Tebow's Rapid Improvement Isn't Sleight Of Hand

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow has again done the impossible. He didn't just unveil a new passing motion Wednesday, he unveiled a new body.

This one isn't cut in half like a magician's trick gone terribly wrong. That was just one of the many issues Tebow faced just five weeks ago.

"He was so disconnected, his lower and upper body at the Senior Bowl," said NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock.

It's always easier to impress scouts when your upper and lower torsos are attached. And in the most anticipated Pro Day in world history, Tebow showed he is definitely getting himself together.

He's not ready to apply for membership in the Manning family yet. But Tebow's passing mechanics have improved so fast, I couldn't help wonder why he couldn't have done it sooner? He could have. But all of Urban Meyer's horses and all of his men didn't try to put Tebow together again.

The question is, should they have? It certainly would have made Wednesday less of an all-consuming mystery.

When was the last time 3,000 people showed up to watch a pro day? It was a mix of media, fans, coaches and scouts. ESPN had live cut-ins. Congress probably suspended trying to pass health care to see if Tebow could pass a football.

He was 46 of 48 during passing drills, according to my unofficial count. That meant nothing, since Venus de Milo could go 46 of 48 throwing to uncovered receivers. The real news was that Tebow has shortened his passing motion, improved his footwork and delivered his message to the NFL: "I wanted to show I'm very coachable. What you want is what I'm going to do. That's what I did at Florida, and that's what I'm going to do."

So why didn't Florida try to coach him out of his bad habits?

"They did exactly what they had to do," Mike Holmgren said. "Tim did exactly what he had to do. And I can't imagine a better college experience than what he had right here."

It's hard to nitpick two national titles, a Heisman trophy and almost 10,000 passing yards. Winning is Meyer's primary job, and he certainly did that with Tebow. But the Gators knew their quarterback had a flawed, looping delivery that future employers would frown upon.

Isn't college supposed to prepare students for the real world?

Professors can only do so much, and Florida's spread offense will never maximize a quarterback's NFL prospects. But Tebow is the ultimate willing and eager pupil, and Prof. Meyer only tinkered with his passing form.

The Gators didn't want to force anything, fearing the experiment would blow up and ruin their meal ticket. But have you ever heard of any quarterback suddenly turning into Steve Sax, unable to hit a receiver standing on first base?

At worst, Tebow would have reverted into his loop-the-loop style and kept completing 66 percent of his passes. At best, he might have improved to the point where he wasn't devoured by Alabama's NFL-ready defense.

We're talking Tim Tebow here. He was the Senior Bowl's designated laughingstock. Now the NFL is reportedly inviting him to attend the draft. If he can improve that much in five weeks, what could he have done in four years if Florida had tried?

"There's still a lot of room for improvement."
- Tim Tebow "He makes you tired just watching him work out," said Zeke Bratkowski, one of the coaches who has been tutoring Tebow.

His critique of Wednesday's performance: "I was very happy," Bratkowski said.

Not everybody was drinking the Tebow Kool-Aid, and with Tebow you know it would only be Kool-Aid. Even Tebow wasn't totally sold.

"There's still a lot of room for improvement," he said.

Yep, but the Venus de Tebow showed even the most critical skeptic that he can improve. All he needs is the proper coaching.

"I always knew I could get a quicker release and do some things," Tebow said. "But I don't necessarily know if it was the right time after the championships to do that. I don't know that that was the goal. The goal was to complete passes, win games and score touchdowns."

He did a lot of that at Florida Field, and Wednesday was his final athletic performance at the stadium. He has nothing but good things to say about his time at Florida.

He can say it's a great place to become a cult hero. He can tell people to go there if they want to win.

But if they go to Florida wanting to play quarterback in the NFL, they might as well cut themselves in half.