Tebow laments end of time with Patriots

[E5 Yaz]

It’s difficult because it also cuts into your pride, it cuts into your goals, it cuts into your dreams, and when all of that feels like it’s shaken, how do you react? How do you handle it? And, for me, I felt like, ‘Hey, going to the Patriots was gonna be a dream come true.’ Play under Tom Brady, and then when he retires, we’ll go play for Belichick and win a bunch of Super Bowls, and that was my goal. That’s what I thought was gonna happen, and then you get cut and it’s like, ‘Hey, what do I do next?

I felt I had let myself down. I didn’t believe I performed as well in practice or the preseason as I could have, but I was getting better. I had been stoked about the opportunity to learn and train under Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and planned on using that experience to become one of the best quarterbacks of all time too.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/bill-belichick-destroyed-tim-tebows-dream-as-only-bill-belichick-could-190655635.html

Maybe Bill should send him a note

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

So he basically blamed himself, but you thought the headline needed some punching up?

 

[E5 Yaz]

Pretty much. I was just going off what the blog's headline was.

I'll get it changed

 

[Jimbodandy]

Yahoo did, but yeah, what you said.

 

[DeadlySplitter]

You sucked Tim.

 

[mauidano]

It’s difficult because it also cuts into your pride, it cuts into your goals, it cuts into your dreams, and when all of that feels like it’s shaken, how do you react? How do you handle it? And, for me, I felt like, ‘Hey, going to the Patriots was gonna be a dream come true.’ Play under Tom Brady, and then when he retires, we’ll go play for Belichick and win a bunch of Super Bowls, and that was my goal. That’s what I thought was gonna happen, and then you get cut and it’s like, ‘Hey, what do I do next?

I felt I had let myself down. I didn’t believe I performed as well in practice or the preseason as I could have, but I was getting better. I had been stoked about the opportunity to learn and train under Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and planned on using that experience to become one of the best quarterbacks of all time too.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/bill-belichick-destroyed-tim-tebows-dream-as-only-bill-belichick-could-190655635.html

Maybe Bill should send him a note

Literally laughed out loud; literally!

 

[mauf]

So he basically blamed himself, but you thought the headline needed some punching up?

He blamed himself, but the story can't help but make BB look bad for counseling Tebow to turn down a $1 million endorsement deal shortly before cutting him. Most people would think it's not right to lead a man of below-average intelligence astray when he asks you for advice, even if he has no reasonable basis to assume you're looking out for his best interests.

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

He blamed himself, but the story can't help but make BB look bad for counseling Tebow to turn down a $1 million endorsement deal shortly before cutting him. Most people would think it's not right to lead a man of below-average intelligence astray when he asks you for advice, even if he has no reasonable basis to assume you're looking out for his best interests.

I'm not sure that anyone really views Tim Tebow as being a man of below average intelligence, do they? The endorsement deal was somewhat shady if I remember correctly, so it was pretty decent advice.

Tim Tebow is a really, really decent human who was an amazing college football player. He couldn't cut it as a pro, but he worked his rear off trying to do so. Now he is playing in the peanut leagues trying to realize his dream of being a pro athlete. If I had his talents I would like to think that I would do the exact same thing.

People seem to want to villify the guy and I have never been able to understand it. He does legit good things, has never been caught - to my knowledge - doing things that are hypocritical and while I don't see eye to eye with the guy on politics, I respect the heck out of him. Trying to make this about Tim Tebow blaming Belichick seems a bit of a stretch to me.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

So he basically blamed himself, but you thought the headline needed some punching up?

Did you see the headline on the article at Yahoo?

Bill Belichick destroyed Tim Tebow's NFL dream as only Bill Belichick could

E5 ain't the one putting the spin on this.

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

Did you see the headline on the article at Yahoo?

Bill Belichick destroyed Tim Tebow's NFL dream as only Bill Belichick could

E5 ain't the one putting the spin on this.

For some reason the Yahoo headline made me laugh. But "Bill Belichick destroyed MY hopes and dreams" is a different headline from the Yahoo one. It implies that Tebow was blaming Belichick, which he absolutely did not do.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

He ought to be blaming himself. He earned almost $10 million as a player but didn't have a house or car after the Pats cut him?

 

[steveluck7]

I was gonna post this in the Tebow thread in the MLB thread. I definitely thought the headline was click bait since it doesnt seem like Tim actually blames Bill but...

