When it was announced Tim Tebow was going to be signing a contract to return to the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars after agreeing to attempt to play tight end instead of quarterback, it immediately led to debate about whether taking a shot on the 33-year-old was smart.
After all, Tebow hasn’t been on an NFL field for a regular-season game since 2012 and is going to attempt to play a new position in football after spending the last few years playing baseball.
Given Tebow’s local popularity and nationwide appeal, Jacksonville might be considering the signing (which has not been finalized) for attention purposes, not football reasons. And according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, not everyone in Jacksonville is all that happy about it.
In a segment on ESPN’s Get Up! this week, Darlington reported there is “serious disagreement” within the Jaguars organizations about first-year head coach Urban Meyer potentially signing the former first-round pick of the Broncos (who also played for him at Florida).
“There are coaches on that staff that don’t want to see it happen,” Darlington said. “There are also those who are saying, it’s not that big of a deal, he’s probably not going to be on the roster Week 1. To which you would say, why do it at all? Beyond the emotional side of this, is just the reality that it’s really not practical. It’s not likely to work. Urban Meyer would say, I’m going to add anyone to my team who has the potential to better this organization. To which you could look at it and say, how is it going to better the organization? There’s just really not very much upside at all.”
Upside or not, it certainly sounds as if it more likely than not that Jacksonville will end up inking Tebow to a deal based on what Meyer said to NBC football broadcaster Cris Collinsworth on a podcast.
“He’s a great athlete,” Meyer told Collinsworth. “He looks like he’s 18 years old not whatever he is, 33. And I said, ‘Guys, you don’t understand, now. This guy is, he’s the most competitive maniac you’re ever gonna talk to. And let’s give it a shot. And I have not decided if we’re gonna do that or not yet. Getting close. I gotta make a decision here pretty soon.”
Before making that decision, Meyer may want to listen to some of the coaches on his staff or take a good look at the film of Tebow’s lone snap at tight end when he was with the Jets.
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