Lets not confuse Tim Tebow's reputation as a human-being with his quality of play as a NFL starting quarterback. At this point in his life most can agree that Tim is a high value/moral person, off the field, but that does not transfer to what he does on the field-yet-and most people and pundits refuse to make the distinction.

Tebow is a great friend, teammate and mentor-he's shown those qualities thus far but when he steps on to the field and starts to show off the skill level it takes to be a franchise leading quarterback n the NFL he is very below average. And until Tebow raises his level of consistent QB play we all must look at him n dueling parts...Tim Tebow the 'Fantastic' Guy vs Tim Tebow the 'Average' Player

Move over qb class of '83 you are no longer the most celebrated NFL quarterback class of all time, that moniker goes to the year 2004 when Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger were selected by New York Giants, San Diego Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers respectively. No disrespect to the top notch class that was 1983 (John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Todd Blackledge and Ken O'Brien), six quarterbacks were selected, three became hall of famers with 4 of the 6 appearing in the Super Bowl (Kelly and Elway multiple times) but what the class of '04 has done in just 8 years is worth noting; there are 4 Super Bowl wins between them (Ben and Eli with 2 each) and you would be a fool not to think that Rivers will at the least get to 1 Super Bowl before he retires for good. There's a grand total of 2 Super Bowl wins for the class of '83 (both belonging to Elway) and although a majority of the qb's n that class did make at least 1 appearance n the 'big game' during their careers it pales in comparison to what '04 has accomplished already; if your betting a man/woman you gotta believe that Big Ben and ELIte Manning will go back to the 'big dance' at least 1 more time--if not multiple. If the class of '04 can stay relatively healthy through their prime and into their mid 30's the bar will be set so high that no qb class may ever achieve what there setting right now!

Lets start briefly with the ETC:

1. the NCAA governing committee should come down Hard on the University of Miami for all the football violations they committed the last 8 years; it shouldn't be at the 'death penalty' level but it should be somewhere close to it

2. There's a decent chance that Sidney Crosby won't be able to start the new Hockey season, Oct. 6th '11, because of lingering concussion issues, here's hoping at some point soon his lingering symptons permanently go away, if not, the NHL will be impacted greatly. The league will continue to strive and grow, no doubt, but to lose the best player in the league or have Crosby return to the ice playing at any level below his high level standard that we're use to would be devastating for the Penquins and for the entire national hockey league

3. The Pittsburgh Pirates might be headed to a MLB continued-record setting 19 straight losing season but this year there doing something, on the field, that should make long time Pirate fans and the executive brass of major league baseball proud; they're competitive and are in the hunt to have a winning season or at least get to .500 for the first time in almost 2 decades. They are finally giving Hope and Optimism to their fanbase. This once proud organization (they have a total of 5 World Series Crowns in their history) is starting to restore its glamour & glory and for the most part it has been doing such this entire summer. They now have a great core of young up and rising players blending with a good mix of experienced pitchers that serves as the foundation for this organization for many years to come and there minor league system is quickly becoming one of the best in the country. Lets now see if the Baltimore Orioles and the Royals of K.C. can follow suit and start rebuilding their team and image after many many years of losing as well

4. Some NBA players are making plans to possibly play internationally for european and asian professional basketball teams, just in case this current NBA lockout carries into the scheduled '11-'12 season. I say "go ahead nba players..do as you please...but also understand the injury risk". I don't think its worth it but I do understand players wanting to play and staying sharp from a skills and stamina point of view

5. Viva International Soccer!!! The most exciting sport in the world

6. Women sports, across the board, display the best fundamental play on the field

Now lets get down to the professional football business Yo!

1. Great to see arguably the best receiver in the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, received a very rich long term contract extension, he's worth it and the organization really had no choice but to give him what he wanted cause 'Fitz' is the face of the team and his productivity on the field since he entered the league n '04 is second to none. But here's the issue, the team will only get its money worth from the Fitz deal if their newly required free agent QB, Kevin Kolb, turns out to be a franchise type quarterback...I gotta feeling Kolb won't be the answer, sorry Larry

2. Still not sure if Cam Newton will turn into a leading franchise type qb for the Carolina Panthers, way to early to tell but if I was buying stock and Cam was the stock, I would say 'hold'...wait and let the stock mature before making a final decision

3. Chris Johnson, the running back for the Tenessee Titans, is holding out for a new contract deal and eventually he will get it but he shouldn't get the type of money he's been asking for; he wants quarterback type $ even though he doesn't touch the ball on every play like a qb. He want it but we all want a lot of things in life that we can't always have and in this case Johnson should settle for being the highest paid running back in the league. The shelf life for running backs in the 21st century NFL is 5 to 8 years as it relates to Prime Level play and the Titan organization understands that, if CJ doesn't except top RBack money then Tennessee should trade him and get a first and 2nd round pick for the '12 draft. It has already been proven, quite consistently over the life of this league, that you don't need a great running back to win a title-all a team needs is a good/serviceable back that knows how to move the chains and get first downs; if you don't believe me, recent history proves it, just look at the...Green Bay Packers and New Orlean Saints

