Tebow: I had opportunities to change positions but I’ll only play QB

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When Tim Tebow didn’t pan out as an NFL quarterback, he could have continued playing at another position. But he never had an interest in that.

Tebow said on the Dan Patrick Show that he had multiple opportunities to prove himself at another position but had his heart set on being a quarterback.

“For me it’s always about pursuing what’s in your heart, what you love, what you’re passionate about, and I love the game of football but what I really love doing is playing the quarterback position,” Tebow said. “I’ve had a lot of good opportunities to play another position but that just wasn’t in my heart. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. If I was going to make a change I’d rather make a change to baseball.”

Now Tebow is preparing to play in the New York Mets’ minor league system, and he thinks it’s the right place for him.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Tebow said. “I’m grateful for what I’m doing right now and my opportunities for the Mets. I’m truly excited about pursuing this.”

Tebow said it’s been a while since he heard from an NFL team interested in having him play quarterback, and he seems to realize that’s not going to happen. So now it’s on to baseball.

115 responses to “Tebow: I had opportunities to change positions but I’ll only play QB

  1. Tebow playing QB is a square peg in a round hole. I wish him well with his pursuit of baseball, he is a fine athlete but just not cut out to play QB in the NFL.

  2. This man makes no sense.

    I’ll only play QB in football. Cuz that’s all I want.

    But I’ll play any position in baseball, because, well, I can’t be a QB in football.

    huh?

  3. People say things like this when they have choices. Get over it. He has more choices than most people.

    He is now a professional baseball player, freely given and earned a small, but real contract. Get over it.

  4. That’s right…be true to your conviction…even it costs you an opportunity to play the game you love.

  5. So, If I don’t get to be quarterback, I’m taking my ball and going home, only to play baseball as a minor leaguer?

    Makes no sense to me.

  6. He really doesn’t like playing football all that much. If he did he would play ANY position to play in the NFL.
    what he likes is the attention…. ONLY playing QB translates to that. And now, from playing high school baseball to major leagues??

    I really think his 15 minutes of fame has run out.
    He should run some charity organization and keep out of the spotlight and actually succeed.
    He didn’t at QB, at announcing, at????.

  7. I completely understand you, Tim. I had opportunities to work but I’ll only be a CEO….

    Signed
    Deadbeat Dad

  8. The NFL and the world need more Tim Tebow’s. Not these pathetic people we have in the NFL today like the 4 Dolphins players, Jeremy Lane, Marcus Peters, Brandon Marshall, Devin McCourty, Martellus Bennett…just to name a few. God bless you, Tebow!!

  9. You need to thank Josh McDaniels for drafting you so high and getting you all that $. Ya gotta remember though Tim, offensive coordinators need QBs to run Their system at s high level not Urban Meyers, however Tim did play really well for Chip Kelly in 2015 pre season so I get it he’s upset because frankly he deserved to make Eagles roster

  10. Teams don’t want him because of the media factor, not because of his skillset. I mean after all, Case Keenum is a NFL starter. Austin Davis & Kellen Clemens are still on rosters. Last I checked, Tebow has more TDs than Ints, and not just barely like in Davis case.

  11. Won’t play another position to stay in the sport he “loves” because he only wants to play quarterback.

    ….. But will play another sport in a blatant marketing stunt just to get back in the public spotlight and make some easy money.

    What a phony.

  12. How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?… Yeah… Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.

    We’ll always have Pittsburgh, Tebow.

  13. Tebow’s only problem playing football was the media side show, and all the hysterical fans that followed him. Teams obviously don’t want to deal with that. Most young QBs are given plenty of time to develop, and the teams are patient with them. Even fans are willing to accept the losing while knowing that better times are on the horizon. This wasn’t the case with Tebow. He took over a team that couldn’t win a game, and led them to a playoff win. So in his case, the team didn’t have to suffer through the ordinary losses, while the young QB slowly got better over time. They were winning. He was never given the opportunity to get better. I’m not saying the league is anti-Christian. It’s just that they don’t want all the attention on one guy. There was no doubt the guy could play NFL football at a winning level.

