Rochester Business Journal

So what's the biggest news: Peyton Manning going to the Denver Broncos' huddle or Tim Tebow going to the bench elsewhere?
 
Sounds like a dead heat to me.
 
Of course, all those Broncos fans way out west don't know whether to laugh or cry. One minute they're high-fiving each other for getting the only four-time NFL Most Valuable Player. And the next minute they're wringing their hands about losing a guy who might be the league's only saint.
 
There are 31 teams in the NFL that would do whatever is necessary to put Manning in one of their uniforms. And there is one that didn't, the Indianapolis Colts, for whom he was the starting quarterback for 13 seasons before a neck injury and surgery sidelined him last season. The result was a 2-14 record and the Colts getting the No. 1 pick in this year's NFL draft-which they are almost certain to use on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
 
So which team is the smartest, Indy or Denver? Denver and Manning have agreed to a five-year, $96 million contract. Whoopee do! Frankly, I would be a little hesitant to replace my 2011 starter by signing a living legend who'll be 36 this weekend and is coming off such an injury.
 
The Broncos apparently are counting on Manning to light it up next fall and also when he's 40 years old and counting-if he doesn't get clobbered again, which could happen to anybody anytime in the brutal NFL.
 
And what if that happens? With Brady Quinn gone to Kansas City, who will be the Broncos' backup QB? Moe? Larry? Curley? Or will former great John Elway, now vice president of football operations, take off his coat and tie and put on the pads and helmet? Maybe they'll sign somebody this weekend or shortly thereafter.
 
Peyton Manning is a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's one of the all-time great quarterbacks. But when any NFL player is 36 years old, his middle name becomes "Iffy."
 
Look, Manning is a class act, one of my all-time favorite players. Hey, why not? The guy is from Mississippi, right next door to my home state and where my cousin Billy Bob hangs out. I was covering the game in Jackson, Miss., when his dad, Rebels quarterback Archie Manning, scored a touchdown and then a two-point conversion to beat LSU, 26-23.
 
The bottom line, though, is that the meter is running and the Broncos made a mistake when they handed Tebow his walking papers and wished him luck-except when he's playing against Denver.
 
Why bring in a stranger to take over if Manning gets hurt, when you could put a guy out there who knows the nooks and crannies of the Denver offense? And what did the Broncos get for a guy who completed 46 percent of his passes, threw for 12 touchdowns and six interceptions and had a quarterback rating of only 72.9? Assuming the deal goes through, the New York Jets coughed up only a pair of middle- to late-round picks for the former first-rounder.
 
Except for football fans everywhere falling in love with Tebow because of his intangibles-personality, religion, etc.-I can't understand why any NFL team would jump at the chance to get him. It's not as if he's a hot item-just a popular item, a good PR move. Tebow will turn the heads of ho-hum fans and make them smile. Just sell tickets, Tim. Right, guys?
 
Why didn't the Broncos keep Tebow and make him a running back? He has run the 40-yard sprint in 4.6 seconds, which is fast for a guy who's 6-3 and weighs 235 pounds or more. Last season with Denver he had 660 yards rushing, an average of 5.4 yards per carry and six touchdowns. And if Peyton got pounded, Tebow could go back to quarterback.
 
There are those in this part of the world who believe-or say they do-that the Buffalo Bills should have gone after Tebow. I didn't have a problem with that, unless it would mean that he could just walk into the room and take Ryan Fitzpatrick's place. Backup? Sure, no problem. Given his ability to run the ball, he would definitely give the opposing defense something else to worry about. Now the Bills will have to worry about him as an AFC East rival.
 
Who knows if Tebow will ever be a great quarterback? I hope he will, although I really doubt it. We'll see--but not in Denver.
 
Rick Woodson's column appears each Thursday on the Rochester Business Journal website at www.rbjdaily.com. His book, "Words of Woodson," is available at www.authorhouse.com/bookstore. Listen to his weekly program, "The Golf Tee," at 9 a.m. Sunday on WHTK-AM 1280 and FM 107.3.3/22/12 (c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.