Former Tim Tebow Teammate: ‘I Would Throw Him Around At Tight End’

Dan Lyons
Tim Tebow talking to Urban Meyer during a game.
Tim Tebow talking to Urban Meyer during a game.

It looks like we’re going to see the “Tim Tebow, tight end” experiment play out this summer, as he has worked out at the new position with Urban Meyer‘s Jacksonville Jaguars staff. Per reports, the team intends to sign him this offseason.

The move has obviously given rise to plenty of intrigue as well as consternation over the players who won’t get that same kind of opportunity. Tebow is from the Jacksonville area and is Meyer’s top college protege, so it isn’t a huge surprise that this is the situation in which he may get back to the NFL, but almost no one else would get this chance.

Of course, if he can play the position and help the team, it becomes a moot point. One of his former teammates with the New England Patriots, for whom Tebow played briefly ahead of the 2013 season, doesn’t see it as a realistic fit though.

Rob Ninkovich appeared on this morning’s edition of ESPN’s Get Up! He wasn’t super kind when asked by host Mike Greenberg whether he thought Tebow had a chance to really stick at tight end with the Jags.

“Honestly, I look at this: if you threw a helmet and shoulder pads on me, and I haven’t played in four years, I would be able to throw around Tim Tebow as a tight end,” Ninkovich said, after being asked if he thought Tim Tebow could make the 53-man roster. “Listen, listen, you can’t just go from quarterback to a tight end. You can’t do it.

Rob Ninkovich, who last played as a New England Patriots in 2016, also has the young tight ends trying to make a roster in his thoughts as Tebow gets the opportunity in Jacksonville. From 247Sports:

“There’s guys on rosters, and this is one of the issues that I have with the whole thing. There’s some kid that’s coming out of college that wants an opportunity and wants just to have that roster spot to go out and have the opportunity to possibly make a team. Tim Tebow has had that opportunity in the NFL. He’s had his opportunity in the NFL. He was a quarterback — it didn’t last very long. Then he wanted to go play baseball — OK. Go play baseball. It didn’t work out in baseball.

“So now his relationship with Urban Meyer gives him another chance to go play football. But it’s not like that in football, and this is one reason I love football and I fell in love with the game, you can’t hide. You can’t hide in football. You can’t go out in left field and just go somewhere. When you’re on that field and you put pads on, you’re exposed. That’s why I love the game. When you put pads on and someone’s talking, you say ‘Alright, let’s put pads on. Let’s see who’s the tougher guy.’ You can see the people who can play. You can see it with your eyes. The film doesn’t lie. The eye in the sky — you should say ‘the eye in the sky don’t lie.’ Because once that film is on, you’re going to be exposed.”

Ultimately you can’t blame Tim Tebow for taking the opportunity presented to him, and if he turns out to be the Jaguars’ best option for a tight end, good for him, but it does feel like a bit of a stunt. Tebow was last on an NFL roster ahead of the 2015 season, and hasn’t appeared in a game since 2012.

The post Former Tim Tebow Teammate: ‘I Would Throw Him Around At Tight End’ appeared first on The Spun.

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