Whither Tebow?

Well my goodness they didn’t think he belonged there before Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos … so who cares what they say now?

When he was succeeding, they said he shouldn’t be. He just shouldn’t.

Why not?

He shouldn’t be succeeding because my … gosh! … just look at him! He shouldn’t be succeeding because he shouldn’t.

Perhaps you begin to see the problem with that reasoning.

Then they were bugged because he was proving them wrong.

Now what?

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Deciding whether — or where — Tebow should play when you aren’t the one deciding is like asking if Google+ will topple Facebook. As if you could know.

Tebow will be fine.

And anyway, we don’t know.

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Apropos of recent news — where will Peyton Manning sign? — I remember January, when the Colts fired their head coach, Jim Caldwell. The day before he was gone, as one report noted:

Things were so clouded Monday that Caldwell even met with former Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo about possibly becoming the Colts’ new defensive coordinator, and as late as Tuesday morning, the conventional wisdom was that Caldwell would stay.

Then things changed almost as suddenly as the Colts’ fortunes in 2011.

A day before he was fired, the coach met with someone to interview him for a job on his staff! In less than 24 hours, he was gone.

We just don’t know.

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He never got real public support from either head coach John Fox or John Elway. These are the areas where support is routinely expressed … but not here.

They had a chance to build a team around the guy, and now another team will have that chance. The conventional wisdom says they will trade him.

Of course, conventional wisdom has been wrong before, and maybe Manning will train Tebow, instead of punch his ticket out.

If they do trade him, the new team will make it work.

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Tebow’s a sinner saved by grace — yes — and knows his faith and football both come from God.

But he’s also an elite. He’s an awesome football player.

We may not like elitism … but we love excellence.

Elites.

Tim Tebow is one of them. He’s an elite. He’s in a place every day and a tougher place every week, and one that none of us, critics included, will ever see. He’s better than 1 percent of 1 percent of the world at this.

The oldest ugliest brokenest Major League Baseball journeyman utility infielder hitting .230 … the guy who might see a homerun once every 30 games … unless he’s watching his teammates when they’re up … who will never see the inside of Cooperstown unless he buys a ticket or they ask him to introduce someone who got voted in … is a better baseball player than any of us.

Let that sink in here.

Tebow’s good at football.

And he’s pretty good, period.

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The more we know about Tim Tebow, the more we like him.

But even that — whether we like him or not — is of no ultimate concern.

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Tebow’s New Testament namesake knew a little about pressure and derision.

And Tebow will get better and better.

This I am almost sure of.

And it will be OK.

This I do know.

He’ll be fine.

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I recall C.S. Lewis writing somewhere, “If the Lord lets me keep writing, then blessed be He.  And if He does not — then blessed be He.” This was in the early 1960s, a few years before his death. The Lord, it appears, did not let him keep writing.

Blessed be He.

Note: This post originally appeared as a guest column for Inside the Pew, and is partly excerpted from my book, Tebow: Throwing Stones.