Ok. We know that the legend that is Tim Tebow has become somewhat over the top…in fact it is almost bordering that kind of creepy territory. Having covered and attempted to interview him a few times, sure, he isn’t a bad kid and in some ways is what an athlete should be instead of some of the bad examples that we oh so often have to report on.However, that being said…we came across a story this morning which is well…just plain scary.

Assessing the fall’s starting passers, in no particular order. Today: Oklahoma sophomore Landry Jones. • Typecasting.

One of the most significant bits of news to come out of last weekend’s combine relating to the Browns was covered by the Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot yesterday morning, and raises concerns about an overemphasis on workout warriors at the expense of football and football players.  That is, that the guy who many (including me) expect and would like to see drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the #7 pick in April’s draft (provided Eric Berry isn’t there), Florida cornerback Joe Haden, was clocked at a “slow” 4.58 in the forty-yard dash.Per Cabot, the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock was “blown away” by Haden’s forty time, and NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks said that, while “teams shouldn’t overreact”:”it’s going to be hard for some scouts to get that 4.57 out of their mind when they think about him being an elite player. It’s rare for a team to take a guy with that kind of speed as a top 15 or top 10 pick.” Tony Pauline of Sports Illustrated and TFYDraft.com said the forty time “could cost Haden ‘6-7 spots’ in the draft, which could translate into about $10 million.”If Pauline is correct here, it would also translate to the Browns not addressing a glaring need at cornerback with their #7 pick with a guy who until last weekend was viewed by pretty much everyone on Earth as being just the guy to address that need.  The consensus top cornerback in the draft, consensus first-team All-American, ranked the third best athlete in the nation coming out of high school, and the first in history to start his entire freshman season at cornerback for the Florida Gators, that happened to be the best college football team in the nation over the three seasons that Haden played there . .

Between mock drafts, the scouting combine, upcoming “pro days” on various campuses and next month’s draft itself, the collective mind of the football universe is completely submerged its annual obsession with sizing up players bound for the next level, as well as the many, many others who desperately want to be. From inside the belly of the beast, the only mantra this time of year is “NFL or bust,” even for fringe players and obscurities the scouts seem to think have “bust” written all over them. One team interviewing former Florida State safety Myron Rolle during the combine reportedly asked the aspiring neurosurgeon how it felt to desert his team last year to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study overseas as a Rhodes Scholar, perhaps a reasonable (if poorly-worded) question in a profession that demands total commitment for success.

All Donald Butler did at the NFL scouting combine this weekend was the bench-press test.And all Butler did in that test was perform 35 repetitions at 225 pounds, the most of any linebacker and No. 6 among the 330-some players in attendance at the combine.”I thought I would bench press around there,” Butler said. “You’re always happy when you can hit your goals.”Butler suffered a sprained ankle during the Senior Bowl in Alabama, and while it’s feeling better, he decided to hold off until Washington’s Pro Day on March 10 to perform the other physical tests such as the 40-yard dash.Butler has been training in Florida, and while his goal was 35 repetitions on the bench-press test, that marked a personel best

Though ESPN has recently predicted that the Colts’ chances of drafting Florida Gators’ quarterback Tim Tebow in the draft coming in April is low, there are still rumors going on that it still can happen. Hey, you never know.

To no one’s surprise after he went AWOL from Miami last month, ex-blue chip linebacker and Wichita native Arthur Brown is transferring home to Kansas State, per statements this morning by his father and notorious “adviser,” Brian Butler. Brown was the first Kansas prospect ever awarded five stars by Rivals back in 2008, when he joined a horde of local products in a hyped freshman crop in Coral Gables, but his contributions with the Hurricanes were limited mainly to special teams. He immediately joins another prodigal Butler protegé, Oregon transfer Chris Harper, as the most touted member of the Wildcats’ roster

Replacing Jeremy Boone was never going to be easy. The guy is almost assuredly going to be one of just a small handful of punters drafted next month into the NFL, and, save for a couple hiccups last season when he had two punts blocked ..

I got a little mileage last spring out of Florida’s fake 40 board, which ludicrously claimed that four Gators ran faster 40 times during winter workouts than any single player at last year’s NFL combine. In the wake of cornerback Joe Haden’s disappointing sprint Tuesday at this year’s edition of the meat market, I’ve been encouraged via email to dig it up for old time’s sake: At Florida, Haden was listed at 4.33, significantly faster than any cornerback in last year’s combine; coming into Tuesday’s proceedings as a virtual lock to go in the top 10 of next month’s draft, he was expected to run in the low 4.4 range, which still would have been faster than any cornerback actually posted Tuesday (the fastest official time by any corner in Indy this morning was 4.45, posted by Wake Forest’s Brandon Ghee). Haden’s times: 4.57 on the first run, 4.60 on the second, immediately putting his high-first-round status in jeopardy

I got a little mileage last spring out of Florida’s fake 40 board, which ludicrously claimed that four Gators ran faster 40 times during winter workouts than any single player at last year’s NFL combine.