Tim Tebow vs Hines Ward

Tim Tebow and Hines Ward were both stellar quarterbacks earlier on in their football careers, but neither had substantial success at quarterback in the NFL, albeit for very different reasons.

Hines Ward began transitioning to the wide receiver position while attending the University of Georgia, while still getting some snaps in at quarterback. He isn't a very tall guy, so the linemen would tower over him by about a half a foot in the pros. When he got to the NFL, his receiver duties became full-time... and he went on to become the Steeler's all time leading receiver.

On the other hand, Tim Tebow played quarterback throughout his high school and college career, winning 2 Nation Championships and a Heisman Trophy while at the University of Florida. He is definitely a taller guy than Hines Ward, but many critics pointed out that his awkward throwing motion wouldn't allow him enough time to consistently get passes to receivers before the defense would reach him... and the critics were proved right. His awkward throwing motion manifested itself in him moving around to 3 teams in his first 3 years, being cut by each, and now being a free agent.

Many thought that due to his awkward throwing motion, Tebow should attempt to make the switch to receiver or tight end, and although he loved football, you could tell his passion was specifically around playing quarterback. On the other hand, it was easy to see that Hines Ward's true passion was with football itself, not any particular position... one would almost get the sense that he would line up at center if that is what he was needed to do.

Sometimes continuing along a path in the face of immense adversity will yield magical things: some of the great works of art weren't considered so great at the time, the revenue model for sites like Facebook are completely backwards relative to more traditional models, and Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now despite being one of the shortest.

For every one of those stories, their are a significantly larger number of failed startups and perpetually free agent quarterbacks... sometimes it's best to stick it through, and sometimes it's best to switch positions.