Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Tebow and the NFL

As my beloved Patriots prepare to play the Denver Broncos this weekend, everyone is focused on Tim Tebow. His fans love him - he's a winner, they argue. His critics deride his unconventional style; he can't throw the way an NFL quarterback must, they argue.

I find the entire issue of conventional wisdom in the NFL fascinating. Allegedly, you have to run the football to win, but then Green Bay won the Super Bowl last year by always passing! Consider even the three best quarterbacks in the game. Each was, in part, rejected at one point by the so-called experts. Brews was deemed too short among other things and discarded by the Chargers. Brady was not picked until the 6th round of the draft - too slow, too weak, etc. Rodgers fell to late in the first round due to various criticisms. How did that work out?!!

In general, NFL general managers have a terrible time selecting quarterbacks in the draft. Many top picks turn out to be busts. Yet, the conventional wisdom remains a powerful thing in the NFL.

The lesson here for other industries is to be cautious about the conventional wisdom. It can lead you astray. Moreover, one can become blind to the weaknesses of that conventional wisdom if you have been part of that industry for years. Always be wary of those who tell you that certain rules of thumb always hold in a particular industry.

I'm not saying Tebow will be a Hall of Famer. I'm just saying that not all quarterbacks must be carbon copies of some mythical prototype.