What We All Can Learn From Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow was recently released from the New England Patriots.  In his short career this is the third NFL team that made a decision that is services are no longer needed.  Tebow is one of the most polarizing athletes in recent memory.  It can be traced to his very successful college career, which included two National Championships and a Heisman Trophy and his unapologetic proclamation of his faith.  In his second season with Denver Broncos there were memorable moments after filling in for a struggling Kyle Orton that even included a playoff overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on an 80 yard touchdown pass.  After being traded to the New York Jets for the 2012 season they had very little use for him and released him after the season.  When the New England Patriots signed Tebow owner Bob Kraft was interviewed by ESPN regarding the signing, he stated, “If you want to win in this league, you need quality depth management, in the age of the salary cap. Whenever you can get a competitive, first-grade person to join your team, you never know what happens. But for me personally, having Tim Tebow on this team, he’s someone who believes in spirituality, he’s very competitive and works hard, and has a great attitude, and he’s a winner. So having him as part of our franchise is great, but he has to compete just like anyone else. We’re blessed to have a lot of people like that, but the fact that spirituality is very important to him is very appealing to me.” 

The intangibles of his character, faith, and confidence make him intriguing.  What made him expendable was his lack of competence to effectively play his position at the professional level.  Sports are not different from any other position being filled in an organization, attitude, confidence, and intangibles cannot substitute for competence.  Former NBA Head Coach and current ESPN TV analyst was recently quoted in reference to recently retired player Tracy McGrady stating, "Either your best player has to cover up the non-strengths of the others or the others have to cover up the non-strengths of the stars," and ideally, you'd want both things happening at once.  Tebow’s non-strengths on the football field became a detriment to the strengths of his teammates.  Their strengths could not overcome what he lacked physically. In college at the University of Florida Tebow was surrounded by superior talent and his intangibles of maturity and leadership were able to make a major contribution to the team.  In the cut throat business of professional sports potential and upside have an expiration date.  And for Tebow this may be the end of the line for him.

Some Tebow supporters view the criticism of his ability as a personal attack.  Detractors are frustrated with the constant media attention to someone who has struggled with delivery, reading defenses, accuracy.   Tebow’s recent release will force him to make a decision regarding how he wants to pursue his future.  It is a question many of us face.  If there is a particular career and/or skill set we desire, is our level competence high enough to be successful at it?  Life is about seizing opportunities when presented.  Very talented people never are presented with right set of circumstances.  For Tebow he wanted to do something that only 75 people or less get to do and that is  an NFL quarterback.  Only 32 get to start, and if he is fortunate at some point in his mid to late 30’s his career would be over and the next phase of his life would begin.  That is the struggle for a professional athlete.  The window of opportunity is small and new prospects are entering the league every year.  Dreams and passions should be pursued.  What we all must face is do we have potential mastery of our passions.  Once that is determined it has be nurtured properly with instruction, practice, coaching/mentoring, and discipline.  It is the natural ability/genetics vs. nurturing debate.  

With hours of practice and instruction that Tim Tebow has received over the years his ceiling was lower at NFL quarterback than many of his counterparts.  What has been surprising is that his physical mechanics were not corrected in his high school or college career.  The infatuation former Denver Broncos Head Coach and current New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator had with him did not help the public perception of Tebow.  McDaniels felt he could “coach” him up and the other 31 teams did not view him as a starting quarterback.   His brief success was probably the worse thing to happen to him.   The most likely scenario is that the phone does not ring again from an NFL team and he can be Tim Tebow full time, speaking engagements, autograph sessions, television, etc.  He appears to be intelligent and will have options to do something else.  Just happened a lot sooner than he expected.