Former Giants star takes page out of Tebow’s comeback playbook
Running back Jacobs eyes return as defensive end
WASHINGTON • A beefy athlete with a knack for gaining yards with his legs, he hasn’t played an NFL game in many years but is getting an opportunity to return to the league at a different position.
That, you might have guessed, describes Tim Tebow. Now, however, another former player is taking inspiration from the quarterback-turned-tight-end and hoping that he can author a similar story.
“Since Tebow came back after being off a good bit, I am announcing today that I to(o) will comeback,” former running back Brandon Jacobs, who helped the New York Giants win two Super Bowls, said Thursday on Twitter. “I will play defensive end for whatever team gives me a chance!!!”
Jacobs, a 38-year-old who last appeared in the NFL in 2013, shared a photo that appeared to show him in impressive shape. That was part of the attraction of Tebow for first-year Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, who won two national championships at the University of Florida with Tebow at quarterback and who signed the former Heisman Trophy winner last week to a one-year contract. Tebow, who last played in the NFL in 2012 and spent the past few years chasing a dream of playing major league baseball, is “in the best shape of his life,” Meyer gushed earlier this month.
Always better running with the ball than actually throwing it, Tebow has finally taken the advice many offered in his last NFL go-round and is trying to convert to a position that involves catching and blocking. It may be a long-shot bid, but at 6-foot-3 and a reported 255 pounds, Tebow has the size and, at age 33, he conceivably could retain enough athleticism to make a go of it for a few more years. Of course, his best asset at the moment is probably Meyer’s admiration for his work ethic and leadership qualities, which could be enough to land him on a young roster while he refines his tight end skills.
Jacobs, who finished his college career at Southern Illinois after playing at Auburn for coach-turnedalabama-senator Tommy
Tuberville, doesn’t enjoy the benefit of having a former mentor running an NFL team. His best hope for that kind of connection dried up in 2019 when the Jaguars fired Tom Coughlin, their executive vice-president of football operations who was the Giants’ head coach when Jacobs played in New York from 2005-11 and again in 2013.
Still, every team needs help in rushing the quarterback, and as with Tebow, Jacobs has the requisite size. As a running back, he was a massive specimen, listed by the NFL at 6-4 and 264 pounds. Assuming he weighs close to that and hasn’t lost all of his speed and agility — and is able to learn some techniques on how to get past offensive linemen — it’s not completely out of the question that an NFL team might want to see what he could do on a few passing downs per game.
If nothing else, Jacobs made it clear Thursday that all he wants is a shot. Just like you-know-who.
“I am really serious about coming back as a defensive end,” Jacobs tweeted. “I can still run, I am strong and there’s no way Tim Tebow is a better athlete than I am. I just need a shot that’s it!! If I can’t cut it I’ll take it like a man. Just give me one chance that’s all!!”
Jacobs, who scored 64 touchdowns (60 rushing) and averaged 4.5 yards per carry over his nine-year career, added that he was not resentful of the opportunity being afforded Tebow. Some other current and former NFL players have criticized Meyer’s move, with some wondering why a former quarterback with greater NFL accomplishments, Colin Kaepernick, couldn’t merit similar consideration.
Regarding his comments about Tebow on Thursday, Jacobs tweeted, “I use him because he’s been out as long as I have that’s all. I love Tebow the guy and athlete no doubt. I have nothing against him at all. I just think I am better that’s it.”
Meanwhile, Tebow was potentially helping his cause at a Jaguars training session. Going out for passes Thursday from No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence and likely backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, Tebow reportedly had no drops while hauling in a pair of touchdowns.
“He has improved,” Meyer said of the former Gators star. “It’s all new for him ... I think it’s one step at a time and see what happens.”
As further evidence of the public’s continued fascination with Tebow, not to mention widespread confidence that he has a legitimate chance of making the Jaguars, some sportsbooks have seen a huge amount of action on prop bets involving him.
“The interest has absolutely exceeded my expectations,” the director of a Las Vegas casino’s sportsbook, which is taking bets on whether Tebow will score more or fewer than 2.5 touchdowns this season, told ESPN. “It’s generated a tremendous amount of interest, chatter, water-cooler talk and some limit bets.”
Jacobs, who is notably older than Tebow but who had a far better pro career, is just hoping to drum up some interest among NFL teams.
“People always said I was a running back in a D-lineman’s body,” he told NFL reporter Josina Anderson. “It doesn’t cost anything to bring me into training camp. It doesn’t hurt to look.”
Who knows? If he is able to latch on somewhere as a situational pass-rusher, Jacobs could even find himself going up against a certain, equally inexperienced tight end.
THERE’S NO WAY TIM TEBOW IS A BETTER ATHLETE THAN I AM.