At a time when the Jaguars aren’t interested in bringing Tim Tebow home to Jacksonville, he went there anyway.
Via the Florida Times-Union, Tebow was in town Friday night to speak at New Life Christian Fellowship. As he did earlier this month in Michigan, he said nothing about his NFL future.
Tebow did offer one funny, self-deprecating jab at his NFL past.
“One of my favorite stories, ironically, was against the New York Jets,” Tebow said, referring to the game-winning touchdown run for the Broncos, in a 2011 Thursday night game. “And probably my greatest Jets highlight, I guess.”
The Jaguars remain uninterested in allowing Tebow to create similar highlights for them, even though in 2012 the Jags tried to trade for Tebow. Jaguars legend Tony Boselli recently suggested that Tebow possibly could be a “franchise quarterback,” but Boselli agreed with the Jaguars’ decision to steer clear of Tebowmania.
“What team wants to bring a guy who’s a developing player onto their roster when he’s going to be a complete distraction -- through no fault of his own -- and become a disruption in the locker room?” Boselli said. “It becomes all about that -- whether he is going to play, whether it’s going to work -- and the rest of the team is saying, ‘We’re trying to win ballgames.’ I feel bad for Tim because I don’t think it’s all his fault. It’s outside circumstances and people who are making it tough on him.”
Still, Tebow’s image feels partially scripted and contrived. Though he seems to be a good person, there’s a too-good-to-be-completely-true element that Tebow and/or those close to him possibly have helped perpetuate. Many casual fans have bought it completely, prompting them to skew their view of his football abilities.
Unless a team is willing to embrace Tebow and Tebowmania, making him the starting quarterback no matter how bad he is in practice or the first 3.75 quarters of a close game, it won’t work. With no team willing to do that for 2013, the question becomes whether a team that stinks this season will decide that, for 2014, it can stink again without Tebow -- or it can stink with him.