By signing future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning, the Broncos effectively swapped him for golden boy Tim Tebow. But did they make the right decision?
If you have an Internet connection or a soul, you've probably heard by now that the Denver Broncos, led by evil/nefarious/dastardly vice-president John Elway, have discarded Tim Tebow like yesterday's church mailing in favor of some crotchety upstart named Peyton Manning, or Payton, or something like that.
We decided to analyze the move to figure out how big of a mistake Denver made.
STATISTICS:
Manning: 208 games played. 64.9% completion percentage. 54,828 yards passing. 399 touchdowns. 198 interceptions. 2.02 TD/INT ratio. Career QB rating: 94.9
Tebow: 23 games played. 47.3% completion percentage. 2,383 yards passing. 17 touchdowns. 9 interceptions. 1.89 TD/INT ratio. QB rating: 75.1. (Also, rushing: 887 yards, 5.4 yards/rush, 12 touchdowns.)
ADVANTAGE: TEBOW. So many fewer touchdowns and yards accrued means that there's all that many more left for him in his career. That's how this works, right?
(Getty Images / Joey Foley)
LEADERSHIP:
Manning: led the Colts to the playoffs in 11 of his 13 seasons. Appeared in two Super Bowls; won Super Bowl XLI. Constantly made mediocre players like Brandon Stokley and Marcus Pollard look like Pro Bowlers. Admired and respected by the entire world outside of New England. Might be playing in 2012 with a strand of linguini in place of his neck.
Tebow: Heisman trophy winner, NCAA national champion, and arguably the best college football player of all time. Led the Broncos to the playoffs in first full season as quarterback, including five fourth-quarter comebacks. Only virgin player in the NFL.*
*Probably.
ADVANTAGE: TEBOW. Sure, Manning had a good ten years or whatever. But anyone can lead a team to the playoffs when they're good at football. It takes a real athletic genius to dominate when he happens to be terrible.**
**For more on this, see GQ's "The Year of Magical Stinking," which chronicles Tebow's... creative approach to winning games. It's very flattering.
(Getty Images / David Livingston)
CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Manning: featured in the Saturday Night Live Digital Short "United Way," which is maybe the funniest appearance by an athlete on SNL.
