One of my favorite science fiction/horror movies of the 1980’s (yes, I’m dating myself) was Scanners. If you are unfamiliar with the premise, two brothers are separated at birth. Both have psychic powers which not only can control other people’s minds, but can be used to inflict great pain on the mind, even to the point of causing the head of those “scanned” to explode. Like any good sci-fi movie, there is a protagonist — good brother Cameron Vale — and an antagonist — evil brother Darryl Revok (deliciously played by character actor Michael Ironside).
Throughout the movie, Revok reeks havoc on an unsuspecting population, all in an attempt to gain control of the world (long before the days of Dr. Evil). In the explosive conclusion of this 1981 David Cronenberg directed film, the two brothers scan each other to the death. Just when you thought that evil had prevailed, Cameron Vale had one last burst of mind-blowing energy, taking down his brother with a scan so strong that Revok’s head exploded. For early 80’s special effects, the finale was something to behold.
On November 17, 2011 ( a great birthday week present for yours truly), Scanners: The Tim Tebow Edition, was released. Just when you thought that Rex Ryan and the Jets were going to win in the Mile High City, Tim Tebow, the often maligned and mocked starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, did the improbable. Marching 95 yards with less than six minutes to play, Tebow led the Broncos to their fourth win in five games. No one on the NFL Network’s Pre-Game show gave Tebow or the Broncos a chance. Anyone that was of any note in the football world picked the Jets to fly into Denver and bomb the Orange and Blue behind over-rated Mark Sanchez’s air attack to wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress.
However, if one were familiar with Tim Tebow’s full body of work in College and High School (a champion and winner at both levels), you could begin to see how the movie would end. Doing what Tim Tebow has always done (not perfectly, but extremely consistently) throughout his career, he orchestrated a come-from-behind victory that was downright Elway-esque. Running and passing (yes, he can pass), Tebow moved the chains. With the game on the line and the Jets in an all-out blitz, Tebow — the good, Christian kid from Jacksonville, ran to his left, leaving the Jets sputtering and headed for a crash landing. Shaking off a last-gasp tackle attempt, Tebow was in the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown. Just 58 seconds later (not enough for this year’s Mark Sanchez), the Tebow-led Denver Broncos had put together a three game winning streak, confounding the critics and haters once again.
When Sanchez’s Hail Mary pass fell to the ground and the clock hit 0:00, good had triumphed over evil. An ending that most of the talking heads predicted would not happen in fact happened right in front of their eyes. I know that I’m not supposed to have bad thoughts, but I couldn’t help but envision Trent Dilfer, Merril Hoge, and Cris Carter begin to hold their heads, as if in excruciating pain. For when the credits to this movie ended and the scene faded to black, Tim Tebow — the scanner that has gotten into their heads like no other player could — exploded their minds with his clutch play.
After they gather the bits and pieces of their brains that were blown apart by Tim Tebow and the Broncos on Thursday night, I can’t wait to see how they spin this win. I know they will look foolish and try to downgrade the Broncos’ win and Tebow’s skills as a quarterback. In the end, it won’t matter. Why? I never thought I would quote him or even acknowledge that he was right, but maybe Al Davis was on to something — JUST WIN, BABY! Tebow and the Broncos did. Again. That’s all that matters. The End.
You nailed it, pastor Scott.
Dr. Vines,
Thanks. Tim Tebow just wins. But, as he said last night, football is not that important in the whole scheme of things. It truly is about Jesus Christ. So glad he got the opportunity to be Christ’s witness to a watching world last night. Truly awesome! Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. God bless,
Howell
“Running and passing (yes, he can pass)…”
LOL, I’m sorry but–
Tim Tebow can’t pass. Until that final drive, he had completed just six passes total. Six. And for at least the sixth time over five games we saw a familiar sight: Tebow overshooting a wide open Eric Decker.
To be sure, we’re not talking about difficult pass plays. We’re talking about simple throws that most second or third string QBs can make.
I’ll give you and the other Tebowologists this: He doesn’t turnover the football. Now, you’re going to punt the ball a lot (a total of eight times last night) when he’s under center, because he throws a ton of incompletions and he can only run, but at least he doesn’t turnover the football.
But he can’t pass. It’s why when he first came out of college many thought he’d be a fullback or a tight end. Or maybe even an O-Lineman! Anything but an NFL QB. Why? Because he can’t pass.
And let’s face it: Tebow received a huge assist from the Jets offense last night. That’s not to take anything away from the Broncos defense, because they’ve played extremely well during this five game stretch with Tebow at starting QB. But the Jets just needed to score 20 points to put the Broncos away last night, and they couldn’t even do that.
Sanchez is obviously regressing. He’s having a horrible year, and the Jets running game is an absolute disaster.
Forgive me if I’m not enthusiastic, but it’s going to take more than 9-20 for a buck and some change to make me a believer.
Sure, he got the (improbable) win. Sure, he’s (equally improbable) 4-1 as the Broncos’ starter. I give him credit, but at some point to be successful as an NFL QB you have to make throws and right now he can’t.
Milton,
Why such hate? I know the beatdowns that Tebow delivered to your Georgia Bulldogs team still sting, but you have to let it go! 😉 I never thought that I would quote Al Davis, but “Just Win, Baby!” As an NFL quarterback, you are judged on wins vs. losses. Doesn’t matter how he gets it done, but Tebow is a winner. Last I checked, he had more wins than a certain quarterback at Carolina. Tebow will continue to improve. Unitl then, I’ll take the ugly wins every week over the pretty losses that GQ Mark Sanchez and other QBs in the league keep leading their teams to. And, as Tebow would say, God bless,
Howell
LOL!
He’s not an NFL QB. I love the way he comes out and competes every Sunday, but I’m not sure how long the Broncos can keep this experiment (that is, after all, what this is) up.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Broncos go after Manning or draft a QB, because there’s no way he’s the team’s long term starter…
Milton,
I just starting reading Tebow’s autobiography (good airplane reading material). Your observations about Tebow at the NFL level are the same as many of his detractors at the high school and college level as well. He may not be an NFL QB (whatever that means) now, but no one can say definitively what the future holds for Tebow in the NFL. I think the past is often (not always) a good predictor of the future. Considering he led his high school team to a state championship in FL and UF to two National Championships — plus his Heisman Trophy as a Sophomore and a finalist his Senior Year — I’ll take those “odds” of Tebow being able to compete at the professional level.
If the Broncos don’t know what they have (his original high school team, a Christian school, didn’t either), then some NFL team will benefit from the Broncos’ foolishness if they decide to trade Tebow. But, since Pat Bowlen, the Broncos’ owner, made a positive comment about keeping Tebow around, I wouldn’t look for another QB to come into Denver any time soon. By the way, if he keeps winning, when does it stop being an experiment? Since the goalposts are constantly being moved, I guess you and Merril Hoge won’t be convinced until Tebow wins a Super Bowl 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. God bless,
Howell
LOL!
I’m just skeptical about whether the Broncos can rely on Tebow’s arm to consistently win football games!
But you know what? Dan Patrick made a great point today on his show. He said that it isn’t fair to judge Tebow ‘throw by throw’ or ‘game by game.’ Instead, we should just let him play and at the end of the season we can evaluate his complete body of work.
With that being said, I’m going to let this season play out and resist the urge to comment extensively on Tebow’s performance until the end of the season. I want to be fair to Tebow and allow him to make his mistakes and enjoy his triumphs. But I’m telling Broncos fans to buckle up: It will be a roller coaster ride all the way to the end of the year!
You have a great Thanksgiving too.
God Bless