Tim Tebow.

Enough said?

Talk about a conversation-starter. Say the name in a crowded room and prepare to be bombarded.

Do you love him for his family values or gutsy play? Do you hate him for his proselytizing or gaps in talent? Can you not get enough? Do you want him to go away?

He’s the talk of the state. The sensation of the nation. Turn on ESPN, open a sports magazine, and it’s not long before you get a dose of Tebow.

After another confounding victory Sunday, the legend continues to grow.

If you don’t know about him – you seriously don’t? – he’s the quarterback of the Denver Broncos – a mediocre football team in a very mediocre division in the National Football League.

He’s more polarizing than Sarah Palin, almost as big as the Beatles. By now, his face has launched a thousand quips, a million sportswriter analyses and a hundred websites. He’s also the inspiration for the cover of the most recent Sports Illustrated.

He’s won football games. He’s awakened a moribund football franchise. He’s created the worldwide sensation of Tebowing – kneeling in prayer, Tebow-like, elbow on knee, fist on forehead. Check out tebowing.com. No joke.

You want more? He’s bolstered the economy, even in Durango. My God, what can’t this guy do?

“There’s a huge uptick in Broncos fans this year,” says Steve Iwanicki, kitchen manager at Cuckoo’s Chicken House & Watering Hole, known to many as a Green Bay Packers bar.

Says El Rancho Tavern owner Chip Lile of the Tebow phenomenon: “It’s certainly made Broncos games more exciting. It’s a lot more fun when there’s a lot more whooping and hollering going on. ... We do better business.”

At the Durango Sports Zone, a sports apparel shop that opened two months ago on Main Avenue, Tebow’s No. 15 Broncos jersey has quickly become the second-best seller. (No. 1, if you’re curious, is New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees.)

“Somebody bought one this morning,” owner Aaron Perlman said Tuesday. The Broncos have become the most-ever-talked-about average football team, he notes. “It’s been interesting. It’s become a good conversation topic.”

Why the big fuss? Maybe a succinct Tim Tebow life story will help: (If you’re so inclined, you can find the full version of his first 23 years – he’s 24 now – in his 2011 autobiography, Through My Eyes.)

Let’s start in 1987, with his parents on a multiyear mission trip in the Philippines. His mother, Pam, suffered a risky infection, and doctors recommended she terminate the pregnancy. She didn’t, and Tim Tebow was born.

He went to high school in Jacksonville, Fla., where his parents led an evangelical ministry. He starred all four years at the University of Florida, winning two national championships and the Heisman Trophy.

To some, his religious beliefs are a turn-off. While at Florida, he wrote Bible verses in white on his eye black (the black some players wear under the eye to reduce glare). For more information, check out Eph 2:8-10 or Heb 12: 1-2. He’s not allowed to do this in the NFL.

During the 2010 Super Bowl, played after his senior college season, Tebow and his mother appeared in a pro-life ad sponsored by Focus on the Family. Tebow tackles his mother while she’s talking about going ahead with the pregnancy.

Those who know him – teammates and friends – universally seem to like him.

Broncos wide receiver Eddie Royal told The Associated Press, “He represents the game of football the right way, by his play, by his emotion, by his enthusiasm. ... What you see is what you get with him. There’s nothing fake about him.”

D.L. Marble, a touring musician from Durango who plays alternative country, has hung out with Tebow a few times in Phoenix. Marble, a former high school football player, has links with the Arizona State football program, and Tebow has been working on passing mechanics with the Arizona State quarterbacks coach in the offseason.

“He’s just a super-great guy,” Marble says. “He’s actually a good person.”

So what if he’s a good guy, Broncos fans ask. And who cares about his religion. Is he capable of being a long-term, Super Bowl-caliber-winning NFL quarterback?

Hall of Famer John Elway, now the Broncos’ vice president of operations, last week refused to anoint Tebow as the team’s quarterback of the future. Elway sparked a firestorm with his comments, but he’s right: Tebow needs to learn to pass accurately, read defenses, etc.

But Elway is one to talk. Any fan of Mark Twain can tell you that “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” Still, check out this quick comparison of the two in their first nine NFL games.

Elway: 87 completions in 181 attempts (48 percent), 4 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions.

Tebow: 97 completions in 207 attempts (47 percent), 12 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions.

There’s something for every Tebow fan and nonfan on the Web. After you’re done with tebowing.com, you can check out tebowzone.com, tebowner.com and tebowism.com.

A sample from Tebowism.com: “This just in: Popular Science has announced that Tebow is the 119th element. It will be called Tw and will immediately replace hydrogen as the most abundant element in the universe.”

One more: “Tebow’s mother has a tattoo that says, ‘Son.’”

Is it a fad or is he here to stay? Most Broncos fans remain unconvinced, but each time the team pulls out an unlikely victory – such as Sunday’s 16-13 overtime win at San Diego – it gets harder not to believe.

So what the heck. Talking Tebow is more fun than talking about politics, wars, the economy.

Just smile, sports fans, and enjoy the ride – however long it lasts.

johnp@durangoherald.com

John Peel writes a weekly human-interest column.