice. In short, it justified that he has potential as a promising superstar with the commodities to make an immediate impact, proven to be a durable gunslinger entering from the collegiate level.
“I’ve had NFL teams ask, ‘Why did you come back?’” Bradford said. “I dreamed of playing for Oklahoma my whole life, and I wasn’t going to let an injury take that away. I couldn’t have lived [with] myself if I did. To have my career at Oklahoma end like that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through.”
He’s not necessarily expected to win now, but he’s a blossoming athlete. If there’s early success, he’s the savior in a dispirited town that hasn’t sold tickets in years, while mired in disarray with a horrid track record. Assuming that he’s the biggest attraction to gladden a town, he’ll increase ticket sales and hopefully improve any porous results.
It’s quite humbling and rewarding that he’s guaranteed $42 million in bonuses, in which he was an early first-rounder and portrayed as the incomparable quarterback, as was Tebow, who had been relentlessly debated weeks prior to the draft. And the more critics polarize him, the more he normally proves skeptics wrong, like when he was drafted higher than expected.
In fairness, he has been called one of the greatest and rarest collegiate athletes ever, but has been criticized for overly practicing his religious trends publicly and he wasn’t caliber to start at quarterback in the NFL.
At this point, no one can refer to him as a bust, until he makes his debut and tosses the football next season. In Denver, coach Josh McDaniels demands high character, and bringing in a humble-minded Tebow was a brilliant move. Although it was a risk, he’s an evangelistic and endearing figure and exposes positivity for his strong character and dignity as a charity worker and preacher.
He doesn’t have the similarities of an average 21-year-old, who listens to hip-hop and curses in nearly every sentence, but instead he’s a spiritual and folksy individual. Instead of listening to Lil Wayne or Jay-Z, he likes hearing the benevolent sounds of Gospel music.
He’s the one lad we need to appreciate and be more polite to, always vowing to alleviate children’s pain and minister to prisoners by spending his ample time in the Philippines and prison cells.
Very wisely, he’s not the next Matt Leinart. Last year, Tebow avowed he’s a virgin. So I guess that means he won’t be seen on a photo with hot chicks relaxing with him in a hot tub and drinking a beer.
But the more likable and targeted quarterback was Bradford. It’s no secret Tebow’s flaws are worth questioning, whether his accuracy and reading plays have improved. Recently, he’s developing his passing ability and working on his throwing efficiencies, to flourish into an elite quarterback and not a bust.
And Tebow knows in the NFL, he’ll have to limit his singular jump passes, stiff-arms, and driving the ball to the end zone on the ground. It’s important his style converts into a dimensional and versatile motion, unlike in the college-style offense when he was allowed to exploit his speed and execute options within a spread formation many teams couldn’t slow down.
The Rams cannot afford setbacks. And Bradford potentially gives St. Louis a legit chance to heighten its level of consistency at a crucial position.
At such a young age with no experience at the pro level, he’s a NFL-ready quarterback. With very few blemishes, he throws with precision and releases quick passes. Also, he has a strong range of connecting with receivers in downfield throws, predicating all the components that come with the rigid task of conducting offensive schemes.
Soon, he’ll be the instrumental piece to their climbing success, as he’ll now have to adapt and learn the concepts from the playbook. Weeks ago, he past the Wonderlic test, as a 3.89 GPA honors student. But people are still worried about his shoulder, and according to doctors he’s healthy and has proved it with his remarkable throws.
“I feel great,” Bradford said. “Obviously, it’s a dream come true. You grow up and you dream of playing in the NFL and you dream of being drafted. But to actually have it happen, it’s really unexplainable. It’s pretty exciting.”
For some, it’s worth the wait. Jimmy Clausen, the dynamic Notre Dame quarterback, has to wait until the second-round after a disappointing evening turned startling. It’s more devastating when he was projected to fall in the laps of the Cleveland Browns, a franchise who desperately needs a quarterback to diminish a woeful age, in which its name altered to the Clowns.
Laughed at before the Mike Holmgren regime took over, the Browns blundered when it failed to select Clausen.
Eventually someone will pick him.
As a prolific quarterback, he missed out on millions because he wasn’t taken in the first round. And Colt McCoy, Texas star quarterback, who expanded his stardom when he engineered the Longhorns to the national championship game (but fell short against Alabama), went undrafted.
Seems the Rams pulled off the blockbuster deal, considering that defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma were available and impressed the organization and would’ve suited a depleted defense.
More than ever, St. Louis head coach Steve Spagnulo, a defensive specialist, is satisfied to know he has upgraded the weakest position.
And if Tebow wasn’t drafted, it would have been a huge disappointment. His relatives and friends gathered at a Tebow NFL entering party, waiting nervously for his lifelong dream that he has devoted much of his energy and focus on since he was six years old.
When his name was called his blissful family and friends cheered and congratulated him.
“It’s all been worth it,” said Tebow. “The good stuff is usually worth the wait. You’ve just got to be patient.”
Certainly, each of them had character and class, positive signs for protecting a NFL image.
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