The Tebow Era Begins, Unless John Fox Is Insane

We've been closely following the QB disaster in Denver for a few weeks now, and yesterday things finally turned in Tim Tebow's favor as he took over for Kyle Orton and nearly guided the Broncos to a comeback win over the Chargers. You'd think that would make Tebow the clear starter from here on out, but Broncos coach John Fox is content to make this as drawn out and painful of a process as possible:

We haven’t had a chance to watch the tape, we haven’t had a chance to watch the film, we haven’t had a chance to visit as a staff.

That's Fox basically saying he won't be bullied into making Tebow the starter, especially given that he wanted nothing to do with Tebow to begin with. This is a continuation of the Broncos mismanaging this process ever since John Elway and Fox took over in the offseason. They could have traded Orton to Miami right before the season began and had some draft picks to play with come spring. Instead, they kept Orton, enraged their fanbase, and have now benched Orton with nothing to show for it. Orton is gone at the end of this season. It's a lock. And now Fox is refusing to name Tebow the starter even though everyone knows he will later in the week.

It's a shame because Fox and Elway look bad regardless of how this plays out. If Tebow plays well, they'll have to sit there with gritted teeth and adopt him as their own. If Tebow fails, well, did his organization do much of ANYTHING to support him?

I know Tebow is Josh McDaniels' boy, and the Broncos are right to want to take everything McDaniels touched and burn it in a tire fire. But the Tebow benching has always felt more like a political decision than anything else, and what faith can Broncos fans have in this braintrust if they know they make political decisions? Tebow's emergence yesterday was a rare happy moment for the fanbase, but Fox looked like he just had his lunch stolen. This team needs to make Tebow the starter and let him succeed or fail on the field, instead of trying to bestow failure upon him, as if it's part of some grander design. Because Tim Tebow's success wouldn't be the end of the world. Who knows? He might even help this team win.

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