Seriously, Tim?!?! You were gonna back up Brady and then become one of the greatest QBs of all time and win Super Bowls?? Seriously?

The headline should have been "Years later, Tim Tebow still has zero self awareness."

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

 

[Eddie Jurak]

He ought to be blaming himself. He earned almost $10 million as a player but didn't have a house or car after the Pats cut him?

H&B?

 

[mauf]

I'm not sure that anyone really views Tim Tebow as being a man of below average intelligence, do they? The endorsement deal was somewhat shady if I remember correctly, so it was pretty decent advice.

Tim Tebow is a really, really decent human who was an amazing college football player. He couldn't cut it as a pro, but he worked his rear off trying to do so. Now he is playing in the peanut leagues trying to realize his dream of being a pro athlete. If I had his talents I would like to think that I would do the exact same thing.

People seem to want to villify the guy and I have never been able to understand it. He does legit good things, has never been caught - to my knowledge - doing things that are hypocritical and while I don't see eye to eye with the guy on politics, I respect the heck out of him. Trying to make this about Tim Tebow blaming Belichick seems a bit of a stretch to me.

I was being a smart-ass, but I do think Tebow wasn't (and isn't) terribly bright.

Overall, though, I agree with you. His fans piss me off (for reasons I've gone into in other threads), but I've never heard a persuasive reason why I should dislike Tebow personally.

 

[Old Fart Tree]

Get fucked Tim.

 

[luckiestman]

I was being a smart-ass, but I do think Tebow wasn't (and isn't) terribly bright.

Overall, though, I agree with you. His fans piss me off (for reasons I've gone into in other threads), but I've never heard a persuasive reason why I should dislike Tebow personally.

I've only heard good things about Tebow and my brother in law is pretty plugged in to the Gainesville scene (Urban on the other hand...)

 

[Marciano490]

Obviously it's absurd for Tebow to believe he can be an all time great QB, but I still appreciate the mentality and imagine that's part of what got him where he went.

 

[mauf]

Obviously it's absurd for Tebow to believe he can be an all time great QB, but I still appreciate the mentality and imagine that's part of what got him where he went.

Oh, hell yes. It's fun to make fun of Tebow, but if he didn't have that kind of confidence bordering on arrogance, we never would've heard of him.

 

[shaggydog2000]

Obviously it's absurd for Tebow to believe he can be an all time great QB, but I still appreciate the mentality and imagine that's part of what got him where he went.

When does confidence become arrogance? When does belief in yourself become delusion? I would accuse Tebow of not knowing the delusion line, but I've never heard him called arrogant. I more have an issue with the level of marketing he receives. It's like if there were constant ads for unflavored instant oatmeal during the football games I watch. Ok, maybe it's healthy, and a lot of people might eat it, and sure oatmeal used to be a go to back in the day, and if you put exactly the right extra stuff around it, it could do the job at being a decent breakfast. It's not like Quaker doesn't realize unflavored oatmeal sucks balls. But if people keep buying it, why wouldn't they sell it? Can't blame them either. But if I have to hear about how amazingly fantastically delicious and nutritious it is at every fucking commercial break, I might throw the remote through my TV.

 

[Marciano490]

De gustibus. Why do people like Peyton more than Tom or Donald more than Kasich or the Kardashians or Gigi and Bella more than Romee and Stella?

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

Get fucked Tim.

Read the article......and then realize that Tim Tebow is basically the guy in havebatwilltravel with a bit more size. Seriously.

 

[Old Fart Tree]

While that's flattering (or incredibly harsh on tebow) I'm just so fucking sick of the guy. I did read the article. I just wish he'd go away.

 

[Reardon's Beard]

Such a whiny millennial.

 

[Marciano490]

While that's flattering (or incredibly harsh on tebow) I'm just so fucking sick of the guy. I did read the article. I just wish he'd go away.

Not every overrated QB with a bad beard can go to Stanford.

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

While that's flattering (or incredibly harsh on tebow) I'm just so fucking sick of the guy. I did read the article. I just wish he'd go away.

I guess we see this differently. I have never seen the guy desperately seek the spotlight or attention whore, and maybe I am missing the obvious. The guy holds himself to a high standard as a human and as an athlete, and he desperately wants to be a pro athlete.

