The Marketing Arm's Celebrity DBI test “asks respondents across demographic groups to rate celebrities in eight categories,” and results showed the Awareness category is where Broncos QB Tim Tebow "ranked the lowest,” according to Ethan Skolnick of the PALM BEACH POST. Tebow made his first start of the year yesterday in a 18-15 win over the Dolphins, and the Marketing Arm Account Dir Darin David said, “If he continues to start for the Broncos, and makes a big splash, makes big plays throughout the season, then his awareness will go up." David: "That’s the only thing that is really holding him down. All his other numbers are incredible, a testament to how he carried himself as a leader at Florida.” Skolnick noted Tebow’s highest ranking “actually comes in the Appeal category," where he ranks above Patriots QB Tom Brady and Cowboys QB Tony Romo. In the Breakthrough, Trendsetter and Trust categories, Tebow ranks ahead of not only Brady and Romo but also HOFers Troy Aikman and Dan Marino. David said, “The grandmother in Florida may not be paying attention to what he is doing in Denver, but if he is back in the spotlight again, those numbers could pop. He will be a really strong endorser” (PALM BEACH POST, 10/23). In Jacksonville, Chet Fussman wrote it is "clear that marketing people underestimated his intangibles and popularity." Tebow has only four career starts, but he is already at "near-iconic status in Denver (people bought billboards pleading with the Broncos to play him), and he was the focal point of the NFL on Sunday.” If Tebow played for his hometown Jaguars, “is it unreasonable to think he would have sold 10,000 or more season tickets, even if he was holding a clipboard as a backup QB? Probably not” (JACKSONVILLE.com, 10/23).
STRANGE SETTING: The announced attendance for yesterday’s Broncos-Dolphins game was 63,800, 11,740 under capacity at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins in the weeks leading up to the game had been promoting Tebow’s appearance and the halftime celebration of the ’08 Univ. of Florida national championship team, of which Tebow was a member (THE DAILY). In Miami, Greg Cote writes the setting Sunday “was strange -- probably the single weirdest home game the club’s 46 seasons.” Dolphins fans “now occupy the ‘Suck For Luck’ wing of the fandom and are now actively rooting for losses to gain the top pick" and the opportunity to draft Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Beyond that, “the Dolphins honoring the Gators on Sunday meant half of the crowd was cheering for the opponent’s quarterback.” At one point Tebow “busted off a 21-yard run and a huge cheer arose -- as if the game were in Denver, or in Gainesville.” The very next play Tebow was sacked by Dolphins S Yeremiah Bell “and Dolfans reclaimed the house with a roar just as loud” (MIAMI HERALD, 10/24). In Denver, Mike Klis writes there was “an odd crowd environment.” In the first half Dolphins DE Jason Taylor “exhorted the crowd to continue with their ‘Tebow Sucks’ chants.” But in the fourth quarter “as Tebow was doing his Tebow Thing, the crowd was chanting, ‘Tebow! Tebow!'” (DENVER POST, 10/24).
