John Elway Talks Tebow at NFL Combine

Broncos honcho John Elway is finally figuring out that there's no point to qualifying his fundamental problems with Tim Tebow in public. He understands that by seeming to support Tebow -- by saying all the right things -- he sidesteps the headache of a media-ginned controversy, with no downside:

Who is going to call Elway on his support for Tebow on February 24 if he benches him or trades him or does something else months from now? Trust me: If that happens, the accompanying hysteria won't be about Elway's flip-flopping. And so Elway meets the media and offers banal support. And yet: Elway still can't help using hedging language:

"We're happy with his year last year. He really added a great spark for us and we really had some good things happen two us. I was really happy with his progress. I know Tim is going to work hard this offseason, and we're hoping that he's going to be the guy for a long, long time."

Emphasis mine. Why not say "Tebow. Is. Our. Starting. QB. Period. Preseason. Regular season. Period." Every other coach or GM of a 2011 playoff team would say it -- none of them have to; it's assumed their starting QBs' jobs are safe.

-- Dan

Tim Tebow and Alec Baldwin at the NFL Honors