Tebow Talk

The talk of the last couple of days has revolved around Tim Tebow's possible arrival in Canada to play in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes (who own his CFL rights). It should be pointed out that this all stems from the New York Jets bypassing Tebow and naming Greg McElroy their starter in place of the benched Mark Sanchez. With a divorce from the Jets all but assured, the rumours of his possible relocation to Montreal have started anew.

Opinions vary widely on Tebow and he is probably the single-most polarizing player in North American professional sports. It seems that you either love him or hate him, so it is no surprise to see that there are two distinct camps when it comes to his playing in the CFL: those that like it and those that hate it.

Both camps make solid arguments, but holes can be poked into both as well. The idea that Tebow will get to work with a guy who has faith in him, Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman, is as good a reason as any to think that Tebow will be successful. And it bolsters Tebow's cause that Trestman is considered somewhat of a quarterback guru. But aside from coaching an already established Anthony Calvillo, none of us are too certain whether Trestman can develop a CFL-calibre quarterback. Trestman may have resurrected Calvillo's career, but he was already an elite player when Trestman arrived in Montreal in 2008. Whether Trestman can take a much rawer prospect such as Tebow and make him an elite player is something now one can answer.

The anti-Tebow camp likes to bring up his subpar statistics, which is a point that is impossible to argue against (his career completion percentage is a paltry 47.9). To play in the CFL you have to be a good passer, so it would seem that Tebow would not succeed in the CFL as he has never been all that dangerous throwing the football. But that doesn't mean that can't change. If you saw a career statline of 181 for 366 (49.5 per cent) with 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions you'd probably conclude that that player wouldn't be a very good passer and would especially flame out in the CFL. Those were the career numbers of Doug Flutie during his first stint in the NFL. Not saying Tebow would ever become Flutie, but poor passing stats in a few NFL seasons does not mean that you can't become a good CFL quarterback.

I am probably the only person in the world who doesn't love or hate Tim Tebow. The only thing I don't like is when people say he's terrible and will always be terrible. He's in his third pro season, and hasn't played all that much, so I think it is too early to decide what type of player Tebow will become. He hasn't had the best coaching in the world either and that would change should he head to Montreal. I also don't like when people bring up things like intangibles and wins. Tebow might have a desire to compete and win, but so does every other professional athlete. And judging quarterbacks on wins is stupid, period.

I don't know if Tim Tebow will ever be a good quarterback, NFL or CFL, but that's the point. I don't know and, frankly, neither does anyone else. Tim Tebow could become the next Doug Flutie or he could be the next Timm Rosenbach or fall somewhere in between. But the fact of the matter is none of us know. And none of us will know until we see actually see him play in the CFL.