You couldn’t blame Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow for putting a mimicking twist on that cell phone commercial and asking ESPN studio analyst Merril Hoge, “Can you see me now?’’
There isn’t anyone on television who has been more critical of Tebow and his potential to be a franchise quarterback than Hoge, the former Steelers running back.
Sample, for example, this message Hoge wrote on his Twitter account back in August: “Sitting watching tape of Bronco offense from last year! Orton or Tebow? It’s embarrassing to think the Broncos could win with Tebow!!”
Another Hoge tweet: “I just watched Tebow throw five out routes to a wide open wide receiver. He was 1-for-5! Two went in dirt two in the stands! That throwing motion he changed? You can’t change who you are! College credentials do not transfer to NFL, rah-rah speeches do not work! You must possess a skill set to play!’’
You get the point. Hoge, in no uncertain terms, has no belief that Tebow is an NFL quarterback who can win a championship.
Now that Tebow has helped the Broncos win five of their last six games since he took over for the now-departed Orton, Hoge’s tune is unchanged.
“People are like, ‘How’s it like eating crow?’ ’’ Hoge told The Post. “I didn’t realize he won a Super Bowl and they handed out the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“I look at his football skill set and it doesn’t translate into winning a championship. Now that he’s won some games, I’m hearing from people saying, ‘I told you he can play.’ That’s not the point. I didn’t say he couldn’t run. I didn’t say he couldn’t win games.
“I’ve said that his flaw of throwing the football with that elongated motion is going to make it difficult to be a consistent winning quarterback. Sure, he might win some games, but it’s not going to translate into a Super Bowl.’’
Hoge said Tebow’s throwing motion “will never get better’’ because “it’s an instinct.’’
Hoge compared what Tebow is doing to the fad that the “Wildcat’’ was before defenses figured it out. Now who’s running the Wildcat with consistent production?
Tebow enters today’s game against the Vikings having completed just 45.5 percent of his passes, but has just one interception to go with eight touchdowns.
“Is 48-percent completion percentage good enough? Never,’’ Hoge said. “It’s going it be too hard to win consistently and win a championship with only one phase of your game working. It’s never happened.’’
* When the NFL upheld the two-game suspension of Lions DT Ndamukong Suh for his Thanksgiving Day stomping incident, it did the right thing.
The problem is Suh, who was in an state of delusion and denial after the game, never will learn his lesson until the Lions stop enabling him. Lions coach Jim Schwartz needs to deal with Suh more harshly rather than coddling him, which apparently is what has been going on in Detroit.
With Suh making $40 million guaranteed with a chance to get paid as much as $68 million in his five-year contract, financial penalties are like a slap on the wrist for him and obviously have little impact.
So it’s up to Schwartz and the Lions, who are the parties impacted negatively by Suh’s absence the next two games, to get through to him. Otherwise these incidents will continue to occur and continue to hurt his team.