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What's with all the criticism of Chip Kelly and Tim Tebow?

The Eagles have nothing to lose by taking a look at former Heisman winner Tim Tebow.

CHIP KELLY yesterday added failed Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to the Eagles' 90-man roster.

Why not?

Tebow, out of football for the past two seasons, joined a quartet of quarterbacks who, to this point, have demonstrably proved unable to help NFL teams win. What's one more?

The uproar generated by what likely will be the Eagles' least important offseason move is completely contrived. Tebow is drumming up publicity? Kelly is stoking his own ego?

Except for his dubious antiabortion commercial (it posits that Tebow's mother was advised to abort embryonic Timmy, but abortion is illegal in the Philippines, where he was born), Tebow has never done anything to warrant criticism. He is genuine and self-deprecating; really, rather boring. If you choose to be outraged by the absurd Tebow phenomenon, then that's your issue. It's not his fault so many people find him fabulous.

Similarly, there seems to be a palpable, irrational resentment of Kelly. In the big picture, he has so far done only one thing to breed resentment: He allowed DeSean Jackson to be smeared on the way out the door to lessen the blowback from the move. Nobody much cared about that incident.

Otherwise, Kelly generally has been a successfully innovative NFL newcomer, which irritates stodgy NFL types. In that, Kelly is a lot like another nonconformist with Eagles ties: Joe Banner, Kelly's biggest fan.

The current narrative should be less about Tebow's past and Kelly's future than whether Tebow can help the team, and whether Kelly can help Tebow.

Schematically, if Tebow's months of work on his mechanics result in greater accuracy and velocity, he is a wonderful fit for Kelly's offense.

Kelly is a wonderful fit for Tebow, too.

They somehow get little credit, but the reality is that Chip Kelly and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmer made nobody Nick Foles a Pro Bowl MVP in less than one season, then they resuscitated Mark Sanchez's butt-fumble of a career.

There is no argument to be made that they will not benefit Tebow. He might not latch on with the Birds, but he might demonstrate enough competence to earn a spot somewhere else.

As for the concern that Tebow is going to be a distraction . . . well, that's ridiculous. No players will be distracted by Tebow's presence.

On the other hand, plenty of press types will be distracted by him. They will document his every move, chart his every pass.

The players will treat him like just another football player. "Distraction" is the wrong word.

Riley Cooper was a "distraction." The dismissal of Jackson was a "distraction." The absence of LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin will be distractions.

Tebow will be a sideshow. He will be a welcome sideshow for Sam Bradford and his porcelain knee; Sanchez, and his baffling, 2-year contract; Matt Barkley and his continued descent to insignificance. Tebow's presence might make things easier for that trio, and that could help the team, too.

Not that Tebow is an Eagle to serve as a decoy. There is a real chance he can add something to this team, if only to lead the burgeoning quarterback Bible study group. These guys are so devout, training camp's going to be like seminary.

It seems unlikely that Tebow could turn into a real passer, but why not give him a shot? Whom is he taking reps from? G.J. Kinne?

Sure, Kelly has an outsized ego; what do you expect from a sheltered college coach who is outrageously overpaid to come to the NFL, where he assumes total control before he wins a playoff game?

And, yes, there are plenty of jokes to be made about the team's high-profile, low-output quarterback corps.

But making hay out of Kelly's compulsions and the quarterbacks' mediocrity is undignified and petty:

With lefthanded Tebow and righthanded Sanchez on the roster, Kelly now has a matching set of opposable Jets rejects.

If Kelly thinks Tebow can help the Eagles, what does that tell you about the state of Vince Young's comeback?

John Elway abandoned Tebow in Denver, and Elway clearly knows a lot about quarterbacks. Rex Ryan abandoned Tebow in New York, and Ryan clearly knows nothing about quarterbacks. In the sports world, this is known as a consensus.

See? Low-hanging fruit.

People like and dislike Tebow for essentially the same reasons: He is Ned Flanders before he met Maude, earnest and honest and generous, too good to be true.

People like and dislike Kelly for the essentially same reason, too: He's audacious and unconventional, smart and snarky.

Both are just trying to produce the best football they can.

Neither warrants criticism for that.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch