Tebow Takes Media Mantle from Favre

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is the new Brett Favre of the NFL.

Favre was either loved or hated, much like Tebow is now. And No. 4 was also unconventional, choosing to throw into triple coverage over the easy target, making the big plays and big mistakes.

Favre used to be the go-to name in pro-sports, there was even an entire summer ESPN camped out in Hattiesburg, Miss., but now its Tebow's turn.

It's hard to explain the Tim Tebow phenomenon, but a scene from the television show "Friday Night Lights" comes to mind.

In the pilot episode Taylor Kitsch's character toasts his best friend by saying, "Here's to God. And Football. And in 10 years good friends living large in Texas." Replace Florida, and equally football crazed state, with Texas and that's a taste of the mindset that elevated Tebow from high school star to college star.

Add the fact that Tebow makes many of us believe in the age old sports cliches like "staying positive" and "never giving up" can lead to victories, with good looks and his overt religious belief, and there's the formula for the most popular athlete in sports.

It should be no surprise that when Tebow does something the experts say cannot happen, like beat the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers defense with one throw in overtime, the Internet explodes.

Helping his legend status, the fact that in the Steelers game Tebow passed for 316 yards, averaging 31.6 yards per pass. That lead to an explosion of people looking up "John 3:16" on Google, because it's one of Tebow's favorite Bible verses and he wore it on his eye black in the '09 BCS Championship game.

Tebow got too much credit for the playoff win, like all football quarterbacks. To borrow from Mark Kiszla, unless MVP means most visible player, Tebow wasn't all that for Denver.

Running back Willis McGahee meant way more to Denver's rise to the playoffs.

Tebow is still very young, with less than 20 NFL starts. There's room to improve and to continue to silence the critics.

Just know we'll hear, tweet and Facebook about every step of that journey, just like Brett Favre.

Tim Tebow is fairly popular. Especially when his passing yards = Bible verses. 

Just stay home Brett

The Brett Favre-Green Bay Packers soap opera continues with new daily updates and 24/7 coverage. Today, details are emerging that the Packers are offering Favre around $20 million to stay retired.

The smartest decision for Brett is to take the money and stay in Mississippi. The reason can be summarized by two words: Madden Curse.

That’s right; No. 4 is this year’s cover athlete for EA Sports Madden NFL ’09 video game. Favre is a good choice coming off one of his best years statistically. In a record setting year he threw for 28 touchdowns, 4,155 yards with his highest completion percentage ever (66.5).

However, Brett just needs to examine what’s happened to other Madden cover athletes to see a dark omen.

In 2003, quarterback Michael Vick broke his leg just one day after the Madden game hit store shelves.

Two years later, another quarterback Donovan McNabb, suffered a sports hernia in the opening week and ended up throwing nine interceptions in nine games (one more than the previous season). Not to mention, there was all that drama with Terrell Owens that split Philadelphia apart.

Even league MVP’s have fallen to the curse. Running back Shaun Alexander had a monster 2005 season, rushing for a record 27 touchdowns and 1,880 yards. After gracing the Madden cover, Alexander broke his foot missing six games in ‘06 and then last year cracked his wrist and averaged a career low 3.5 yards per carry.

If the Packers are being serious with their million dollar offer, Favre should take the opportunity to preserve his legacy and move on with life.