With the 22nd pick in the NFL draft the Denver Broncos selected Demaryius Thomas, a wide receiver out of Georgia Tech. After the Broncos shipped Brandon Marshall to the Miami Dolphins, it was no secret the team was going to draft a wide receiver at some point in the 2010 NFL Draft. I wasn't quite sure when the Broncos were going to take the gamble and pick a receiver, and after they made their selection ... I wasn't "wowed."
Thomas looked like a big target and a good enough player, but I never saw him play in college or really heard his name tossed around college football. Your team can't always draft a big-name guy and it can be a mistake to think a college star can repeat his success at the professional level. Whatever the case with Thomas, I just wasn't very excited about the pick. I couldn't get the notion out of my head that the Broncos were sort of treading water by dealing away a receiver and then drafting a replacement ... are there not other holes to fill on the roster? Then, just three picks later, the Broncos traded into position to make another first round selection.
With the clock running on the 25th pick, my heart raced ... who the heck were the Broncos targeting now?! It didn't take long for the cameras to reveal the target. At an off-site location, Tim Tebow's draft party, Broncos hats were being passed out among the attendees and the guest of honor was again putting on the orange and blue, but this time as a pro and for the Denver Broncos. As Tebow was shaping the brim of his hat to his liking and smiling from ear-to-ear, I was in my living room thinking a variety of thoughts.
As perhaps the biggest college football star of all-time was hugging friends and family and celebrating his moment, I couldn't help but think the following: "What is Denver thinking?", "Why do we need another quarterback?" and "Tebow is going to be a bust." As all that negativity was flowing through my head, I started fielding text messages and phone calls from a few close friends, and Broncos fans, and they too were coming at me with more negativity. My initial gut reaction wasn't good, as all the experts could talk about leading into the draft and really for the past couple of seasons is how Tebow couldn't cut it in the NFL as the signal caller, as the leader, as the top spot on an NFL team ... the quarterback.
With one phone call from my friend Rich, everything changed for me.
As I was talking to Rich, John Gruden was on my TV defending Tebow. Rich was also coming at me with positive thinking telling me Tebow knows how to play the game, will bowl over guys in his way, and how excited he was that Denver made that pick.
I was at a crossroad. I could either continue to doubt the pick and side with the majority of the pundits and a few of my friends or I could trust the organization, give into hope, and jump on the Tebow wagon while they removed the Gator logo and put up a Bronco.
As a believer that nothing gets accomplished with a negative mindset, I decided to jump on that Tebow wagon and to give my organization my support. Like a marriage, I'm with the Broncos until death do us part and in good times and in bad I'll continue to be a fan.
Shortly after the draft I started to see visions of Tebow yelling out the calls at the line, scrambling down the field, and knocking the sweet-bejesus out of NFL linebackers and cornerbacks in his way. I started to imagine Tebow being the guy that leads Denver back to the Super Bowl.
Do I have any reason to believe that Tebow can lead Denver to the promised land? I do not, but I also don't have any reason to believe that he isn't the man for the job. That's the great part about the draft, we can jump on a players wagon and imagine what dreams may come.
Find Nate on Twitter @Nate_Timmons.
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