[NU Sports] East-West Shrine Game

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

I'll swim over to the deep end here :) ...

I don't think most teams would drop Tebow because of a commerical - his Senior Bowl will have much more to do with it, and I'm wondering if at this point, the expectations for him there are so low that if he completes a pass, suddenly he shoots back up the charts again.

That said, he is taking a bit of a risk with this commerical. It's not a huge risk -- the NFL has plenty of evangelism in it from postgame prayer circles at midfield to the Kurt Warners who speak out often about their faith. All the focus may get on the crime blotter, but the NFL has a lot of preaching as well and despite some reports ... and it really isn't THAT much of a risk to "come out" as a Christian in America.:)

But there could be a small backlash depending on what's in this commerical. A pro- message will probably just be glossed over amid the beer ads and viagra spots ... but if it turns more into an anti- ad, that could have a similar reaction to Reggie White's speech to the Wisconsin legislature where he came out strongly against gay marriage and took some heat.

Reggie had brought the Pack a Super Bowl, though, so he survived all right ... but he was an established veteran superstar. That's where the risk to the draft comes in. Tebow's Christian Laettner right now - not Larry Bird. He's a college stud but an NFL ????. So teams already shaky on him might be less inclined if he also brings along hordes of media coverage, controversy and protesters.

We'll see. I think it's just some hype now and the ad will be forgotten by the end of the third quarter by most people. I think it's an issue where most Americans have their minds made up already on a day when most people aren't really looking to talk controversial moral political issues but want to watch America's game instead.

I do find the idea of Kafka drafted ahead of Tebow much more intriguing though.:) Way to go, Mike!

GO CATS!!!
GEAUX SAINTS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!