The Tim Tebow experiment with the Jacksonville Jaguars started with noise and ends with crickets.
It took training camp and a couple of snaps in a preseason game for the Jacksonville Jaguars to come to a decision on one Tim Tebow. The former college football analyst signed with the Jaguars this offseason amidst a barrage of outside criticism. Now, his former college coach and Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, along with the rest of the staff, have decided to release Tebow.
Tebow signed with Jacksonville as a tight end, which was an area of concern for the team over the last few years. However, during the preseason, particularly on a blocking play, it was evident that Tebow wasn’t necessarily capable of handling the position.
Also, if anything, the move to bring the former NFL player and Florida Gator brought attention to Jacksonville that had not been seen in a long time. Moreover, it took some of the spotlight off rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was drafted No. 1 overall in April.
Tim Tebow is a nice guy, but he was never really going to cut it as an NFL tight end.
As several people, notably Skip Bayless, like to bring up, Tebow was a sensation at one point during his NFL career. Drafted in the first round in 2010, Tebow burst onto the NFL scene in 2011, where he took the Denver Broncos from a potential losing season to a division title and a Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tebow hooked up with fellow draftee Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime that won the game. After that, however, Tebow was traded to the Jets while Denver chose to pursue newly minted hall of farmer Peyton Manning, and as they say, the rest is history.
Tebow has his supporters but undoubtedly had his critics. ESPN’s Stephen A Smith deemed his signing with the Jaguars as “white privilege“. Upon the signing, CBS’s Pete Prisco tweeted that Tebow could not play, which wasn’t necessarily the truth, but his stance was firm.
Where Tebow goes from here remains to be seen. Maybe he will go back to being a broadcaster for ESPN, an occupation he has done very well and enjoyed. In the meantime, Jacksonville is moving on and will have to find someone else to take the tight-end spot. A short but rather interesting tenure has come to an end for Tebow and the Jaguars.