With the news coming this morning that the New York Jets have released Tim Tebow, the medial and social media worlds are going to react in strange and mysterious ways. Not that Tebow discussion is ever sane or discussed with any form of relevancy — that he is free of a dysfunctional organization does not mean that wackiness that surrounds Tebow won’t follow him to wherever his next stop may be.
The mean streets of Twitter have already taken sides. Anti-Tebow folk are laughing at this move. In Tebow’s lone season with the Jets, he was primarily being used in special team packages more than quarterback situations. To them, that must be proof that he may lack the proper abilities to play the position.
I mean, if he can’t beat out the inept Mark Sanchez, well, he can’t be that good. Although, that argument may come at the cost of completely ignoring the Jets’ inability to get anything correct.
Then there is Tebow-lovers. These folks have no sense of subjectivity. Everything Tebow does — regardless of doing so poorly or well — is taken as a sign of the second coming of our savior. If he happened to throw a pass in the dirt, then these people will point out that amazing block he picked up while he was inserted in punt protection.
To them, being released from the Jets is not something that should be held against Tebow, but it now saves him from decomposing on the bench one Sanchez butt-fumble at a time.
However, all of the social media takes are going to pale in comparison to the full-court press that ESPN will surely put on this story.
Despite a backup quarterback being as relevant as a lobster in a doghouse, it is not hard to imagine Skip Bayless salivating from the mouth — just waiting to let the world know how this is a blessing in disguise for his boy Timmy.
He will blame the Jets for misusing him, not properly developing him and will “guarantee” Tebow will get another job that will give him a chance to show he is better than whatever other QB is on Bayless’ make-fun-of-for-no-legitimate-reason list.
I am actually a Tebow guy. Unlike many other people who root for him, however, I can be pretty unbiased and subjective. There aren’t an abundance of organizations that would be willing to take on a quarterback who is getting older while not getting any better.
How many teams would be willing to take a flyer out on a guy who is going to bring a circus to your team? GMs and coaches are wary to do that to guys who are proven to be competent NFL players, nevertheless one who is as much a strange commodity as Tebow was when he came in the league.
Secretly (well, not so secretly now), I am rooting for this to be the end of the road for Tebow. If he were not to land another job in the NFL, then people of my ilk can just pass the buck onto others for Tebow’s shortcomings in the league. We can point out his playoff victory in his lone run as a real starting quarterback while completely ignoring the fact that no coach actually wanted him in the lineup.
You know — “No coach really got behind the Tebow movement. So there is no way he was going to succeed.” That kind of thing.
Still, it does not matter if Tebow will have teams calling him about coming to their franchise. People will unreasonably throw all of the meaningless stats, misnomers and whatever misguided information that they can get their grubby hands on to justify whatever Tebow-related point they are trying to make.
At the end of the day, this Tebow story will dominate the news cycle. From people breaking down his next possible stops to who is to blame for Tebow’s current unemployment — no story could have less relevance, but have more traction than this for the foreseeable future.
Really though, this does not matter in the scheme of things one bit. No team’s fortunes will change by signing or releasing him. Tebow is not the golden goose …
Oh, look. Another breaking Tebow story.
So pretty …
Joe is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JosephNardone
