Players loved him. The lockerroom loved him. But it was the right thing.
— Jaguars head urban Meyer coach TIM Tebow,
Maybe it’s fitting that the coda to Tim Tebow’s football career drew so much attention that it briefly wobbled social media.
Of course it did.
Of course it should.
On the day when NFL teams had to pare their training-camp rosters from as many as 90 down to 85, the Jacksonville Jaguars on Tuesday waived Tebow — who a decade ago might have been the most famous NFL player in America, Tom Brady included.
While winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and quarterbacking the University of Florida to a national title in 2008, Tebow earned fame far beyond the sports realm by proudly espousing his Christian faith at every turn. Millions of North American Christians, many who care nothing about football, came to know of him and revere him for it.
When Tebow joined the NFL in 2010 as a first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, his admirers hoped he’d continue his superstardom at the pro level. Alas, no. Tebow could get away with awful throwing mechanics, a suspect arm and underwhelming pocket decision-making at the college level, but he couldn’t be an impact performer like that for long in the NFL — and wasn’t.
Tebow did have that one magical stretch late in the 2011 season, when he took over from Kyle Orton and led the Broncos to some unexpected, last-minute, breathtaking victories — including a memorable upset playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Only two months later, however, the Broncos dumped Tebow, trading him to the New York Jets upon signing free agent Peyton Manning.
It was with the Jets, ostensibly as a backup quarterback, that Tebow tried finding other ways to get onto the playing field — as a gadget QB, as a fullback, on special teams. None of it worked. His last regular-season snaps came that year, in 2012.
By autumn 2015, after failed training-camp tryouts with the New England Patriots (2013) and Philadelphia Eagles (2015), Tebow was out of the league, out of football.
This past winter, new Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer — the Gators’ head coach in the Tebow years — surprisingly signed his former protégé, but as a tight-end prospect.
Once again, many football careerists were, at minimum, offended to see a now 34-year-old Tebow gifted with yet another precious roster spot they felt hundreds, if not thousands, of other fringe NFL prospects were far more deserving of receiving.
Those skeptics no doubt have been snickering since Saturday, after video went viral following Jacksonville’s first pre-season game against Cleveland, which showed Tebow epically failing at an attempted run block as a tight end. He missed his man, awkwardly wiped out, got up, then seemed to confusedly run into his own offensive lineman.
By early Tuesday, a second such video went viral, showing Tebow whiffing even worse on what was reportedly his only other run-block attempt in the game.
Downright embarrassing stuff.
“Tebow was going to get someone hurt on the field when he tried to block,” former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz tweeted. “At that point he’s got to go. It’s that simple.”
Meyer, Jaguars coaches and GM Trent Baalke surely concluded likewise Tuesday morning.
“It’s tough,” Meyer told reporters. “We knew that it was an uphill battle for Tim. Players loved him. The locker-room loved him. But it was the right thing.”
It’s now nine years since Tebow played in an NFL game that mattered. He’s done.
In the man’s defence, and for all the guff he takes, Tebow the athlete has so much to be proud of. Indeed, how many American males grow up to quarterback a college power to a national championship, win the Heisman, get drafted by the NFL in the first round, start an NFL playoff game and win it with a touchdown pass, hang around in the league a few more years, become a pro minor-league outfielder for four years (2016-19), then get one last chance to crack an NFL roster, six years after retiring from football, and at a different position?
Tebow was his typically classy self in tweeting the following shortly after his release Tuesday:
“Thankful for the highs and even the lows, the opportunities and the setbacks. I’ve never wanted to make decisions out of fear of failure and I’m grateful for the chance to have pursued a dream …
“Thank you to the @Jaguars organization and everyone who has supported me in this journey. And we know that … God works all things together for good. Romans 8:28.”
THE SAFETY DANCE
Just when it appeared the standoff between the Seattle Seahawks and safety Jamal Adams was about to become particularly nasty, the two sides agreed to terms Tuesday on a long-term extension: US$70 million over four years, per reports. More than half of it ($38 million) is guaranteed, per NFL Network.
The $17.5-million average salary makes Adams the highest-paid safety in the NFL, now well ahead of Denver’s Justin Simmons ($15.25 million average), per NFL. com.
Thirteen months ago the Seahawks acquired Adams from the New York Jets in a robust trade that saw Seattle part with first-round picks both this year and next.
All that draft stock and money is a helluva lot for any NFL team to spend on any non-quarterback, let alone a safety.
Is Adams worth it? He’ll have to have a few lights-out seasons, minimum, for that ever to be the case.
PROOF OF VACCINATION
Yeah, we’d all better get used to that phrase in our lives.
Nfl-wise, if you want to be among the first fans permitted to attend Las Vegas Raiders home games at oneyear-old Allegiant Stadium in 2021, you must provide proof of vaccination.
But hey, no masks required!
BUFFALO TACKLE’S COVID NIGHTMARE
Five days after finally being able to report to training camp, Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins told reporters Tuesday he was hospitalized for four days while battling COVID-19 from late July to early August.
The 27-year-old said he was “hit hard” by the full “checklist” of coronavirus symptoms, including “shortness of breath, fever, chills, coughing, dehydration,” according to ESPN.COM.
Although several Bills players have come out as proud anti-vaxxers, Dawkins said he had just received his second jab when he fell ill.
“I wish I could have been fully vaccinated,” he said, per ESPN.COM. “If I was … it probably would have been a little easier on myself.”