Hail Timmy, not so full of grace, the Patriots may be blessed with thee; blessed art thou amongst Tom Brady, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb of Gisele, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of Belichick, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen
The flirtation was always there.
Prior to the 2010 NFL Draft, the Patriots wined and dined Tim Tebow at Tresca, an Italian restaurant in Boston’s North End, owned by Boston hockey legend Ray Bourque.
Following the draft, the move was seen as nothing more than a smokescreen. Perhaps the one guy who didn’t buy Belichick’s ploy was Josh McDaniels, who as HC of the D-E-N drafted Tebow with the 25th overall selection. Perhaps McDaniels knew that Belichick was serious.
Fast forward two years. McDaniels is back on the Patriots staff and New England is now the NFL darkhorse to land the pop culture phenom of 2011 .
Jack of all trades
Of course, the question that is immediately asked when it comes to Tebow-to-New England is, ‘why on earth would the Patriots want to take Tom Brady off the field?’
The quick answer is that they wouldn’t.
Tebow could be lined up at tight end. He could be placed at fullback. He could be placed at running back. He could be (don’t laugh) placed at safety.
In Bill Belichick’s history, there is one thing that he covets just about more than anything else: versatility. We saw it with Troy Brown, Mike Vrabel, Julien Edelman, Dan Klecko, Dan Connolly, Richard Seymour and even Doug Flutie.
McD loves him
Then there is Tebow’s obvious tie to McDaniels, who is once again in charge of the Pats offense. McDaniels played Tebow in his very first eligible NFL game in Week 1 of the 2010 season. While Tebow had just two yards on two carries, it was obvious that McDaniels was hell-bent on finding a way to get Tebow involved in his offense.
In other words, McDaniels believes in Tebow just as much as any coach in the league.
With the Pats signing Brandon Lloyd over the weekend, it seems as though McDaniels is going to have a big say in terms of what the Patriots do in the immediate future both on and off the field.
Brady’s successor?
Scrambling quarterbacks have replaced legends under center before.
Now while Tebow has eons to go before he can think about becoming the next Steve Young, it would probably do No. 15 some good to learn from one of the all-time greats in Brady.
Brady, who will be 35-years-old when the 2012 season begins, has stated before that he wants to play until he’s 40.
In the NFL, five years goes by in a flash. Yup, the Patriots have to start considering life after Brady, now.