  14. And this is why you were never able to stick in the NFL. You are not an NFL QB (barely a college QB). You were a mobile guy in college and not fast enough to be that in the NFL.

    Good luck with baseball. No really, I am sincere with that. You seem to have all the athletic gifts in the world, I hope you get to use them.

  15. And still a virgin.
    Every girlfriend has dumped him because he won’t put out. A pattern of stubbornness

  16. One could consider the refusal to play a position other than Quarterback as fairly prideful. I believe that’s a sin.

  17. Tim needs to realize there is no shame in becoming a great John Mackie, Mark Bravaro, Antonio Gates or Gronkowski …

    they were/are team leaders too ….

  18. Anyone of the hundreds of guys who have been on the same team as Tim Tebow will tell you why he can only play QB. While he is physically built like a Tight End, he is pretty bad at actually catching the ball. As he explains, it was never a consideration. He can only play QB but his pass completion rate of 47% isn’t good enough.
    Good luck in baseball. I’m rooting for him to succeed.

  19. Now hang on just a doggone minute…

    Every meme on Facebook says he’s out of the league for praying and being so open with his faith. Each of them generate thousands of comments about the unfairness for such a good, humble, decent and god-fearing man. I mean people really fight over this and now to learn it was his choice?!?

    How could so many meme’s be wrong! For the love of God I’ve seen “unfriending” over this!

    Oh, the humanity!

  20. Tebow’s only problem playing football was the media side show, and all the hysterical fans that followed him. Teams obviously don’t want to deal with that.

    But dealing with Kaeperdink, the media side show and hysterical fans is okay? If so, then the league IS anti-Christian. I digress.

    Back to Tebow…if you will only play QB then you aren’t going to play. Suddenly Pryor seems way smarter than you.

  21. So now he says he will play baseball….part-time.
    The Mets have in the instructional league but he’s still part of whatever network and will miss some baseball because of it.

    That’s not moving on to baseball as a serious job..that’s called a hobby.

  22. been on this earth for awhile now, been working since I was 15, never once did I ever work a job in retail, fast food, and that was MY CHOICE. Don’t hate on this man because he has choices, yall who do are bitter.

  23. This mindset is the result of mommy and daddy lying to Timmy all those years about how great a qb he was. Didn’t help when U. Meyer puffed him up @ UF with more lies about how great an NFL career he was going to have. Just a spoiled little brat who can’t throw the rock. As for you religious zealots, if you had a clue you’d be able to figure out that this punk’s grandstanding and narcissism couldn’t be further from what it means to be “Christian”.

  24. Shouldn’t that read “I had opportunities to change positions but I only want to play QB”?

    Clearly nobody is going to let him play QB so it is more about what he wants to do with the position instead of what he will do.

  25. Tebow says “Everything happens for a reason.”

    Yes, everything happens because we, as human beings, make choices. You chose to play a lesser position in a lesser sport because your pride wouldn’t allow you to choose to play a different position for a football team. Oh, it couldn’t be all about the money, could it?? No. Not Tebow.

  26. Tebow would do everyone a favor if he would just go ahead and come out of the closet. Don’t tell me this big, muscular, handsome guy who has supposedly never had sex is straight. That’s the reason for the big religion bit., It gives him an excuse and allows him to hide.

  27. By the way. Kellen Clemens is not only in the NFL as a back up, and has more Ints than TDs, but in his ten years in the league he only has a 54.7.

    Obviously that’s higher than Tebows but that can be corrected. Man has been in a lot longer and played way more games. Just saying. Saying Tebow can’t play, while still having bums in the league isn’t a good argument.

  28. Tebow is by all accounts a very stand up guy and I wish him all the best in baseball. But he is not being honest when he says he “loves the game of football”. He simply doesn’t, his actions loudly reflect it. He loves playing QB, but if he loved football he would have changed positions just to stay in the league and to keep playing the sport he “loves”.

