Below is an excerpt from NPR’s Frank Deford’s latest column, in which he analyzes on the eve of the 2010 NFL Draft, that in the case of QB prospect Tim Tebow, it’s the rare situation of “game hating the player.”

Come up here, please, to the presidential suite and give a big NPR welcome to Tim Tebow, proclaimed by many the greatest college football player ever and now ready for the NFL draft. Heisman Trophy winner; the hero who steered Florida to two national championships; bright; strong; a natural leader.

Now, if you’ll come downstairs here, in that bunch of wannabes crowded over by the Murphy bed, give a nod to Tim Tebow, the quarterback with the strange throwing motion; religious fundamentalist; lightning-rod misfit and obvious classic example of the Peter Principle, pro football version.

Yes, the intrigue in the NFL draft, which begins Thursday and lasts longer than your average Icelandic volcanic eruption, this year centers not on the top of the draft, which will surely be led by a conventional quarterback, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, but on Tebow — who will certifiably not be drafted anywhere in the first round and might not even be drafted at all.

• Read Deford’s full story on NPR.org
• Download the audio of his story as aired on NPR stations

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