The Goat Pen

AlabamAlum wrote:Nifty. Happy for Tebow. Can you imagine if a miracle happened and they won the Super Bowl?

Next Saturday, 8 p.m. Eastern: Denver at New England, AFC divisional playoff game.

If I were McDaniels, I wouldn't pick my nose Saturday night. CBS will have an iso camera on him all night, wherever he is.

"Crazy,'' Demaryius Thomas said from the din of the Denver locker room Sunday night. "Just crazy. Good to see him back with a winning team. We're all just so surprised. Just crazy.''

Thomas thought for a minute. "I remember on draft day when my phone rang. It was coach McDaniels. He said, 'We're gonna take you with this pick. Congratulations. Get out here, and let's ball.' I was so excited. It was the happiest day of my life. Then, when I found out we picked Tebow, I said, 'All right. We've got a winning quarterback.' ''

On the night of that draft, in April 2010, I remember distinctly two phone conversations. One was with Tebow, who said Denver was where he wanted to be drafted, and McDaniels the coach he wanted to play for. "I told [agent] Jimmy [Sexton] all along that I wanted to play for this guy,'' Tebow said. "His whole attitude is he believes in himself, and he's going to do it his way. I like that.''

The other conversation was with McDaniels. "The reason I'm so happy about getting these two guys,'' he told me, "is they're going to be the cornerstone of what we do here, both on offense and as a team. They love football. They are such good people. Tim ... the football traits he has are the stuff you die for. They will show our core group of young players how they need to work and what it takes to succeed in this league. I just believe that so strongly. I would die to have 53 guys here who love the game as much as I do.''

Three days before the draft, McDaniels had gone to Gainesville, telling no one, because he wanted to work out Tebow and talk football with him, to see how much he knew about offensive football -- and to see if he might be worth a major investment of draft choices if that's what it came down to get him.

"We spent about seven hours together,'' McDaniels said. "Our offense is pretty complicated, and the terminology and the scheme is totally different from what he did at Florida. But about midway through my time there, we're going through plays, and he starts using our terminology. He's so smart about football that he was able to begin to speak my language and talk apples to apples. He'd already translated what he knew of our scheme into my words. There're going to be doubts about him. Great doubts -- and I understand that. Some people don't think he has the natural traits of a great quarterback. Here's what I think: Do Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods swing the club the same way, hit irons the same way? No. But they both win tournaments. There's different ways to throw, different mechanics, and you can still get the job done.''

At the end of the conversation, McDaniels said he couldn't wait to see Tebow throw the ball deep to Thomas. "He's 6-foot-3, and a legit 4.3-second [in the 40-yard dash] guy. What a weapon he's going to be. Wait 'til our fans see these guys together.''
They did Sunday, in one of the greatest games the city's ever hosted. Now, it's clear that offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who has been important in Tebow's development and has been a very smart play-caller and strategist, deserves a huge hand for his work this year. John Fox has been a smart head coach, because he has adjusted to Tebow's style rather than forcing him to the play a straight pro style. But after what we witnessed on draft day 20 months ago, and the magic we saw Sunday, one question:

Still hate Josh McDaniels, Denver?


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... z1izHhCZlY

BigRedMan wrote:If the game is anything like the national anthem, holy fuck it will be brutal.