Tim Tebow Helping Green Bay Packers Stay Undefeated?
Tebow-mania is in full swing as the Denver Broncos improve to 8-5 after beating the Chicago Bears in overtime on Sunday.
And for the undefeated Green Bay Packers, that is OK.
“There have been a number of positive distractions which have taken the focus off of us. We’re fine with that,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
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The Tim Tebow craze has spawned thousands upon thousands of pictures in the prayer pose posted to Twitter accounts, and on Tebowing.com.
The move has even crossed over to other sports. Lindsey Vonn famously "Tebowed" after winning her first World Cup ski race in the U.S. this month.
And every time someone posts a new picture or "Tebows" in a major event, it sparks a media firestorm.
Meanwhile, the Packers are on track to be only the second team in NFL history to have a complete undefeated season.
The Miami dolphins did it in 1972. In 2007, the New England Patriots went undefeated in the regular season but lost in the Super Bowl.
In 2007, the Patriots season was dissected week after week, win after win.
In 2011, the Packers may be benefiting from the Tebow-craze sweeping the nation.
“It was similar in the preseason when people were talking about the Eagles and other teams that they thought were going to be the tops in the NFC,” Rodgers said. “We just kind of said ‘hey, we think we’ve got a pretty good team coming back.”
The Tebow attention may be helping the Packers focus on playing football instead of going for the record books.
“I can’t say we’ve flown under the radar - there’s a little blurb on the SportsCenter bottom line about us just about every time you turn it on,” Rodgers said. “They talk about it enough, I think. We don’t need any more attention.”
The lack of scrutiny and media focus, coupled with Rodgers’ high on-field performance, may help the Packers hit the first perfect season in the NFL in nearly 40 years, according to Don Shula, the coach of the undefeated Dolphins squad.
“Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback and they’ve got a great coaching staff,” Shula said. “Aaron Rodgers is at the top of his game, and you’ve got to have a great quarterback playing great (to go undefeated).”