4. Big Ben and Phillip Rivers will make the leap to the top of the qb food chain this season, along with Aaron Rodgers, they will be looked at as the top 3 qb's the game has to offer when its all said and done at the end of this year

5. Here's a list of once highly touted qb's that will never be great or even very good in the NFL, mainly because of poor throwing mechanics, pocket confidence and/or the inability to read and comprehend defensive schemes: Vince Young, Jason Campbell, Alex Smith, Chad Henne (I would like to add Tim Tebow to this list but in fairness its to early, I'll give him 2 more years before I put him on this list)

6. Tony Romo is being paid like a franchise quarterback and he puts up gaudy regular season numbers but his ability to come through in the playoffs will forever mark him as a underachiever, after this season the Cowboys will be forced to look for another future QB in the '12 draft

7. Sam Bradford is a stud and barring injury will be a top 10 QB in the next 2 years

8. the New York Jets and New England Patriots will make the playoffs but won't represent the AFC in the super bowl...they look great on paper but will have trouble transferring all of that supposed great talent to the field on a consistent week to week basis

9. Matt Cassell is extremely overpaid and overrated, he will be horribly exposed this year as a very average qb

10. The irony of Peyton Manning signing that super rich contract extension this offseason is the fact he's coming off a major neck/spine surgery and he's yet to fully heal and who knows if he'll ever be fully capable of playing this season at all-at the level we're use to seeing from him. Manning should be happy he won his only super bowl title back in '06 cause he'll never get close to another bowl again. At the end of last season the Colts should have been seriously scouting a future QB replacement-now they will be up against the draft clock to find a formidable college quarterback to groom; this will be the beginning of the deteioration of Peyton's body

11. I'm not quite sure Colt McCoy is the franchise qb the Cleveland Browns want and need him to be but he does have a cool name and since we're on the topic of 'not so sures'--Cam Newton--way to early to tell what his impact will be but he has a great smile...the TV commercial world will love him

12. What do Mike Shanahan and Todd Haley have in common? They are both 'horrible' head coaches

13. After this season is over Joe Flacco will start to be questioned about his ability to be a great qb in this league and David Garrard will be officially released/cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars

14. Josh Freeman has the potential to maximize the 'mobile qb' theory that coaches and experts have been trying to label on a young gunslinger for some time now. He has a great arm and knows how to move well in the pocket without jeopardizing the integrity of the play-(i.e. taking off and running before he lets the pass play fully develop)

15. the Detroit Lions are definitely on the Rise, the Vikings-Bears-Texans are not, all 3 teams will have to re-evaluate the direction of their team at the end of the season. The culprit for these teams not playing well: Donovan McNabb-Mike Martz and Gary Kubiak

16. the Giants season, because of major injuries to key players, is over before it has even began

17. The Cincinnati Bengals has ushered out the old and brought in the new but the results will continue to be the same: BAD-on and off the field. One final salutation for Carson Palmer, he's sitting out the year so he doesn't have to play for the Bengal organization again, not sure it even matters in the grand scheme of things-the Cincinnati fans have already gotten over him and at best he was an average playing quarterback; he never truly got back to that great level of play after that major knee injury 5 years ago

18. If I was betting man I would put money on the Saints, Falcons, Packers and Rams(that's right I said the Rams-they not the Lions will make a huge jump in maturity and wins as a team this year) competing to appear in the NFC Championship game

*A run 1st, throw 2nd QB will never be successful in the NFL....that's why Division 1A college coaches need to do their mobile qb talent a favor-while they're still in college-and groom them away from being 'freestyle' quarterbacks to a more pocket oriented signal caller, so when they do reach the NFL there more prepared to succeed long term*

19. I would be shocked if the 49ers won more than 2 games this year

20. On paper the entire Philadelphia Eagles team looks formidable-a dream like team-but they don't play football on paper and this Eagle team will have to show up each and every week and play at the top of their game cause teams are going to be 'fired up' to get after them. The Eagles went out and signed a lot of free agent players-at a high price no less-with the idea that these players will immediately fit in (despite the lockout shortened training camp)-that alone is a risky assumption on the coaches part but that won't be the reason why the Eagles will be at home watching the the Super Bowl as suppose to playing deep in to the postseason. The reason will be MICHEAL VICK...he had a great comeback year last season, not a MVP type season but a good enough season as it relates to him getting out of prison just a full season prior. But this year Vick will be exposed for what he use to be exposed for before he went to prison, when he was the qb for the Atlanta Falcons, his inaccurancy-inability to play a full season healthy and his still slow defensive read progressions. Opposing defenses have had a full offseason to adjust to what Vick did last year and this season you will see him struggle mightedly against teams that have very good defensive personnel...oh and here's the icing on the ice cream cake, Vick has yet to win a major playoff game that has mattered in his entire career

Peace...enjoy the 2011 NFL Season, it should be a fantastic!

p.s.

Hey Raider Nation, u thought I forgot about you guys, well I didn't; I would be lying if I said I like anything about your team (from the front office to the coaching staff to the players on the field) everything about the Raider team and organization is a disaster and this offseason has proved no different-from letting certain pro bowl players walk in free agency to the drafting of suspect skills talent Terrelle Pryor, I expect the Oakland Raiders to continue their recent decade long history of Excellent Mediocrity