Tim Tebow is loved by many. Tim Tebow is also despised by many.
The New York Jets quarterback’s future looks bleak, and his career as a professional football player in the National Football League appears to be on the brink of extinction. And none of it is his fault.
It is not Tebow’s fault that rather than being a joyful, positive presence in the locker room, he has become a walking freak show with an army of media personnel and hysteria following closely behind. He didn’t ask for that; all the 25 year old ever wanted was an opportunity to play quarterback.
But we made him a non-stop, attention-drawing three-ring circus. All of us. The fans. The detractors. The media. The NFL. We wanted 24/7 coverage of all things Tim Tebow even when we insisted we didn’t.
There was the unbearable banter about his greatness — or his worthlessness — as an athlete… the news stories about potential love interests, such as Taylor Swift, Dianna Agron or Katy Perry. When Tebow ran in the rain, perhaps a bit dramatically with his shirt off during training camp this year, we had to see it over and over and over again. We had to have Tebow.
But now, no one wants him.
His former team couldn’t wait to part from him, his current team can’t bear to use him and his hometown team — the Jacksonville Jaguars, the one team everyone seemed to think might be a fit — insist they don’t have room for him on the roster.
No one is willing to take a risk on Tebow because they can’t afford to have Tebowmania running rampant when they just want to win some football games. Teams would rather avoid Tebow all together than take a chance at potential success with Tebow at quarterback. Though unconventional, he was 8-5 as a starter for the Broncos in 2011.
Tebow has his advantages and his pitfalls. But then, so does every prospective NFL superstar. He can’t throw worth a lick, but no one works harder than he does. His leadership is unbelievable and his heart is unparalleled. Before Tebow, with a “real” quarterback, the Broncos were 1-4. With him, they went 8-5, including a playoff victory over the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, two years removed from a 13 heroic games as the Broncos’ starting quarterback, Tebow may not even get the chance to be a backup again because he — or the madness that follows him, rather — are too much of a distraction.
That’s sad to consider when you take a look at the man’s work ethic, character and overall athletic gifts. Traits no one would ever dare take from him. But those traits don’t always make a starting-caliber NFL quarterback, let alone a backup who will gleefully stand on the sideline with a clipboard in his hand and a hat on his head.
As athletically-gifted as Tebow is, he does not boast even an average arm when passing the football. His substandard throwing motion has been well documented and the footballs hit the turf much more often than they did his receivers’ hands during his run with the Broncos in 2011 — he completed just 46.5 percent of his pass attempts.
To think he could really be a viable starting option based solely on his baffling ability to pull victories seemingly from the sky — figuratively and perhaps literally — was foolish at best.
And then 2012 came.
The emergence of the read option and other styles of play at the quarterback position by rookie quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson; and second-year studs Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick put things in a different perspective. The classic pocket passer is evolving into an athletic dual-threat weapon that, if utilized properly, can be an unstoppable force for an offensive attack.
Their success has returned the focus to Tebow, who excelled in such an offensive system during his time at the University of Florida. He, of course, won a Heisman Trophy and two National Championships and left behind a legacy that has placed him in the discussion for being college football’s greatest player ever.
Could he excel in a similar offensive system with a coaching staff and team that believe in him? Plenty of pundits have already posed the same question, but most — along with many football fans — would prefer that Tebow just disappear.
Those people will likely get their wish. Because despite his genuine love for life and the game of football — and his determination to improve and to help his teammates improve — Tebow is less of a distraction if he’s not on the sidelines at all.
We tried to make Tebow bigger than football. No one is bigger than football.
It’s not his fault, but football doesn’t want him anymore.
Louis Musto is a contributor to the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.