Baffoe: RIP Tim Tebow
By Tim Baffoe-
(CBS) Fans, I come to bury Tim Tebow, not to praise him. He has been cut by the New York Jets, and that opens the door for him to finally become a Chicago Bear.
Kidding! Kidding! Come back!
Ostensibly Tebow's NFL career is over. There will be a clamor nationwide as everyone examines if their favorite team will be a nice fit for him because everybody loves a freak show initially, but it should be brief since I can't think of any team that has a use for a quarterback that can't really play quarterback.
You will hear some chastise the Jets organization for "ruining" the former Florida Gator great. They'll say Rex Ryan and Co. didn't use him properly and prevented him from blossoming.
"Tebow's arrival stunted the growth of (Mark Sanchez and him) as it triggered one of the most bizarre non-competitions in league history. Owner Woody Johnson, who made it clear during training camp that '(the Jets) are in the media business,' contributed to the unnecessary chaos in training camp by allowing ESPN to open up a de facto Cortland branch to document Tebow's every move."
The Jets are certainly not above reproach for this fiasco, but what many Tebow apologists will fail to acknowledge is how much of his current situation is of his own doing. He was polarizing from the get-go with many saying he couldn't play QB in the NFL (and they were correct) and did little to appease those who hated Tebow the public figure, whether it be his vapid mouth-breathing positivity sound bites or hitching his medicine show wagon to bigotry. Denver won games despite him, not because of him. The Jets traded for him at best trying to catch lightning in a bottle and at worst selling jerseys and getting attention, as Johnson alluded to.
While the Bronco stuff and Johnson's selfishness weren't Tebow's fault, choosing to be a Jet was. Remember, the Jacksonville Jaguars were in on the trade talks with Denver, and he was basically given the choice between the biggest media spotlight in the Big Apple or going home to a fanbase that would have largely ignored the fact that he sucks in favor of having him available to faith heal their diphtheria and consumption.
More importantly, in Jacksonville he would have gotten playing time rather than the dry hump of a promise to compete in New York. But that was brought on by him, and Tebow showed the world that even the most pious and humble of athletes still are attention whores and sell-outs. For a guy who openly used football as a vehicle for his religious mission, such a choice certainly jibes with Matthew 6: 5-6, which says "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." But, hey, the devil can cite scripture for his purpose, right?
Oddly enough the Jacksonville door is likely closed, since that organization favors things that show crappiness isn't a good addition to the roster. And as a QB all he brings to the table is spilling milk and causing headaches for coaches and teammates who almost grow immediately tired of answering questions about a guy probably more disproportionately hyped than any player in NFL history.
Jason LaCanfora suggests that Tebow is now willing to change positions if that gets him a contract, but that conflicts with Adam Schefter's info that Tebow refused to agree to play tight end if traded to another team. Both guys may be correct. Perhaps the reality of being cut softens one's stubbornness to accept inferiority. It will likely be Tebow's only option for the playing field, though I'm hesitant to assume a guy as athletic as even he can just transubstantiate in a successful pro tight end or H-back on a whim, and believe it or not, NFL scouts and general managers are smarter than me.
He could land in Canadian obscurity, become that country's problem, and strain political relations with us. Or he likely could join the University of Florida coaching staff and have a cushy existence in Gainesville for the rest of his days. Or he could become a ring on ESPN's middle finger to intelligent sports fans should they choose to grab ratings rather than cultivate substance (but when has that ever happened there?) and start paying him for the enormous chunks of airtime he already gets there by making him an analyst. (I actually was in a state of simultaneous laughing and crying while typing that.)
So it appears we've seen the end of Tebowmania. And while I'll gladly toss the first shovelful of dirt on the lowered casket or seal the wall of the mausoleum of mediocrity, I know it was he himself that sewed his own death shrouds and slowly committed career suicide. Don't cry because Tim Tebow, NFL quarterback/gimmick is over. Shudder because it happened.
Tim Baffoe attended the University of Iowa before earning his degree from Governors State University and began blogging at The Score after winning the 2011 Pepsi Max Score Search. He enjoys writing things about stuff, but not so much stuff about things. When not writing for 670TheScore.com, Tim corrupts America's youth as a high school English teacher and provides a great service to his South Side community delivering pizzas (please tip him and his colleagues well). You can follow Tim's inappropriate brain droppings on Twitter @TimBaffoe , but please don't follow him in real life. He grew up in Chicago's Beverly To read more of Tim's blogs click here.
