It’s was obvious going in the Patriots wanted to keep from fanning the flames of Tebowmania.
In fact, it appears their strategy is to remove the fuel from the media, and hope the sparks don’t catch fire.
After coach Bill Belichick did his regular Belichick act this morning, Tebow followed by meeting with reporters after practice, giving a statement, but taking no questions.
“First and foremost, I just want to thank the Patriots for giving me an opportunity,” he said, via the Twitter feed of Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. “I’m very thankful. It’s such an honor to be a Patriot and play for Coach Belichick and Coach [Josh] McDaniels, and learn under Tom [Brady, the starting quarterback, remember him?] and be a part of this great franchise and very successful franchise. I found out first-hand; lost to them several times.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to working hard every single day and getting a lot better and learning under some great people. That’s all I got. Thank you all so much and God bless. I’m sure we’ll be talking more soon.”
Or maybe we won’t. The Patriots have effectively hidden players in the past, namely Randy Moss, and there’s little reason to suspect Tebow will be making a spectacle of himself.
After seeing how it worked out at his last stop, where they had a huge press conference for him, it’s probably the best play, if only to keep expectations in check.