Elway says Tebow “not a good NFL quarterback,” then backpedals
John Elway hasn’t held a position in the Broncos’ front office for very long but already he’s backpedaling after making some newsworthy comments.
While speaking recently to SI.com’s Peter King, Elway said: “I don’t think Tim Tebow is a good NFL quarterback at this time.” This propelled King to write that the Broncos may look to trade Tebow in the offseason.
On Sunday, Elway was already looking to douse water on the fire.
“To clarify my thoughts on Tim Tebow … I think he’s a very good football player, and if anyone can turn themselves into a great quarterback, Tim can,” Elway wrote.
“Myself and our entire organization think very highly of him. We are pleased with his first year as a Bronco.
“Any speculation that the Denver Broncos are considering moving Tim is completely false.”
I bet Elway meant what he said the first time about Tebow. He doesn’t think he’s a good NFL quarterback yet and he probably has doubts that he’ll ever be a quality starter in the league. I think he realized how far his words could spread in a short matter of time, which is why he quickly clarified what he said after he saw how things started to unravel.
That said, that doesn’t mean that the Broncos are going to trade Tebow or that Elway believes that the former first round pick can’t develop. But Elway probably has the same thoughts that a lot of people do: Tebow is one massive project as a quarterback and winning a couple of meaningless games at the end of the year doesn’t change that.
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Posted in: NFL
Tags: Denver Broncos, John Elway, John Elway Tim Tebow, John Elway Tim Tebow comments, Tim Tebow
I wonder if Troy Aikman has ever listened to himself ? He should, he has to be the worst in that booth. Repeats himself and makes statements a 6th grader could make easily. Get rid of Aikman, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds
Do you know the context of this quote, or are you like PFT and only pulling one line and interpreting it to mean something else? If you saw any of John Elway’s introductory press conference, you would know he said he thinks very highly of Tebow and that the next Broncos coach has to be a Tebow believer. He also said Tebow is a very good football player, but they have to make him a very good quarterback which he isn’t right now. Thanks for the background on the story and for getting the right info out there to the public.
Doesn’t mean Tebow won’t be traded, but that one line from King was taken out of context.
I guess I’m a little confused about your comments, Larry Brown. (Great site, by the way.)
I didn’t just post part of Elway’s quote – I posted the entire thing (including the part about how he said Tebow isn’t a good NFL quarterback right now. The first paragraph after the blockquote is my opinion, which I clearly state by writing it in first-person.
And I do think Elway quickly clarified his comments when he saw how they caught fire. Would you disagree? I know you agree with this part in my piece: That said, that doesn’t mean that the Broncos are going to trade Tebow or that Elway believes that the former first round pick can’t develop… because part of your final sentence said the same exact thing. (I’m not trying to be a jerk but did you read my entire post or just the title?)
I’m not sure where the anger is coming from. Are you upset that I didn’t quote Elway’s entire introductory press conference? This post wasn’t about that – it was about what Elway said about Tebow, which is that he doesn’t think that he’s a good NFL quarterback at this time. That’s the part I focused on because that’s the part I had an opinion on.
Maybe if you clarified what part of this particular post you had a problem with, I could understand where you’re coming from.
I don’t think Tebow is either a bust or a massive project. But he does need to be in an environment that lets him learn how to succeed.
Come on Anthony, read the post title and the first two paragraphs. If you take Elway’s comment just looking at the one line, it looks bad. If you place it in its context, you realize it’s harmless. He only had to go to twitter after sites like PFT took it and ran with it, mixing up the message. He was never backpedaling.
I highly doubt you’ve read any of my other stuff, but I absolutely hate PFT and what they do. I hammer them any chance I get, so to be compared to them is enough to make my skin crawl.
It looks like I was in the wrong here. I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. I saw the comment Elway made to King and focused just on that. I stand by that it’s a strong statement regardless of if he followed it up with, “I want to have Tim Tebow’s babies,” but I see your points.
Good call out, Larry.
tebow will be good nfl qb.he has never been nothing but winner.more than once at florida,he would take them on his shoulders and will them to win.two national championships.i think we have just started to see his potential in the nfl.
Timmy just doesn’t habe it, and why WOULD any team spend so much time, money AND effort to make him into what they can just draft?
Tebow is an enigma…wrong mechanics to be QB, too slow to be T/End, Running back, Receiver. I see him as a full back evangelist type thing.
Tebow is a project for a team like Denver. If the rest of the team was good then it would be easier for him to develop. But this is not what they have in Denver.
He has many things over a lot of other quaterbacks in the NFL. The winner attitude and leader qualities that you can not teach. Those things make him very valuable and a leader. Mechanics can be fixed with a little time. The other things can not be fixed in most cases.
I JUST SAY GIVE THE GUY A CHANCE. I CAN ONLY SAY ONE THING WITH GOD IN HIS LIFE NOTHING IS IMPOSSILBE FOR TIM TEBOW. I THINK HE WILL BECOME A GOOD LEADER FOR THE BRONCOS. HE HAS PASSION AND LOVE FOR GAME.
Idk I think everyone needs to give this kid a chance. I mean really its his first year and from what i saw i think its great give him some time and he will prove everyone wrong you just wait and see.
I’ve got to concur with Anthony on this one Larry, nice call out. Gracious reply as well Anthony, something you don’t see much of on the net..that said I believe with Elway’s tutelage, the greatest QB to ever play the game, that Tim Tebow will without a doubt become a truly great NFL QB. The guy is an amazing athlete and is fiercely determined to succeed. Not to mention the fact that his impeccable character screams natural leader. Maybe see if Steve Young would be available to be a short-gig QB consultant to help out with the southpaw style of a World Champ QB…just a thought..
I wish Tebow the best, if for no other reason than it would have one more team playing differently than everyone else…
I just hope/wish that Vince Young would/could find a team with the level of support. Getting away from a coach who never wanted him, who spent years trying to make him play more like, well, Kerry Collins, and wasted few opportunities to throw him under the bus is a good start. Football is just more fun to watch when you have a QB that stresses defenses in multiple ways. Vick’s Eagles were a lot more fun to watch than Kolb’s. For that matter (even though it cost me a fantasy championship) Webb’s Vikings were more fun than Favre’s…
Pre-Bill Walsh, the “professional” style looked far different. I hope that we get a new generation of dual-threat QBs and offenses which use them. I think if some forward-looking NFL team committed to that, and picked up a few undervalued ‘running’ college QBs, they’d be a serious contender in pretty short order. Just like Walsh’s 49ers, they’d weekly face defenses built and trained to stop the more ordinary, “current-NFL-style” offenses who would have to change their preparations for that particular matchup. It was a huge competitive advantage for the 80’s Niners, and it would be the same for whoever tried it now.
For the Fans Johnny, or Did you forget already why the fan base here is going down like a rock in a pond….Come On Man LOL