The haters, they've got this all wrong. This isn't about Tim Tebow trying to re-inflict Tebowmania on America, long past its expiration date. This is about Tim Tebow figuring out what he should have figured out about a decade ago.
Which is, he's not an NFL quarterback. But that doesn't mean he's not an NFL player.
And so now comes the news that the Jacksonville Jaguars worked him out as a tight end last week, and this suggests that finally there's a glimmer of self-awareness about the guy. A decade ago he was convinced he was a quarterback, because that's all he'd ever been. And he was a pretty damn good one -- some might even drop the word "legendary" -- in high school and college.
But high school and college are not the NFL. And Tebow simply didn't have the skill set (i.e.: an accurate enough throwing arm) to be a successful NFL quarterback.
What he did have, and this seemed obvious to a lot of us, were the size and athleticism to be an effective tight end or hybrid receiver in the NFL. He was never going to be Rob Gronkowski, but he could definitely be Gronk Lite.
That's why this makes all sorts of sense. Not only is Tebow reunited with his old college coach, Urban Meyer, he's still only 33. And tight end has become the new glamour position in the NFL, thanks to Gronk and Travis Kelce and George Kittle and a dozen others.
So, maybe the man's finally found his place in the pro game, even if it's taken awhile. Meyer said the other day they'd revisit the possibility of Tebow the Tight End, which suggests we may not have heard the last of this narrative.
The haters will groan and say, please, not Tebow Time again.
The rest of us will just shrug, and get ready to reset our clocks.
No comments:
Post a Comment