The Media Got It Wrong With Their Coverage Of Tim Tebow With The Patriots
It was a very interesting Patriots Training Camp and Pre-Season for the team. However, there is one story besides Aaron Hernandez that dominated the media coverage, and that dealt with Tim Tebow trying to make the Patriots roster. He ultimately got cut over the weekend, but that hasn't stopped the articles and discussions regarding this player to continue. The media got it wrong with their coverage of the former Heisman Trophy winner.
I have to be honest to say that I wanted the Tebow Experiment to work as I have been a fan of him since his days at Florida. However, after watching him at several practices in Training Camp, and watching the pre-season games, I had serious doubts that he should be on the roster.
The best way to describe Tebow's time with the Patriots would be "consistently inconsistent". The meaning of those words really is about you could predict after a real good throw by Tebow, that the next one could be over the head of his receiver. After seeing this time and time again, I was finding it hard to justify him making the roster, but I knew there was still a chance.
Regardless of him making the roster or not, the fact remained that Tebow would have been a back-up quarterback, and probably the third quarterback. So, why would the media here in Boston and around the country be spending so much time on this player?
Well, it comes down to his celebrity status, and it felt like we had round the clock coverage of this player. I get that but many Pats fans I have heard from really wanted to hear more talk about the players that could impact the team this year.
Does the media listen to the fans, or are they just looking for controversial and interesting angles to stories? There were so many more interesting stories for the media to concentrate on this summer than Tebow. How about the Patriots pass defense or the new receivers?
Now, to be fair the Patriots beat writers gave the fans the coverage they really wanted this summer. However, there were still many other media outlets and members that spent way too much time on a potential third round draft pick. Again, do fans want the sensational stories or football discussions?
I feel fans want stories about players that can impact the team and help them win. Tebow does none of this so his every move means nothing to me, and makes me not want to read a story or watch a show that revolves around him.
Tebow got cut over the weekend, and honestly there were other players cut such as Jermaine Cunningham, Ras-I Dowling, and Daniel Fells that interested me much more. I want to read and hear talk about these cuts, and how they affect the Patriots. Now, there were stories about these players, but really this weekend saw too much written and talked about Tebow.
The tipping point for me was two nights ago, when I was watching Sports Sunday on Comcast SportsNet New England. The first story they covered was Tebow, and they talked about him for over ten minutes! Again, this makes no sense to spend that much time talking about a player that was not going to factor into the Patriots this season regardless.
Later on in the show, Sports Sunday did discuss subjects that I wanted to see talked about, but why did it take almost half-way into the show to get to it? It all has to do with the media thinking we are really interested in controversy and celebrity.
Well, I am here to tell these media members that you are wrong. Pats fans want to hear about the players on the field, and can they help lead them to a title.
So the next time you read an article or watch a segment on television about the Patriots, ask yourself is this geared towards the fan or the media? In concluding, I definitely think the media got it wrong this summer with their extreme focus on Tebow.
