Add actor Josh Duhamel to the ranks of the Tim Tebow faithful

Someday, future historians will look back on this era as the time when our nation fractured irreparably. Not over politics, no ... over Tebow.

Yes, Tim Tebow has split the country in twain, with some hailing him as the NFL's savior (or at least a guy who won a playoff game and thus deserves more of a shot) and others deriding him as a sanctified fraud who couldn't even reach the surface in the cesspool that is the Jets organization.

ESPN analyst Merril Hoge has firmly entrenched himself in the latter camp, most recently referring to Tebow as being "phony as a three-dollar bill." (ESPN has never been one for nuance with Tebow; after spending most of the year fawning over him, many on the network are now reacting like bitter, jilted boyfriends.)

[Slideshow: Sports tweets of the year]

Now, as Awful Announcing notes, Tebow/Te-No mania has seeped out of the sports world and into Hollywood. Actor Josh Duhamel took issue on Twitter with Hoge's straw-man contention that some Broncos fans would be happier with Tebow than one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the sport. (Does any sane Bronco fan anywhere really think that?)

As you can see in the tweet, Duhamel called out Hoge, who prior to commenting on ESPN and sporting a tie knot the size of Prius was a Steelers fullback in the 1990s. Hoge had 34 touchdowns over eight years; Tebow has 12 over three. (Of course, Hoge could shoot back and say that Duhamel got out-acted by CGI robots in the "Transformers" flicks, but that wouldn't be sporting.)

And so the circus rolls on. Oh, Tebow. Why do the things that should bring us together only tear us apart?

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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