Tim Tebow to Be Honored by Dolphins in Pregame Ceremony, Could Be Former Gator's First Start of Season

The idea always seemed a little weird, if not downright stupid. A home team honoring a visiting player before trying to bury said player into the turf for 60 minutes would normally be filed under "Questionable PR Decisions We Should Avoid At All Costs."

The Dolphins (0-4) are understandably a little desperate to stay relevent, though, so their plan to hold a pregame ceremony in honor of former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow prior to their Oct. 23 game against the Broncos made at least some sense. The fact that Tebow had appeared in only one game and had not attempted a pass for the Broncos entering Sunday at least made it unlikely he could end up hurting the Dolphins on the field.

On the heels of Tebow's near-comeback against the Chargers on Sunday, however, the Dolphins face an even odder scene: Honoring the opposing starting quarterback, who happens to be way more popular with half of your home fans than anybody on your own team.

And the other half of your fans? Well, if they're college football fans, they probably root for the Miami Hurricanes, which plays its home games at Sun Life Stadium. So while the Gator fans in the stadium will be fainting at the sight of their hero, the 'Canes fans will be booing like crazy.

It all should make for a healthy atmosphere.

You know, this whole idea of honoring Tebow on the road just might catch on. Why stop at a pregame ceremony? The Vikings can give out Tebow rally towels when the Broncos travel to Minnesota on Dec. 4. For that matter, does Tebow even need to be in town? The Patriots can give out Tebow bobbleheads for their Nov. 21 Monday Night Football game against the Chiefs, just because.

We're all making fun of the Dolphins, but they might be on to something.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

To make things interesting, Broncos head coach John Fox has said he'll wait until his team is trailing by at least 19 points in the third quarter before putting Tebow into games for the rest of the season. Not really, but that would be fun, right?

(Photo/AP)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We're looking to have long-term success with somebody. … I've told you all along that he's a good player. He's got some intangibles that I know as a coach, I like a lot, and we'll go from there."
–John Fox, on Tebow's prospects to be Denver's starting quarterback going forward