Give that fucker some red hair and love of thick steaks and you know who he is don't you? Say it......come on.....say it. Rhymes with "Bevan Bahr."

 

[deanx0]

I guess we see this differently. I have never seen the guy desperately seek the spotlight or attention whore, and maybe I am missing the obvious. The guy holds himself to a high standard as a human and as an athlete, and he desperately wants to be a pro athlete.

Give that fucker some red hair and love of thick steaks and you know who he is don't you? Say it......come on.....say it. Rhymes with "Bevan Bahr."

Um, Bevan Bahr does not rhyme with Andy Dalton.....IDIOT!

 

[Reverend]

What drugs was Michael Jackson on when he died and how can we make sure we keep them away from Tebow?

 

[InstaFace]

Get fucked Tim.

See, that right there, that's one of Tebow's problems...

 

[Old Fart Tree]

I guess we see this differently. I have never seen the guy desperately seek the spotlight or attention whore, and maybe I am missing the obvious. The guy holds himself to a high standard as a human and as an athlete, and he desperately wants to be a pro athlete.

Give that fucker some red hair and love of thick steaks and you know who he is don't you? Say it......come on.....say it. Rhymes with "Bevan Bahr."

Agree to disagree. I am just feeling cranky maybe.

 

[Ed Hillel]

What drugs was Michael Jackson on when he died and how can we make sure we keep them away from Tebow?

Propofol, as a sleep aid, which is a sedative used to knock people out for medical procedures. His tox screen was clean, other than that.

You knew it was gonna be me.

 

[Toe Nash]

If he wasn't so flamboyantly devout we would have stopped hearing about him long ago and arguably he wouldn't have been given so many shots in the NFL. There are plenty of guys who love Jesus just as much as him but don't make a big deal of it, putting verses on their eye black and praying on the field all the time. Like, AC Green was a virgin too (and actually a good player), but just wasn't up in everyone's face about it. So it's wrong to say he "never sought the spotlight." He may say it's all for the man upstairs, but if he didn't want the attention, he wouldn't do a lot of what he did.

He also really, really sucked for the Broncos but his defense pulled out game after game yet somehow everything got attributed to him, which was supremely annoying.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Flamboyantly devout is what's getting him attention even now after he's failed out of the NFL and is about to fail out of minor league baseball. His faith may be sincere and he might be a nice guy (and I see zero reason to doubt either of those things), but his faith is also his brand and he's very, very sure to market that brand at every opportunity. It's straight out of the Kirk Cameron playbook.

He sucked at football yet made almost $10 million from it. Showing up on TV yesterday talking about his "tough journey" is a bit much, but he's essentially harmless. I'd like the guy more if not for the bootlicking attention he gets.

 

[joe dokes]

but I was getting better.

Not by any measure visible to the human eye.



He's Ryan Leaf with a crucifix and without a substance abuse problem.

 

[TheoShmeo]

I think it's not only about him being so outwardly devout. Tebow had the aura or perception of being a winner and having his results exceed his talents. That playoff game when he made the game winning pass feeds into that. My point is that the attention around Tebow is that many in the media and many fans looked at him as a guy who would contribute to winning beyond what his natural abilities would normally allow, and that is one of those intangibles that sparks the imagination.

For me the problem was not that or the religious thing. He just sucked at football and I wanted no part of that suck on the Pats.

 

[Rick Burlesons Yam Bag]

If he wasn't so flamboyantly devout we would have stopped hearing about him long ago and arguably he wouldn't have been given so many shots in the NFL. There are plenty of guys who love Jesus just as much as him but don't make a big deal of it, putting verses on their eye black and praying on the field all the time. Like, AC Green was a virgin too (and actually a good player), but just wasn't up in everyone's face about it. So it's wrong to say he "never sought the spotlight." He may say it's all for the man upstairs, but if he didn't want the attention, he wouldn't do a lot of what he did.

He also really, really sucked for the Broncos but his defense pulled out game after game yet somehow everything got attributed to him, which was supremely annoying.

See, I disagree. He is not up in peoples' collective grills with his faith, he just chooses to pray as a touchdown celebration, which has been done by many (Mark Bavaro being one of the most famous).

The guy does a ton of mission work and he lives what he says.

