Leave Tebow's Brain Alone

I was a sports writer once. It's been years now.

I quit because I discovered that sports writers are only slightly above sand spurs and love bugs on the list of Things That Exist Just to Annoy Us.

I know I'm stereotyping, but most of them should spend eternity in some dreadful place where they are forced to report exclusively on synchronized swimming.

Ever since Tim Tebow sustained a concussion in Florida's win at Kentucky on September 26, there has been nothing but conjecture and speculation on sports pages and websites across the nation.

If only I had a nickel for every time I've seen the word "if" used in one of these stories.

While one may exist somewhere, I've yet to run into a sports columnist who is also a neurologist. But you wouldn't know that by reading the pages and pages of unqualified opinions I've seen.

Today, on ESPN.com, Pat Forde has a piece called "Risk Not Worth the Reward for Florida." Really? How do you know what the risk is? Are you actually Tim Tebow masquerading as a sports reporter? No? Oh, so you must be his doctor then. I see.

CNN-SI.com has an article called "Tebow: To Play or Not to Play?" Wow. Is that clever or what? I read the whole thing, and, I must say, I got much more pleasure, and about the same amount of useful information, from their Cheerleader of the Week feature.

My favorite articles are the ones like this from CBS Sports.com entitled "Still No Word on Tebow's Status for LSU." In other words, they've written an entire news article about the fact that there is no news they can report.

According to the Gainesville Sun, even Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan has chimed in, apparently saying, "“Real Gators want to be sure Tim Tebow is ready before they put him back in. This is a great opportunity for Brantley to show his skills!” in a recent Tweet.

Here is the thing that really gets me. All of these people have opinions to offer, and yet none of them really know anything.

They don't have access to the only information that would truly be useful in this situation. They've seen no reports from Tebow's MRI's and brain scans. They don't know Tebow's baseline scores on ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), SAC (Standard Assessment of Concussion), BESS (Balance Error Scoring System) and PCSS (Post Concussion System Scale), let alone his post-concussion scores.

They don't know what symptoms Tebow had, or for how long. They don't know what discussions have taken place between Tebow and his parents, his doctors, his coaches, or his teammates.

That is as it should be. This is a decision that should be left up to the people who do know.

Hats off to Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops who has been dealing with some of this same stuff regarding QB Sam Bradford's shoulder injury. Last week, a TV reporter asked what reaction Bradford had when he was told he wouldn't be playing against Miami. Stoops was mildly incredulous in response to the question, and said, "He wasn't told about the decision. He was involved in it."

I am confident that the people who are actually involved in this decision will do what they think is best for Tim Tebow. What sportswriters and the rest of us think is totally and completely irrelevant.

So leave Tebow's brain alone, and focus on the sports stories we really want. Like this gem from ESPN.com, "Golfer Loses Arm in Gator Attack."

If that doesn't win a Pulitzer Prize, what will?