Everyone from here to any impoverished country touched by his charitable charm knows that one of the greatest Florida Gators believes in a higher power.
Everyone from here to any impoverished country touched by his charitable charm knows that one of the greatest Florida Gators believes in a higher power.
He’d never say it like this, but running a close second must be Tim Tebow’s relentless faith in himself.
Because it looks as if Tebow — after two seasons in mothballs — has made it back to the NFL against all odds and insults.
And not as a TV analyst or a prayer-group leader or a trusted Patriots ball boy, but as a player.
It appears that Tebow will make the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster as at least their third-team quarterback.
Athletes are all about cultivating their “brand” or image today, whether they live it or not. Tebow has talked it and walked it beyond any sermon, following his own motivational and inspirational messages to reach the doorstep of this implausible comeback.
The fact that his revival as a backup’s backup hasn’t produced blaring Kardashian-like headlines and breathless TV helicopter reports might be because we’ve all finally collapsed from Tebow Fatigue. Or that the mother of all his uplifting stories simply can’t find air time between the next NFL mess.
Tebow’s return is like a flower growing out of a sidewalk, a small miracle considering he has been universally lampooned and left for dead in the quarterback graveyard.
His last worthwhile stop was in New York in 2012. His Jets teammates echoed countless negative reviews, one rating him as “terrible” — all anonymously, of course.
Tebow was released by New England in the preseason the next year, but refused to take a knee — other than to pray.
Florida’s 2007 Heisman Trophy winner worked overtime on his much-maligned mechanics between appearances on the SEC Network as an analyst and Good Morning America as a contributor.
All Tebow needed was one out-of-the-box-thinking NFL coach who would give his unorthodox style and polarizing personality a chance.
Chip Kelly is so far out of the box that he’s in another time zone.
Long an admirer of Tebow, Kelly signed him in April — and not to play tight end or linebacker.
“He’s a quarterback,” said Kelly, lauding Tebow’s improvement as a passer. “That’s how we’re looking at Timmy. We’re not looking at him at any other position.”
Tebow is listed as third on the Eagles’ depth chart behind starter Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez but in front of Matt Barkley. It’s not exactly a Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks.
Kelly has become the league’s mad scientist. Trading productive and popular players such as LeSean McCoy and Nick Foles, he also has become its lightning rod for controversy, making Tebow look like a wallflower.
There have been reports that Kelly has put Barkley on the trade block or will release him, clearing a spot for Tebow.
Maybe Tim will even do more than doodle on a clipboard.
“Tim Tebow is going to shock a lot of people, because he is going to make the team,” Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham told a Philadelphia radio station. “And I think he will play a lot.”
If that’s true, cynics will say that Kelly is expediting his return to college coaching.
But Tebow, 27, might have his best shot to earn significant playing time since his cameo heroics as a Denver Bronco, pre-Peyton Manning.
He could get work as a short-yardage/goal-line bulldozer for Kelly.
Tebow actually could be a few injuries or interceptions away from rekindling his lost love as a starter. Bradford is as fragile as spun glass. Sanchez flamed out with the Jets.
“I think sometimes when things are taken away from you, you realize how much fun it is to play this game,” Tebow told reporters. “You can’t play it forever, so I’m going to enjoy it.”
Most everyone thought he was delusional for persevering, subjecting himself to more scrutiny, especially in a town whose ruthless fans booed Santa Claus. Yet therein lies a lesson from Tebow — without preaching a word.
Say what you want about his beliefs, but Tim Tebow’s faith in a certain beaten-down quarterback is unshakable.