As far as him sucking and wondering how he made $10MM, two things; a) he was one of the greatest college football players of all time, and b) look at the idiot on your sidelines who picked him three rounds too early.

Finally, no one says he was a great NFL QB. For the last 5 years folks want to give themselves PhDs in football for the brilliant insight of him not being good. Unfortunately for those folks, 98 percent of humans who watch football were there already.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

There's a little anecdote about Tebow and BB before the draft, when the two were spotted having dinner in the North End together (and Tebow had a football with him).

Basically, Michael Holley says that BB coveted McCourty and Gronk. He wasn't really afraid of people drafting them in the first round, but the Tebow (and Dez Bryant stories) were very public smoke screens, hopefully to get two teams to take them and allowing the Patriots to trade down and still get the two players they wanted. Worked out with Tebow, Bryant definitely could have been useful, obviously.

 

[dcmissle]

Have always loved the guy, respected the player, and hated the phenomenon.

I don't believe he had much to do with the phenomenon. Thank Bristol for that. The short version is the Four-Letter had knowledgeable analysts who knew he could not play QB at the pro level, at least without massive changes to his game and a couple of years of learning out of the spotlight. Sadly, McDaniels -- in a moment of unchecked lunacy and hubris -- effed up this plausible path. ESPN went to town, the charge led by two magnificently paid but miserable a-holes on First Take, and the rest is history.

 

[InstaFace]

Wasn't McDaniels essentially ordered to draft him in the first round, chucked Kyle Orton after a 4-12 season, and then somehow got to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs while mostly running a college offense? I have a hard time laying any blame on him after that act of team necromancy.

I agree you can't hold Tebow the Man responsible for Tebow the Phenomenon. The former seems like a helluva decent guy and I do wish he'd seen a little more professional success for all his troubles. That said, we need to remember that his unwillingness to switch from the QB position is at least a little responsible for his parting of ways with the Patriots (and the rest of the NFL). BB probably saw him and thought about Edelman, whom he told the night he drafted him "I don't know where we're going to play you yet, but you're a football player and we'll figure it out". In Tebow he got Edelman's work ethic and athletic potential, but not Edelman's intelligence or flexibility.

 

[joe dokes]

While I think he received inordinate amounts of attention, I don't think he went out of his way to attract it. Its often hard to separate the two. I was sick of the attention, but not necessarily of him (other than the fact that he wasn't very good at NFL football). I suspect InstaFace's analysis above -- that BB saw a "football player" and that he would figure out how to use him later -- is on the right track. He certainly met the "loves football" criterion that BB so highly values.

 

[dcmissle]

Wasn't McDaniels essentially ordered to draft him in the first round, chucked Kyle Orton after a 4-12 season, and then somehow got to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs while mostly running a college offense? I have a hard time laying any blame on him after that act of team necromancy.

I agree you can't hold Tebow the Man responsible for Tebow the Phenomenon. The former seems like a helluva decent guy and I do wish he'd seen a little more professional success for all his troubles. That said, we need to remember that his unwillingness to switch from the QB position is at least a little responsible for his parting of ways with the Patriots (and the rest of the NFL). BB probably saw him and thought about Edelman, whom he told the night he drafted him "I don't know where we're going to play you yet, but you're a football player and we'll figure it out". In Tebow he got Edelman's work ethic and athletic potential, but not Edelman's intelligence or flexibility.

???

On his 34th birthday, holding the keys to the entire franchise, McDaniels traded picks to draft Tebow and said:

“He has all the traits you look for,” McDaniels said. “It’s a good pick.”

I'd like to see support for the proposition that Josh was bludgeoned into it.

 

[Stitch01]

Tebow had no plausible path. He was going to be a terrible pro quarterback wherever and however he ended up in the pros. His 2011 stretch was fun though.

 

[Marciano490]

If he wasn't so flamboyantly devout we would have stopped hearing about him long ago and arguably he wouldn't have been given so many shots in the NFL. There are plenty of guys who love Jesus just as much as him but don't make a big deal of it, putting verses on their eye black and praying on the field all the time.

He also really, really sucked for the Broncos but his defense pulled out game after game yet somehow everything got attributed to him, which was supremely annoying.

And his Nationwide commercials are so damn annoying. And I can't believe he got all that money from Houston.

 

[InstaFace]

???

