If Pee Wee Herman played professional football, he would somehow end
up winning everyone over and saving the day. And getting the girl.
Staff
meetings would be in his cozy basement. Chuck would be in charge of
the exercise bikes, Amazing Larry has the orange slices and Large Marge
would be in charge of transportation. Pee Wee would be the quarterback,
Francis a tight end and the Satan's Helpers motorcycle gang would serve
as his line.
How could he lose?
In his quest to find his stolen bicycle in the film Pee Wee's Big Adventure,
Pee Wee encounters the confused prison escapee Mickey, the rail-riding,
sardine-eating hobo John, a very large jealous boyfriend named Andy and
a group of bikers in bar, the afore mentioned "Satan's Helpers"...
...he
hitchhikes to Texas on the advice of a jaded old fortune teller only to
find that she jobbed him. When he finally does find his bike,
everything comes together and everyone who were once enemies come to
appreciate his dedication to finding something that he totally cared
about.
And then Pee Wee and the perpetually enamoured,
would-be girlfriend Dottie ride off into the glare of the screen at the
drive in, leaving the audience curiously certain that absolutely nothing
happened between the two.
And this from a 5' 5", 98
pound bow tie-wearing salad tosser. If he can find his bike after going
through so much, shouldn't a 6' 3", 245 pound Heisman Trophy winner be
able to find a job in the National Football League?
Well,
he's found one, and the media and fans alike are weighing in on the
biggest hot-button topic to hit Foxboro since Bill Belichick fired Wes
Welker.
Amid wild rumor and speculation, former
Broncos' and Jets' quarterback Tim Tebow was signed by the New England
Patriots on Monday, but nobody really knows what to make of it. On one
hand you have the "Mario's Magic Shop" crowd, who think that Tebow could
come in and run some Wildcat formations or other trickery...
...while
on the other you have the people who laugh out loud at the notion, like
when Pee Wee thought the Alamo had a basement, as the fortune teller
had told him, and he was forced to endure their scrutiny.
In
reality, it's somewhere in between the two, because Tebow's presence
alone must be game-planned for, whether on the football field or a quick
attempt at an incognito trip to Subway, the logistics of which would be
an unmitigated nightmare.
Far from the creepy persona
that actor Paul Reubens portrays in the Pee Wee Herman brand of comedy
works, Tebow is nevertheless a controversy magnet, his every movement
followed like the multitudes following Jesus - so it will be interesting
to see how the conservative cloak and dagger, NSA manner of controlling
information that the Patriots employ as standard operating procedure is
able to shield Tebow from the outside world...
...because
that's what he needs. There is no place in the civilized world or
Canada that the charismatically churchy Tebow can go without being
recognized - and his spectrum reaches far beyond simple football fandom,
which can be very disturbing to people like Belichick who want to
control everything.
Which begs the question, why
bring him in? Some speculation goes to the Florida/Urban Meyer
connection, doing a solid for his good buddy who thought of Tebow like a
son, while still others accuse Belichick as feeding his own ego and
signing Tebow just because he could.
Again, the
truth is probably somewhere in the middle - but make no mistake: The
Patriots do not need Tim Tebow - which is exactly why New England is the
perfect place for Tim Tebow, because at the end of the day this is just a good coach giving a guy he respects an opportunity.
Not
just an opportunity to make the football team - especially since there
really doesn't seem to be a place for him - rather, an opportunity to
work on his game and to learn from Belichick and Tom Brady under the
secretive umbrella that the tight-lipped Patriots provide.
Because Tim Tebow needs the Patriots
- and by all accounts, he's willing to do whatever Bill Belichick asks
of him - which speaks to what we already know of the Heisman Trophy
winner from the University of Florida, the ultimate team player...
...and
somewhere down the road, when a Hollywood producer decides to do a film
of the life of Belichick, the Tim Tebow signing will be made into a
turning point in the fortunes of the eccentric head coach, where either
he's finally gone too far and laughed out of the NFL or he turns the
entire football world on it's ear and the Patriots' dynasty regenerates.
Either
way, perhaps James Brolin is available to portray Belichick, just as he
did for Pee Wee Herman - punching in a cryptologic sequence of numbers
into a key pad which sets in motion a series of incandescent lights and
switches, the ivy covered wall to the practice facility opening slowly
to reveal Belichick's shiny whistle...
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