So ESPN who continuously covered this back up QB like he was Peyton Manning or Tom Brady has one of their people talk badly about him.

He is not a good pro qb. he is not accurate as a passer. He was a fine college QB.

When I first saw this, I thought he had attacked his faith or something. I see nothing wrong with what he said as it was a discussion of his QB ability, not persona/faith/etc.

Tebow is like Palin, you cannot say anything negative about him without people going crazy. Even if the criticism is valid, people go nuts.

Who is Merril Hoge, and why does his opinion merit publication?

Please open your ears, #1. This diatribe by Hoge is being noticed because it was an ad hominum attack on Tebow´s character- "as phony as a three dollar bill?"

Hoge is a washed up old running back who´s meager talents were used up by the Steeler´s in about 2 years. Tebow isn´t great, but Hoge has Tebow Derangement Syndrome. The weird spittle filled tirade by Hoge was way over the top and makes me think he´s gone off his meds. He never has added much to the conversation, and I guess this is his way of making his mark. Bizarre tirade!

A black sports commentator decided that RG III wasn´t black enough and now they are attacking Tebow.

We know why. These two men honor their Lord and that is simply not acceptable.

Tebow has the best QB rating of any QB on the Jets.

He also has a winning record as a starter.

Nothing phony about that.

Merrill Hoge is a monday morning armchair quarterback moron. I guess everyone has there own opinion, but his mind numbing rant on Tebow was beyond the pale. Tebow seems to be fairly versatile, so down the stretch maybe Mr. Hoge might want to acquire a taste for crow.

#1 I watched this with my sons. It was obvious Hoge does not like Tebow. He is entitle to his opinion and that is what they pay him for but he lacks objectivity. It was way over the top. However, that is normal for Hoge who hogs the camera & thinks his opinion is the only opinion that matters.

Well, everyone has an opinion. Hodge has no magic crystal ball or special ability to see what may happen with Tebo- or even who may or may not pick him up from NY. Tebow has been treated like a dirt cold on the living room rug by the team and by Ryan, especially. I believe it is because of his displays of faith on the filed. Again, just my own opinion. It was a huge mistake for Tebow to go to NY- just think how different his situation might be now if he had gone to Kansas or even New Orleans. NY was clearly not a good choice.

Professor Hoge is way off base on this one. All the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, and holder of two College Division 1-A Football National Championship rings, needs is the right coaching situation. Like for example, Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots.

This Hoge person wants his 15 minutes of publicity - and apparently this is the only way he can get it.

#9, it is my understanding that Tebow had no choice in the matter. He was being traded to make room for Manning. This makes 2 hate filled rants against Christian men by ESPN now. Add to that the garbage they pulled with Rush when he was a commentator and that says to me that ESPN hates Christians. They are no longer worth watching.

Every time the NFL spews one of these anti-Christian tirades, I watch football a little less. Keep political correctness out of the NFL!!! There is nothing special about the NFL anymore.

The Steelers did not make the playoffs this year. It was obvious Big Ben was not ready to play when he came back, but the Steeler coaching persisted in playing him. Should have gone with Charlie Batch. Steelers might be in the playoffs if they had stuck with him.

Hoge was a decent player for 8 NFL seasons, even a decent analyst, but suffered several concussions, including one that nearly killed him. He retired due to post-concussion syndrome, and I fear the brain injuries are starting to catch up with him.

Hoge still cant get over Tebow beating his Steelers last year in the playoff, and setting a yards per completion record in doing so. What a small man he is.

I would love to see Tebow on the Pats. Have him learn the difference between college QB and pro QB. Also, having REAL talent around him would help alot.

I think the ESPN offices would collapse in CT if that happened though, Tom "The Patriots hate their Coach" Jackson, Hodge and the rest would need years of Therapy..

We need to come up with a word as snazzy as "anti-semitic" or "homophobic" to cover people who say things soley due to anti-Christian bigotry and hatred for all things Christian. "Anti-Christian bigotry" is too long and doesn´t flow off the tongue. "Blessed" might be the word (at least according to Jesus. Matthew 5:11).

He hasn´t played all season, so what is the basis for this criticism? If he was so bad, why did the Broncos have to find a hall of famer to replace him? He had a qualities that too few have--leadership and will to win. I hope to see Tim succeed somewhere else. Until then, I won´t be paying much attention to football.