On his 34th birthday, holding the keys to the entire franchise, McDaniels traded picks to draft Tebow and said:

“He has all the traits you look for,” McDaniels said. “It’s a good pick.”

I'd like to see support for the proposition that Josh was bludgeoned into it.

It's possible I confused that situation with the Browns' drafting of Johnny Football. Talk about two people on the opposite ends of the good-person spectrum but similar career arcs at QB. Anyway, yeah, you're clearly right.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

The story about BB telling him not to take the million dollar endorsement doesn't really hold water.

-Tons of Pats players have endorsement deals, both local and national. Maybe the advice was something along the lines of "it is going to take every ounce of your concentration to even make this roster" or something like that, but I find it highly unusual that BB would tell a guy not to take an endorsement deal available to him.

-Why would the endorsement deal go away once he was cut by the Pats? He had already been cut by the Broncos and Jets at that point, and everybody knew (except for Tebow apparently) he was a longshot to make the Pats roster. But someone was offering him a million dollar endorsement deal, but only if he was on the Pats roster? If that were the case, you would think the endorsement deal would have been held back until at least after he made the active roster out of training camp.

-He says it doesn't bother him and he would do it again. So why even mention it in the book then?

I'm not saying the conversation didn't happen, but there's something about the story as told by Tebow that doesn't make a ton of sense and feels more like an exaggeration to drive some easy conversation about the book.

 

[Super Nomario]

Wasn't McDaniels essentially ordered to draft him in the first round, chucked Kyle Orton after a 4-12 season, and then somehow got to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs while mostly running a college offense? I have a hard time laying any blame on him after that act of team necromancy.

Aside from dcmissile's note on the first part of your comment, the rest of it is wrong, too. They traded Cutler FOR Orton on McDaniels' watch, and then he got canned 12 games into the 4-12 season. The Tebow playoff run happened under John Fox (with Mike McCoy as OC).

I agree you can't hold Tebow the Man responsible for Tebow the Phenomenon. The former seems like a helluva decent guy and I do wish he'd seen a little more professional success for all his troubles. That said, we need to remember that his unwillingness to switch from the QB position is at least a little responsible for his parting of ways with the Patriots (and the rest of the NFL). BB probably saw him and thought about Edelman, whom he told the night he drafted him "I don't know where we're going to play you yet, but you're a football player and we'll figure it out". In Tebow he got Edelman's work ethic and athletic potential, but not Edelman's intelligence or flexibility.

I agree with most of this. It's fair to note that Tebow was a lot more successful as a college QB than Edelman (54.5% completion rate and 30 / 31 TD / INT rate for his Kent State career) and was a first-round pick as a QB, so it's understandable why he was more reluctant to transition.

 

[GregHarris]

Curtis Martin. Equally devout, HoF player, yet 5% of the hubris.

 

[Pandemonium67]

I just wish he'd saved Aaron Hernandez from a life of sin.

 

[joe dokes]

The story about BB telling him not to take the million dollar endorsement doesn't really hold water.

-Tons of Pats players have endorsement deals, both local and national. Maybe the advice was something along the lines of "it is going to take every ounce of your concentration to even make this roster" or something like that, but I find it highly unusual that BB would tell a guy not to take an endorsement deal available to him.

-Why would the endorsement deal go away once he was cut by the Pats? He had already been cut by the Broncos and Jets at that point, and everybody knew (except for Tebow apparently) he was a longshot to make the Pats roster. But someone was offering him a million dollar endorsement deal, but only if he was on the Pats roster? If that were the case, you would think the endorsement deal would have been held back until at least after he made the active roster out of training camp.

-He says it doesn't bother him and he would do it again. So why even mention it in the book then?

I'm not saying the conversation didn't happen, but there's something about the story as told by Tebow that doesn't make a ton of sense and feels more like an exaggeration to drive some easy conversation about the book.

I took it to mean that he would need time during training camp to deal with it somehow. Maybe not at the level of "I have to miss a day," but I think that most fringe players understand that if they think they need to ask about something other than a family emergency, the answer is probably "its not a great idea." Tebow didn't see himself as fringe. (Maybe no one sees themselves that way).

I also think that's the same answer Nate Ebner would have gotten about rugby in the summer of 2012.

 

[InstaFace]

The question about why that endorsement opportunity would go away if he delayed a few weeks to see if he made the roster still stands, though.