When New England Patriots made their final cuts to get to their 53 man roster, Tim Tebow was a name no one was shocked to see cut from the team. While many Tebow supporters were disappointed to see him not make a team, the move was not a big surprise. His few appearances during preseason were not that memorable. While he had a few flashes of brilliance, for the most part Tebow showed why he has not been a credible threat to overtake a starting quarterback position for any team with a good quarterback. His lackluster performances this preseason may have sealed his NFL fate.
Was Tebow given a fair shake in the NFL? Let's go back a ways and make a case. Tebow was a good not great quarterback in his days at Florida. While he did win a national championship and a Heisman during his time there, his skills were often hidden behind the fact that he had great receivers and a good running game. Tebow was never an under center type quarterback. He was a shotgun quarterback who could make the deep passes, but when hurried by a good defense often made poor decisions and many mistakes. He could win on spectacular last minute plays or lose on simple bad passes. He could scramble for the first down or throw the interception on the final drive. This was the duality of Tebow.
When draft time came, many analysts expected him to be a second or third round selection. He was good not great and could cost you a game as easily as he could win you one. He is a nice man but nice doesn't win you games so don't draft him if you didn't plan to spend a couple of years investing time into developing him into a NFL level quarterback. Much to everyone's shock the Denver Broncos drafted Tebow in the first round.
Tebow's time in Denver was much the same as at Florida. Flashes of greatness mixed with moments of indecisiveness and poorly thrown passes. In practice he completed less than 50 percent of his passes. In games the percentage was often lower. Somehow each week when he started though he would will the Broncos to a win. He even managed to get a playoff win, but his would not be enough to save him a job when the Broncos signed Peyton Manning. He was quickly shipped off to the Jets.
Tebow's time with Jets would prove to be disastrous. Never given the opportunity to start, his few playing moments came when Sanchez would have a terrible game or was injured. Often he had to try to bring the team back from behind. Again he had moments of greatness, but for the most part he was relegated to a clipboard on the sideline. He was cut from the Jets at the beginning of training cap this season when they drafted Geno Smith.
New England would be his next and final stop. People had hoped he would move to tight end as the Patriots were in need of a tight end after cutting Hernandez and an injured Gronkowski unable to play. He never played that position and the few times he did play in preseason showed the Patriots nothing worth keeping him as even a third stringer.
There are those who suggest Tebow go play in the CFL, in Europe or even in Arena League, but he is determined to make it in the NFL. If a team suffers an injury to their starting quarterback and is in need of a back up to their back up he may get a chance, but at this point it seems that ship has sailed and the Tebow era in the NFL may finally have ended.
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