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Latest Tim Tebow special set to air on NFL Network

By Nate Davis, USA TODAY

Tim Tebow was on the field for nine plays Sunday, ran five times for 11 yards and really had very little impact in the New York Jets' 48-28 season-opening victory over the Buffalo Bills.

But he's still getting the star treatment from NFL Network, which will kick off the second season of its Emmy-nominated A Football Life series with The Faces of Tebow: A Football Life.

What you won't see is original footage of the backup quarterback who is a frontburner star as this NFL Films production relies on the Tebow highlights and sound bites you've probably seen and heard countless times.

What you will experience is the facets of the multi-dimensional player dissected through the lenses of five former NFL quarterbacks who can relate to him from a specific point of view:

  • Joe Namath discusses playing quarterback under the unrelenting New York microscope.
  • Doug Flutie offers his vantage point as someone cast from an unconventional quarterback template. "When you don't fit the mold," he says, "it messes with their heads."
  • Roger Staubach talks about the double-edged scrutiny of being a devout role model.
  • Kordell Stewart was himself a versatile player who did whatever was asked of him on the field even as he pursued his ultimate goal of shedding the "Slash" for the QB1 job. "It tainted the quarterback position for me a little bit," he admits.
  • Finally, Steve Young knows something about being an athletic southpaw who needed to rein in his sometimes frenetic play to become a more effective passer. "You cannot run around (as a quarterback) and play in the NFL. You have to throw the football from the pocket," he says. "That's the job. There's no other job. You can try to make a career running around, you might be able to do it for a little while. But if you want to do this long term, that's the job. Do the job."

For a football audience that seemingly can't get enough things Tebow, it's yet another way to analyze who the man is and what he might become. Lord knows there will be many more documentaries if Tebow can successfully combine the best traits that made these predecessors great and, in three cases, Hall of Famers.

The Faces of Tebow: A Football Life premieres Wednesday on NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET and will re-air regularly.

WWE announcer collapses during live 'Raw' telecast
Tell us: What NFL opener did we most overreact to?