  29. Tebow couldn’t figure out how to change his outfit four times during each practice for an NFL team, so off to MLB.

  30. Tim Tebow scored more TDs than Tom Brady in 109 fewer pass attempts.
    In their first 16 games,
    Brady threw 18 TDs in 483 attempts with 13 ints and won the super bowl.
    Tebow threw 19 TDs in 374 attempts with 9 ints
    Tebow scored 37% more often per attempt than Tom Brady
    Tebow added 15 rushing scores and 937 yards rushing.
    Tebow scored 79% more times than Brady.
    The NFL took their ball and went home crying and refused to play him again.

    Tebow had a 47.3% completion percentage throwing 15.3 yards per completion.
    Brady had a 63.9% completion percentage throwing 10.6 yards per completion.
    Tebow scored every 19.6 attempts and Brady scored every 26.8 attempts.
    Throwing 31% longer passes works better than dinking and dunking for a completion percentage.

    Name another QB that went 9-7 and scored 34 times in his first 16 games , won his conference and a playoff game, set NFL records for passing and rushing, was voted an alternate to the pro bowl and a top 100 player of the year with one of the worst teams in the league, the 4-12 Broncos.
    Clue: the 34 scores illiminates everybody except Cam Newton who didn’t win a playoff game until his third season and didn’t have a winning record until his fifth season.
    Tebow also scored 20% more often per pass attempt than Newton with almost half the interceptions in their first 16.
    Tebow is one of the most successful first time starting quarterbacks in NFL history. Ask yourself why the idiotic bigots in the NFL want to make him a tight end or send him to Canada.
    They hate him because he talks about Jesus Christ publicly and they want to shut him up.

  31. So now he says he will play baseball….part-time.
    The Mets have in the instructional league but he’s still part of whatever network and will miss some baseball because of it.

    That’s not moving on to baseball as a serious job..that’s called a hobby.

    Exactly. His only passion is for staging publicity stunts. Money must be tight in Tebowville.

  32. Tim has dyslexia. Dealing with the mental aspect of quarterbacking has got to be exponentially harder for someone with that cognitive disorder. Props to him for trying, but we all need to know our strengths and weaknesses.

    Maybe he could have overcome it, but then he’s still a bad passer. So the 2 most important aspects of being a QB – quick mental processing and accurate throwing – he couldn’t do.

    I loved tebowmania and rooted for him every time, but it just wasn’t in the cards for him.

    It would have been great to see him at TE or FB though.

    What does the bible say about pride again?

  33. Since he is no longer playing or attempting to play football, does he get moved to HardBall Talk since he is playing baseball?

  34. If he was really humble he would have tried CFL as QB. He only will accept prime time openings. He is not humble but to proud. He had way to many chances to prove he can’t be a QB in NFL.

    Just disappear Timmy

  35. This guy does not need the money and he wants to play a certain position.. who cares? If you had enough money, talent and opportunity that he has, you would probably do the same thing. Sounds like most of you are butt hurt because he lives the kind of life you cant. (Also, I know the talent thing will get thumbs down, but he is good enough to play two pro sports, even if not at a high level)

  36. Why does everyone keep saying he should have gone to the CFL? Its a wider and bigger field and they throw the ball even more than the NFL. He’d be even more exposed in the CFL for his terrible accuracy, although it would be against lesser competition.

  37. That’s pride talking. They wouldn’t play him at QB so he’d be damned if he played another position. He’d rather play another sport than give in and switch positions.

  38. Was invited once to speak on pursuing careers at a local high school, and told the kids you should be flexible in pursuing your dreams. Not everyone can be top of the ticket. But if sports star or rock hero doesn’t work out, they should research other jobs that could still put them in the world of their dreams … from sports agent, sports reporter, equipment manager to roadie, booking agent, producer.

    Tebow lacked the arm and ability to read defenses that make for an NFL QB. But he was a star college QB and could have been a star NFL RB or TE. How many kids would kill for those opportunities? Now he’s just going to wash up in the minors. What a waste.

  39. Tebow is living proof that you can be the star QB in college and a complete flop in the NFL. I wish someone could have convinced him to be a TE or a utility guy (Patriots). He would have been fun to watch. Too late now,he’s almost 30.

