Krause: It’s hard to envision Pats hanging onto Tebow

This isn’t going to come as a shock to anyone, but I’m a Tim Tebow fan. Two years ago, when he emerged from the phone booth in Denver and led the Broncos into the playoffs, I felt personally vindicated. And when he threw that pass to beat the Steelers (whom I detest) I felt as if he did it for me and me alone.All right. So the Patriots smothered him not once but twice. They ended up going to the Super Bowl. But it took a team like that to beat him down. Against more mortal competition, Tebow emerged … perhaps not as the second coming of Ken Stabler or Boomer Esiason (both lefties of considerable renown) but as a player who found a way. It wasn’t always pretty. But when the 60 minutes were up, Tebow’s team won more than it lost.I concede there are other elements to it. Denver had a good defense (though it wasn’t the reincarnation of the Steel Curtain by any stretch). And yes, I will also concede that you can’t ask Tebow to do what the Indianapolis Colts asked Peyton Manning to do every Sunday for more than a decade … win games practically all by himself.But I always saw him as a player who, if you put him in the right situation, would give your team more than just a puncher’s chance to win.But man … these days he is Scotty Smalls … I am Hamilton “The Great Hambino” Porter. You’re killin’ me, Smalls.I feel as if I have to hide from all those people whose ears I chewed off talking about how great he was. In the spirit of alliteration that gave us “Hagar the Horrible,” let’s go with “Tim the Terrible.” Sammy Hagar could probably throw the ball better.I know we’re talking about preseason football here, but “Tim the Terrible” played the entire second half – which is usually reserved for the folks who will be, at best, practice squadders by next month. And he could only complete one pass against those guys.There are all kinds of theories as to why the Patriots brought Tebow in here. Maybe it was to generate buzz, either because of his matinee idol physique or to just to give us all something else to harp on besides the loss of Wes Welker. And maybe the Patriots were more worried about Aaron Hernandez than they let on, and thought that his clean-living Florida teammate could help put him on the straight and narrow. Who knows?Then there are those who feel that Bill Belichick is a man who never wastes motion, which means he had an ulterior motive for bringing Tebow up here … one that, as of today, seems about as unfathomable anything he’s ever done.I rooted for Tebow coming out of college for the same reasons I rooted for Doug Flutie. Neither fit the mold – for whatever reason – and your average pro coach would rather die a slow, painful death from a flesh-eating virus than buck “conventional wisdom” and take a flyer on a player who falls squarely outside the box. I’m sure Flutie can tell you all about that.I always thought there was a place for Tebow in the NFL, given the right circumstances. The problem, everyone says, is that coaches have to “change their entire offensive structure to accommodate his skills.” And I always say “come on; it’s football. Gen. George Patton took a left turn and marched up to the Ardennes in less time than it seems to take an NFL coach to “change the entire offensive structure.” What pompous, self-important garbage!But if Friday is any indication, then Tebow is making a liar out of me. There is no silver lining … nothing to see here, unless you’re looking for a train wreck. He was that bad.I’ve been telling everyone that Tebow is going to make this team … and Belichick wouldn’t risk the ridicule of being so wrong about him he’d have to cut him. Now, I’m not so sure. I saw some pretty serviceable players in Friday night’s game, and it would be hard to justify keeping Tebow if it meant cutting one of them.Still, unlike the type of person who has to be right all the time, I hope I’m really, really wrong on this. I hope he goes out Thursday night and tears the Detroit Lions to shreds. I want so b