Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow sat down for a one-on-one interview with Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, and one of the first things he mentioned was: “We’ve had a history here of people talking too much. You just don’t want to do that.”
Mission accomplished.
Tebow largely danced around the notion of his frustration at not playing a bigger role, taking the good teammate role while admitting he’d prefer to do more.
“I don’t know if that’s not being a team guy,” Tebow said. “I think that I try to be open and honest in talking to the media. Obviously try to be honest. But sometimes you don’t have to talk about everything. We’ve had a history here of people talking too much. You just don’t want to do that. Why make it something if it’s not?”
Tebow’s squeaky clean image keeps him from appearing bitter and divisive, while clearly wishing he could do more.
“Obviously, I’m a competitor,” he said. “And you get frustrated with losing. When we win, I’m excited about winning. That way I get the ups and downs of a football season. But I also know that it’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as seems. You always have to stay focused because you never know for me.
“My role, it could expand. So you just got to always be ready.”
Asked if it was fair to starter Mark Sanchez to have such a popular player as the backup, Tebow replied: “I feel like one of the reasons they brought me here was to help make him better by being someone that could come in and convert some first downs, make some plays, do different things. So, hopefully our being together will benefit both of us.”
Mehta joked with Tebow about running for public office, and he probably should. Because his ability to take potentially controversial topics and make them innocuous is as impressive as anything he’s done on the field as a Jet.