  40. What I hear is he can’t make it in the NFL so he is going to milk the last bit of his fame signing baseballs and bats to draw a crowd to a minor league stadium. By mid-year, when the media appeal stops and the crowds go back to what they were Tebow will be replaced by a prospect who actually has been working on a his craft his whole life.

    If Tebow really wanted to work on being a baseball player he would go into the independent leagues on work on his craft there. He is going to get eaten up even in AA and won’t be able to make that adjustment. He isn’t working on being a baseball player, he is just making it a reality show. He really did the same thing in the NFL. Never really worked on his game but sure was making a lot of commercials.

  41. Not surprised to read this, but still disappointed. When he didn’t pan out as a QB I thought Tebow would of made a good NFL TE. He has the size and physical ability. Shame we’ll never know.

  42. This guy is such an arrogant poser. Nothing but a spoiled cry baby. He isn’t a football player anymore, quit posting these GD articles about him in PFT.

  43. They guy has a lot of physical talent. He could have been Julian Edelman, who has a ring and is on his way to being one of the best YAC recievers ever. So sad when physical talent so outpaces mental capacity.

  44. Sometimes you need to face reality Tebow. You are not a good QB in the NFL so follow your heart all you want, it won’t pan out.

    Also, why do you want to be a professional athlete so bad? Sounds like a gimmick display. Move out Tebow!

  45. In their first 16,
    Tebow scored 19 passing in 374 attempts and 15 times rushing
    Brady scored 18 passing in 483 attempts and 1 rushing
    Bradford scored 18 passing in 590 attempts 0 rushing
    Maybe Brady and Bradford should play tight end for Tebow since he scored more often passing and rushing with fewer interceptions when the ball is in his hands.

  46. Wait …. didn’t he already change positions when he was on the Jets and he sucked at TE too?

    How many punts did they get blocked due to his piss poor blocking on special teams?

    He makes it sound like he’s taking the high road, when he actually already tried another position and couldn’t cut it there either.

    I’ll never understand the fascination with this guy. Why can’t he just be another guy who couldn’t cut it in the NFL and moved on? Why do people care so much about him making it some day?

  47. So Tebow will only play QB. That’s why he’ll never play in the NFL again. He’s had chances with four different teams to prove he can play QB, and he failed every time. Some people just never get it, I suppose.

  48. He sounds like the kid who owns the ball, but things aren’t going his way so he takes his ball and goes home. Thus, making everyone hate him and make fun of him. Warranted.

  49. Tebow scored more often and more often per pass

    attempt than every quarterback that has been played ahead of him.
    These are the QBs that were played instead of Tebow.
    Tebow scored 34 times with 9 Ints in his first 16 games of play in Denver
    Manning scored 33 times with 17 Ints in 2010.
    Sanchez scored 13 times with 18 Ints in 2012
    Smith scored 18 times with 21 Ints in 2013
    Brady scored 25 times with 11 Ints in 2013
    Bradford scored 19 times with 14 Ints in 2015
    Tebow was better than all of them in his first 16 games. He also threw more TDs per pass attempt than all of them and it’s not close.
    Tebow threw a TD every 16.4 attempts in 2010 and 19.6 attempts in his first 16 in 2010/2011
    Orton threw a TD every 24.9 attempts in 2010 and 28 attempts in 2011.
    Manning threw a TD every 20.5 attempts in 2010
    Sanchez threw a TD every 34.8 attempts in 2012
    G. Smith threw a TD every 36.9 attempts in 2013
    Brady threw a TD every 25.12 attempts in 2013
    Bradford threw a TD every 28 attempts in 2015
    Tebow threw more TDs per pass attempt in his first 16 games of playing time than all of them and scored 15 times rushing.
    Here is what they aren’t telling you.
    Tebow was throwing 30-35% farther per completion with a lower completion percentage
    and scoring more often with fewer interceptions than all of these quarterbacks. Tebow took the starting job from Orton twice in Denver with 2 different coaching staffs. He was replaced by Manning who had thrown fewer TDs per attempt with more interceptions and scored 21% less often per touch than Tebow did in his first 16 games of play. In NY, Sanchez sucked with 13 TDs and 18 ints and Ryan refused to start Tebow who had just scored 34 times with 9 Ints in Denver. The next season, Geno Smith stunk it up with 12 TDs passing and 21 ints. Tebow should have been the starter in NY in 2012 and 2013 and the fans knew it. Mallett has thrown a TD every 46 attempts in his career. He’s the backup in Baltimore. Why? Is it because Flacco has never scored more than 27 times in a season and Tebow scored 34 times in his first 16? Tebow is not a backup because he is too good to be a backup and the fans in Denver knew it. Orton never scored more than 21 times in a season in his 10 year career. Bradford has never scored more than 22 times in a season in 6 years and has never had a winning record.
    Tebow proved himself the first time he lead a team with a conference division win and a playoff win.

