It's safe to say that Tim Tebow is an extremely polarizing athlete. The NFL hasn't seen a player that has created such a dichotomy of opinion since...oh, Ben Roethlisberger, at least. Tebow will be visiting Oakland as a starting quarterback for the first time on Sunday, and if there's one thing that the Raiders are known for, it's being outspoken. From the fans to the front office, the Oakland Raiders aren't usually in the business of mincing words. So it should be no real surprise that Raiders defensive end Jarvis Moss has a thing or two to say about the new face of the Broncos franchise.
Victor Cotto of the Silver and Black Report recapped some of the statements that Moss made about Tebow recently. When he was asked whether he had respect for Tebow's game, Moss replied, "Yeah, at college I did." As far as underhanded pseudo-compliments go, that's right up there with the best of them. Moss displayed the league minimum for complimenting the other team by saying that Tebow is a "good athlete" who can "hurt you with his legs." When the follow-up question asked him what he thought of Tebow's arm, Moss hemmed and hawed before saying, "I can't answer that question."
If this were anyone else in the league other than Tebow (and maybe Peyton Manning, I guess), these would easily be fighting words. The quarterback in question would lather himself into a frenzy and get his O-line to knock Moss's block off. But this is Tim "Gosh, Shucks, I Just Want Everyone To Do The Best They Can Out There" Tebow. He'll smile and nod and throw incomplete passes submarine-style and get sacked twenty times.
Will Moss be the next person to "Tebow" Tebow to his face? Probably! Let's all find out together.