Ex-talent evaluator Ken Herock drinks the Tebow Kool-aid

Den1983 · Jan 25, 2010

Boom_70 said:

It appears that Peter King drinking from the same trough:

Tim Tebow preps for the first big week of his pro career.

Today it begins. Once the highlights and interviews from the championship games begin to fade and the reality of a Saints-Colts Super Bowl sets in, we'll turn our attention to the compelling story of the NFL offseason, and it begins at 2:30 p.m. Central Time in southern Alabama.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow steps into the NFL crucible, onto a practice field ringed by coaches and scouts, at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., beginning a week of practice, meetings and face-to-face visits with prospective NFL employers. Tebow will play for the South Team, coached by the Miami Dolphins staff (Jim Schwartz's Lions staff has the North), with respected quarterback teacher and technician David Lee of the Dolphins handling his day-to-day regimen on the practice field.

Tebow worked out with CFL coach Marc Trestman for two days early this month, and then daily for the past two weeks in Nashville at the D1 Training Center, under the coaching of former NFL quarterback and coach Zeke Bratkowski. Tebow's thrown to tight end Jimmy Graham of Miami and wideout Jordan Shipley from Texas. He's dropped seven pounds (from 245 to 238).

We in the media business are going to spend the next three months writing the Tebow story into the ground, but there are good reasons for it. He's had unparalleled college success, he's a too-good-to-be-true kid by all accounts, and he's a polarizing football prospect because there's great debate whether his mechanics and arm will allow him to be an every-down NFL quarterback.

Also, he's an unabashed pro-life supporter; his mother, Pam, was advised by her doctor late in Tebow's pregnancy to abort the baby because it was a dangerous pregnancy. Her refusal led to Tebow's compelling life -- and also to a 30-second Super Bowl commercial by Tebow and Pam (sponsored by Focus on the Family) that will add to Tebow-mania.

On Friday I spoke to Tebow for the first time, mostly about football, but some about the commercial -- and, specifically, what impact it might have, if any, on his draft prospects. I told him most NFL teams like their rookies to be seen and not heard, and certainly not heard in any politically divisive way. And there isn't a subject in this country that touches more buttons than abortion.

What I heard from Tebow was the voice of a kid with convictions, who doesn't shrink from what he believes -- even if it might hurt his draft prospects.

"That's always going to be a part of who I am, and I won't try to hide it,'' Tebow told me from Nashville, where he was working out with Bratkowski, the former Packer quarterback and longtime NFL assistant coach. "A team that doesn't want that shouldn't take me. Pro-life is very important to me. My mother listened to God late in her pregnancy, and if she had listened to others and terminated me, obviously I wouldn't be here. If others don't have the same belief, it's OK. I understand. But I hope they respect that at least I have the courage to stand up for what I believe in.''

Tebow will wow everyone he meets one-on-one in Mobile and at the Scouting Combine next month with his poise, presence and humility. That you know, obviously. When I asked about one of the biggest faults NFL scouts find with him -- his elongated throwing motion -- he said it's something scouts also said about Brett Favre and Philip Rivers when they were prospects, and it hasn't seemed to hurt them. Then he said: "I've been training every day since the Sugar Bowl. Every day. And that's one of the things I've been working diligently on. I think the scouts and coaches will see it's something I've improved on.''

Tebow wants to open himself up totally, beginning this week. He wants to show every team in the league everything he can do physically and mentally, and he wants to begin to prove he's not a one-trick pony -- a triple-option quarterback who loves to bowl over linebackers and make weird jump passes and other counter-NFL-culture plays.

"I want to show, number one, that I'm a competitor and I'm not afraid for teams to see everything about me. My goal is to find just one team, one out of 32, to believe in me as a quarterback. I'm not just the guy who can play in the spread offense, or throw a jump pass or run the triple option. I'm a football junkie. I study it all the time. I've studied every type of offense -- pro style, West Coast. Just because I haven't played every kind of offense, why can't I? Why can't I run the West Coast? My coaches at Florida didn't just teach us a system. They taught us football. So I want the NFL people to put me through everything. Grind on me, test me. I feel I've worked my whole life to prepare for this.''

Tebow will excel when NFL teams (mostly at the combine in Indianapolis, but some in Mobile) get him up on the board and start talking specific plays with him. He'll need to prove he can be an accurate downfield passer and that he isn't totally reliant on running to be a good quarterback. I asked what he'd do if a team wanted him to be a versatile player instead of an every-down quarterback.

"It's a possibility,'' he said, "but I'm trying to get someone to believe in me as a quarterback.''

I expect he'll do that.
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It's already been mentioned.

shockey · Jan 25, 2010

ken herock is a fool and most nfl folks know it. sadly, some folks at espn have a weak spot for him. that's all it takes.

sigh.

Herbert Anchovy · Jan 29, 2010

Guy comes off like a meek wimp in some of these interviews. Is this the 'toughness' you want?

Charles Davis last night: "Tim Tebow's putting some badly needed class into this broadcast."

Big Chee · Jan 29, 2010

Lee Jackson Beauregard said:

Guy comes off like a meek wimp in some of these interviews. Is this the 'toughness' you want?

Charles Davis last night: "Tim Tebow's putting some badly needed class into this broadcast."
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Charles Davis is an extremely annoying individual.

Herbert Anchovy · Jan 29, 2010

He's the worst on that network.

Mizzougrad96 · Jan 29, 2010

SI has him going to Arizona in the first round of the mock draft.

Batman · Jan 29, 2010

Mizzougrad96 said:

SI has him going to Arizona in the first round of the mock draft.
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Makes sense. With Warner retiring, they have a gaping hole at Jesusback.

Ben_Hecht · Jan 29, 2010

Batman said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

SI has him going to Arizona in the first round of the mock draft.
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Makes sense. With Warner retiring, they have a gaping hole at Jesusback.
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No sale, in my mind. They know Leinart has a ways to go, but they believe in
him as a legitimate, solid NFL QB prospect. I'd be shocked if they went for a #1
with a guy who's much, MUCH more of a project than ML. As is so often the case
in matters of talent-evaluation opinion, SI's 'way off base, here.

Mizzougrad96 · Jan 29, 2010

Leinart is going to be a huge bust. He has the talent, but I don't think he has the desire.

Big Chee · Jan 29, 2010

Batman said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

SI has him going to Arizona in the first round of the mock draft.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. With Warner retiring, they have a gaping hole at Jesusback.
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LOL!!!

imjustagirl · Jan 29, 2010

Batman said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

SI has him going to Arizona in the first round of the mock draft.
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Makes sense. With Warner retiring, they have a gaping hole at Jesusback.
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That made me laugh. Between this and the Tiger post, you've given me my two best laughs. Kudos!

Ben_Hecht · Jan 29, 2010

Mizzougrad96 said:

Leinart is going to be a huge bust. He has the talent, but I don't think he has the desire.
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We'll know, in a year. If the kid wants to stay in the limelight, he's going to have to perform. In the interim, TT remains an absurd reach as a lower-round #1. Cards have gotten a whole lot smarter the last couple of years,
and can't see them falling for this.

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Ex-talent evaluator Ken Herock drinks the Tebow Kool-aid

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Ex-talent evaluator Ken Herock drinks the Tebow Kool-aid

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