Kyle Orton vs. Tim Tebow: “My play is going to show that I deserve to be on the field and I’m pretty confident about that.”

Kyle Orton vs. Tim Tebow: “My play is going to show that I deserve to be on the field and I’m pretty confident about that.”
 by Steven Cuce

The Broncos starting quarterback dilemma continues to be very puzzling. On the first day of Broncos training camp, incumbent starter Kyle Orton sure isn’t sugar coating his emotions on competing for the starting job. At the start of the week there were multiple reports that the Broncos were trading Orton most likely to the Miami Dolphins, who are in desperate need of a quarterback. But Orton didn’t just show up to the Broncos first practice yesterday to go through all the motions before getting traded. The word around town was that he was running the show with the first-string offense looking very impressive and outplaying Tim Tebow.

In the following interview with 104.3 The Fan in Denver, Orton speaks with confidence as he explains that there is no reason why he shouldn’t be the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos and he will prove it out on the practice field. He also appears to have no plans on leaving Denver if he has a say on things because he doesn’t bring up a possible trade once, which makes you sit back and think is this thing really going to happen? Orton wants to make it clear that he will not embrace being a backup for Tim Tebow and that he’s been through competition like this for the last 20 years of life.

Kyle Orton joined 104.3 The Fan in Denver on The Drive to discuss the Denver Broncos starting quarterback dilemma being strange to him, feeling like he should be the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos without question, John Fox’s offense taking his game to another level, his relationship with Tim Tebow and possibly embracing the backup quarterback role and his competitive nature being heightened due to all the attention that Tim Tebow gets from the media.

Is this quarterback situation strange at all for you?

“No it’s not. Every year there is competition. Every year there is business talk and all that stuff and we’ve seen the business side of football for six months now, so it took a couple of more days than usual, but excited to be here and excited about where my game is at.”

Do you look at your situation and feel like you’ve done enough to be the starter this season without competition?

“Yeah I do. I’m going to do enough throughout camp to continue to prove that. Obviously we need to win more games. The core players here have to get better and play better to insure that happens and I am one of those guys. I understand that.  My play is going to show that I deserve to be on the field and I’m pretty confident about that.”

What do you like about John Fox’s offense to take your game to another level?

“I think we are going to run the ball better this year. I think Knowshon Moreno is in great shape right now. I think the offensive line is embracing the fact that we are going to run the football and we have to run the football to be successful. I know the receivers are as well. I don’t think any receiving core across the league last year saw tougher looks to throw the football to than we did on a week in and week out basis, so we realize if we can run the football effectively we are going to get a lot of single safety looks to throw the ball into and I’ll talk my chances with Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal and Eric Decker and those guys one-on-one every day.”

Could you embrace being the backup for Tim Tebow if he won the starting quarterback job? What is your relationship with Tim Tebow?

“I don’t plan on being a backup. I know where my game is at and I certainly don’t plan on being a backup. Listen my relationship with Tim is just like the relationships with ten wide receivers fighting for five jobs or the eight offensive lineman fighting for no jobs. I mean that is just how it is and throughout the locker-room there is competition throughout and your relationship never really goes beyond that to where I don’t like this guy because I am competing with him. I’ve competed for 20 years of my life and you can still continue to have relationships.”

Is your competitive nature enhanced because of all the attention that Tim Tebow gets from the media?

“Yeah I mean obviously he is getting a ton of publicity. I’m not deaf to that, but I just focus on my game all off-season and I’m just excited about where I am at.”