NFLSports & Politics

Poll Reveals Tebow-Centric Weirdness Of “Very Conservative” Coloradans

According to a recent Colorado Public Policy poll, 53% of Coloradans would prefer Peyton Manning to be the Denver Broncos quarterback over Tim Tebow, who received 21% of the vote. Fine. Peyton’s got health issues, and he’s old. This is a reasonable split, especially when you consider the fact that not all respondents are necessarily football fans, or even Broncos fans. But when the questions got more specific, things got weird.

Among Coloradans that classified themselves as “very conservative,” 53 percent preferred Tebow as the Broncos quarterback, as opposed to just 28 percent for Manning. Are you kidding me? I’m pretty sure there’s something in the Constitution about separation of football and state.

Some more interesting numbers: 61% of Democrats said they’d prefer Manning as opposed to just 13% for Tebow. Yet 45% of Republicans prefer Manning as opposed to 35% for Tebow. This is Peyton Manning we’re talking about. Not Mark Sanchez. Not Kyle Orton. Not Brady Quinn.

This poll seems to get to the essence of why Tebow is so polarizing. He’s clearly a genuine guy, but it’s unclear whether or not he’s actually a legitimate NFL quarterback. Why should he be any different than guys Colt McCoy, Christian Ponder and Chad Henne? Because of his outspoken faith, which makes some people uncomfortable and makes some people swoon. People can’t separate their political and religious views from their views of his football skills, and it makes both sides exaggerate their opinions of him on the field. I’m also not sure why the poll didn’t include any questions of religiosity, which could have been enlightening. BUT OH WELL.

All I know is I wouldn’t want “very conservative” Broncos fans running my football team. But they have an open invitation to join my fantasy football league.

[NFL.com]

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