Can Tim Tebow or Semyon Varlamov break the curse?
This is the 13th NFL season since John Elway retired, and 13 unlucky men have already failed in a quest to replace the legendary quarterback.
Since 2003, the Avalanche has searched in vain for the next Patrick Roy. The local NHL franchise has had a devil of a time finding a suitable heir to St. Patty.
The curse of greatness is the futile attempt to replicate it.
It’s highly likely Elway was a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback, while a goalie with the Hall of Fame stature of Roy might never skate our way again.
But unless Tebow and Varlamov have stellar futures, the Broncos and Avs will continue to be proud franchises stuck in the past.
“I’m not really sure what the Tebow stuff is,” John Fox said Wednesday, reinforcing how much he must learn about coaching a team in this city. Well, please allow me to explain: Denver needs a football hero it can trust to throw touchdown passes today and not be gone tomorrow.
The Avs and Broncos have fallen so far after Roy and Elway ended their playing days, fans desperately grasp to any flicker of hope, even if that proves to be as elusive as bottling a ray of sunshine.
Tebow can’t possibly match the hype, can he?
Varlamov, however, just might be the real deal.
Maybe the best reason to smile during what has too often been a dreary year of Denver sports is the unexpected, out-of-nowhere 5-1 start by the upstart Avalanche. Front-row seats on the bandwagon are still available. If this keeps up, sports fans in town might actually relearn how to begin a conversation with a word other than Tebow.
Inside the locker room of the NHL team’s practice facility, I asked young Avs star Matt Duchene if anybody had asked him about Tebow in the past 15 minutes.
“No,” Duchene replied.
But his grin was broken by a confession.
“Well, actually,” Duchene admitted, “somebody just wanted to know if anything in Denver sports could knock Tebow off the front page of the sports section. To tell the truth, I don’t know if that can happen, just because the quarterback situation has been such a controversy.”
Since Roy permanently put his unbeatable arrogance on the shelf eight years ago, the Avalanche has won three playoff series and tried a dozen goalies. None of the netminders has kept his coach’s confidence or held the position for as long as two complete seasons.
From 1999 through this morning, 13 quarterbacks took snaps for Denver prior to Tebow’s latest shot at leading the Broncos back to playoff relevance. Jake Plummer was too flighty for Mike Shanahan’s exacting standards, Jay Cutler too pouty to co-exist with the acerbic Josh McDaniels. And whatever happened to Danny Kanell, anyway?
Playoffs? The Broncos should be content to come home from Miami with a road victory against what might be the worst team in the league. Tebow’s goal? “To go out there and play my heart out,” he said. Nobody doubts his heart. Tebow’s ability to throw a consistently accurate out pass, however, remains in doubt.
It might be an oversimplification to suggest all the problems of the Avs or Broncos end with these twin revolving doors at goalie and quarterback. But the lack of a strong identity with both teams begins there.
“It’s huge to have a goaltender you can rely on. Everything starts with the goalie,” said veteran Milan Hejduk, who has worn an Avalanche sweater so long he knows the highs and lows of the franchise. “You go in every season thinking, ‘This goalie is going to be good; he looked good in training camp.’ And, sometimes, in the season, the reality is different.”
Nobody is suggesting Varlamov will make us forget Roy. But his goals- against average of 2.17 and his save percentage of 93.8 through four appearances allow us to dream Colorado might have finally found the right answer between the pipes.
How great is the weight on Varlamov to win back the trust in this team as a winner?
“I don’t feel any pressure,” the 23-year-old goalie replied. “That’s a hard question.”
All we ask is greatness.
No pressure.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
