First, this isn’t about football. But in short, here is the background.
Last week the Denver Broncos football team traded one of their most beloved players in the history of their franchise. Tim Tebow, the quarterback that helped the Broncos into the playoffs last year, was dealt to the New York Jets. To fill the void, the Broncos picked up Payton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts.
I’m not going to get into the analysis of the trade. I’m going to cover this from the fan’s perspective.
How do you take one of the most popular players to ever play in Denver and trade him – and still keep the fans happy? Tim Tebow has been amazing, more off the field than on. Starting out as the third string and working his way up to one of the most exciting players to watch. Coming from behind, being a man of spirit/faith, being charitable, having an unbelievable work ethic, etc. – I could go on and on. What a role model!
The only way that management can trade Tebow and keep the fans happy is to bring in someone better. This someone has to not only be better on the playing field, but be at least as good as a role model as Tim Tebow has been in Denver. And, that someone was Payton Manning, arguably one of the best quarterbacks ever. And, in addition to being better on the field (a true Super Bowl Champion), he has the similar Tim Tebow work ethic. Off the field he is charitable and loved by the fans. There is probably no better player that Denver could have brought in to turn what could have been a major fan debacle to fan jubilation.
The fans want a winning team. Denver is treating their customers the right way. Giving them what they want, and what they deserve. I lived through the St. Louis Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals) and Bill Bidwell era. Bidwell wouldn’t spend the money to put a good team on the field. His rational was something like, “I won’t pay to put a good team on the field unless the fans start showing up.” I think he had it backwards. Denver gets it!