  50. I don’t think that Tebow cares one iota about sports (baseball or football). He’s just building his resume in order to pursue his true future ‘calling’ – a career as a politician.

    It’s also amusing that this ‘pious’ hypocrite is more-than-willing to rip-off his gullible followers by selling autographed sports paraphernalia to them at inflated prices.

  51. It’s a shame because I think he could have been a productive player at another position. He probably would have been a very good fullback.

  52. david1800 says:
    Sep 15, 2016 5:14 PM
    Tebow scored more often and more often per pass

    attempt than every quarterback that has been played ahead of him.
    These are the QBs that were played instead of Tebow.
    Tebow scored 34 times with 9 Ints in his first 16 games of play in Denver
    ====

    Tebow scored 29 TDs combined rushing and passing in his entire career so what exactly are you talking about?

  53. Tebow scored 19 passing with 9 Ints and 13 TDs rushing with 2 two point conversions in his first 15.5 games and 13 plays which includes the Steelers playoff game. That is his first 16 games of playing time. 34 scores in 549 touches.
    The NFL never let the most decorated QB in NCAA history play a full regular season, even after he won his conference div. and a playoff game with the 4-12 Broncos.

  54. The NFL never let the most decorated QB in NCAA history play a full regular season, even after he won his conference div. and a playoff game with the 4-12 Broncos.

    You’re right. In a league starved for QB talent, the NFL conspired to keep Tebow from playing. Tebow won those games primarily through a series of serendipitous circumstances. I’d try to explain that–along with why the Broncos let him go and why he didn’t make it on any of the other teams that gave him a shot, but if you don’t already get it, you never will.

  55. Tebow’s 34 scores in his first 16 games of playing time in 2010/2011 would rank 2nd for scores by a QB in 2010.

  56. david1800 says:
    Sep 15, 2016 6:04 PM
    Tebow scored 19 passing with 9 Ints and 13 TDs rushing with 2 two point conversions in his first 15.5 games and 13 plays which includes the Steelers playoff game. That is his first 16 games of playing time. 34 scores in 549 touches.
    The NFL never let the most decorated QB in NCAA history play a full regular season, even after he won his conference div. and a playoff game with the 4-12 Broncos.
    ======

    I am sure everyone is at the edge of their seats to hear your theory as to why 32 NFL GMs, whose jobs depend solely on winning, would pass up on a can’t miss superstar like Tebow.

  57. Always been a media ho, always will be . Can’t wait until the media lets is 15,000 minutes of fame end.

  58. david1800 says:
    Sep 15, 2016 5:14 PM
    Tebow scored more often and more often per pass
    ________________________________________
    Yet he couldn’t even beat that Lousy Kyle Orton. All he needed to do was win ONE GAME out of the last 3 to clinch a playoff berth and he couldn’t even do that!! So much for that ALL HE DOES IS WIN malarkey!

  59. Many great NFL quarterbacks (Moon, Theisman and so on) elected to play in the CFL rather than draw a salary to just sit on the bench and hold a clip-board. Tebow was too conceited to do that.

  60. I suppose that would work for him IF he was good enough to PLAY the QB position, which he isn’t! At least not in the NFL. And he’ll never make a real baseball team either. What a tool….

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