Sam Fisher
Banned
Few understand better what it's like to be The Man in Denver.
Elway, who went through a tumultuous near-decade as the starting quarterback with head coach Dan Reeves in Denver before finally finding career fulfillment with two Super Bowl titles at the end of his run, understands what a quarterback needs — and does not need — as a support system from a front office. Elway was under the microscope as the first overall pick in the 1983 NFL draft, especially after he forced a trade from the Colts to the Broncos, but he admitted on Monday that the scrutiny he saw was nothing compared to what Tebow went through.
"Obviously, what I went through was more locally based -- but when you look at Tim Tebow, what he went through was nationally based, or maybe even worldwide based. When you talk about people Tebowing by the Eiffel Tower, that kind of tells you. When I look at Tim and the experience that he had when he was at Florida, he was kind of involved in the media attention. So, he had some experience kind of going through that.
"When you look at the mentality of what kind of guy Tim is, he really seems to be unaffected by it. I think he puts enough pressure — any great player, to me, no matter how much pressure comes from the outside, there's more pressure coming from the inside and the expectations a player has for oneself. I think that's what Tim has. I don't know that it affected him, because I know his expectations of himself are even higher than they are on the outside."
In that regard, Tebow and his boss could be kindred spirits. That dynamic might be at the root of the Broncos willingness to place their future in the hands of a guy who's still putting it all together. Nobody better understands what it's like to be a franchise quarterback in Denver, and Elway wants to do whatever possible to see Tebow experience that same sensation. This may have been an arranged marriage at first, but it does now seem as if Elway wants to make this happen for more reasons than the certainty that he'd be run out of Denver if anyone else was taking those shotgun snaps when the Broncos open the 2012 season.
"Anytime you can get a franchise guy and a quarterback that can be your guy for 10-12 years, that's what you want as an organization," Elway said. "We're so hopeful that Tim's that guy. We know, obviously, that we have some work to do, and he knows that too, but he made great strides this year, and I think the one thing that you can't make up in the offseason in the weight room or anywhere else, is the experience of playing in football games. He got a lot of experience this year taking the snaps and getting a feel for what the regular season is going to be about.
"I think it was invaluable for our team to experience the playoffs, because when you get in the playoffs it steps up another level. It's like the preseason to the regular season, and when you get to the playoffs, that step's about the same size. I think, for a building block going forward, it was a tremendous experience for our football team to experience the playoffs because we hadn't been there for a while. A lot of guys on this football team hadn't been there, so I think when you look at the season as a whole, the experience that we gained being in the playoffs will definitely help us in the future."
From a muddled mess to a clearer picture? Perhaps. If Tebow can will it and Elway can help make it happen, the Broncos might just pull this strange experiment off.