Big talk from a 10th round, #261 draft pick from Idaho. Pfft.

"Tebow is like Palin, you cannot say anything negative about him without people going crazy. Even if the criticism is valid, people go nuts."

Or like 0bama, even more so?

Merril Hoge suffered too many concussions during his career, thus why he retired. It seems to be still affecting his critical thinking skills.

Ben is not a rapist. He had consensual sex with a young woman employee of a hotel, who followed him to his room. She has significant mental problems. And she was squeezing some money out of a rich guy.
The second episode with Ben was in a college town in Georgia, where he was barhopping with friends, and was pursued from bar to bar by some sororiety girls, who were underaged and drunk. Ben bought them a drink without checking their ID, probably thinking that the bar people would have done that.
One of the drunken girls decided that Ben had raped her, went to the police, told several different stories, ever changing, the police had no case, the rape exam proved nothing, the DA said there was no case.
Did Ben act like an entitled superstar jock? Yes, and he acted like a pig.
But he was suspended by the idiot nfl commissioner for ´buying an alcoholic beverage for an underaged woman.´

No Merril, the media created a myth. Nothing at all phoney about the man or his genuine athletic accomplishments. Not living up to the hype isn´t on him.

With the half white we have in the oval office at this time....would not be prudent to call another a phoney Merril. (Your parents actually gave you that name? They must have really loved you!)

Too many hits to to head for Merril. Tebow is a class act, leave him alone.

If you tell people that "there is no God", you must be "real." and if you confess that there is a God and that you follow Him, you must be phony.
I got it now.
Thanks for the advice. /s

#1: how does "phony as a three-dollar-bill" add up to a criticism of his QB skills? Tebow´s rise in superstardom was pushed by the media, not him. So ... criticize his skills, fine (although his skills did help the Broncos win a lot last year, hence the Tebow frenzy), but to attack the man? Not fair.

And, yes, just like Palin, there are many who have an obsession in attacking, or supporting the attack of, the person rather than focusing on the relevant issues. So, there are going to be some defenders in these instances.

Tebow was a big a star as NCAA football had during his time at Florida. And his ups and downs in Denver last year were so over-covered that many people predisposed to liking him even got sick of the endless coverage.

To suggest that his strengths and weaknesses as a player were mysteries at all (much less fraudulently hidden) is patently absurd.

The Christophobics are at it again.

Hoge is absolutely right in what he said about being a teammate, and living up to your own pledge of "doing everything the team asks of me".

Saying "If I´m not starting at quarterback, then I´m not playing", is selfish and the opposite of the Tebow image. But it´s also something that NO teammate should do.

I have never disliked Tebow, enojoyed watching him at Florida, but Hoge is right.

#21 -- commitments made in good faith seem open to re-evaluation when it becomes increasingly apparent that the good-faith aspect was only sincere in one direction. We don´t tell a woman she has to remain married to a man who beats her up, just because she made a promise "in good times and in bad".

(sorry -- that last comment was addressing #31, not #21...)

Merilll Hodge is a devout Mormon. Tebow is an in your face born-again type. I can see why there might be a tinge of animosity there.

I was going to go along with you #1 until you brought up Gov. Palin as some kind of analogy. The attacks on Gov. Palin were unfounded and 99% of what has been said about her has been lies. You cannot equate the two when talking about people defending them. With regard to Tebow, I agree that he is not a good pro QB and that they built him up bigger than he deserved. One reason could have been because of his faith (the same reason that others beat him down). But he really is NOT someone I would have picked for my team with respect to being a good player. Of course, I think that using words like "phony as a 3 dollar bill" is uncalled for and it makes it sound like they ARE attacking his faith and not his playing ability (which is the real problem). People don´t seem to know how to communicate these days. It is terrible because then everyone jumps to conclusions and refuses to listen to the other side. Even among ourselves do we constantly have knee jerk reactions. We need to learn to listen and communicate better if we are going to ever save our society.

I watched yesterday the telecast of this clown (no audio at the time) Hoge, and thought he looked like a wannabe ´anything´...a short, look-at-me, over-suited, under-brained, gotta-say-something-whatever-it-is, fool, and hope they don´t fire me tonight for being a complete dolt.

Again, I heard nothing of his time spent with his mouth working...just watched dumbstruck.