Buddy Martin Blog: Maybe It’s A Lost Cause. But Somehow Former Gator Tim Tebow Needs To Be A JaGator
Once in a while something comes along that clicks because it just makes good sense. It’s gonna be a home run! But why does it feel like people in power are reluctant to step to the plate to take the swing?
I’ve got one: Tim Tebow needs to become part of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Let’s start there and reverse engineer. Batter up!
Just to be clear, this is not a new idea and it has failed several times before. Usually because Tebow, himself, has shot it down. And I get the reason – he was committed to his TV career, baseball and now his wife and family.
Times are different now that baseball is out of the way and his former coach is the new czar of the Jaguars who can pretty much call his own shots.
Before I launch the litany of the reasons why this needs to happen, stop right there! Quit telling me it’s a dead horse and that I should cease beating it! Indeed, it’s a Live Horse! And besides, I don’t believe in cruelty animals.
Don’t give me reasons that it won’t work, or why you think that Tebow needs to be an assistant coach for Dan Mullen and help him recruit or become team chaplain instead.
A lost cause? Maybe. Especially since Tim has never shown a propensity for believing the Thomas Wolfe aphorism, “You Can’t Go Home Again.”
We all remember stories like the one from May 2012, how owner Shad Khan tried to make a deal with the Broncos, who had abandoned the Tebow Denver Love Story when John Elway came to town.
I remember how so many people like me signed up for the NFL DirecTV package so I could watch every Bronco game. And on a personal note, Woody Paige and myself were making plans for a book: Tebow BD and AD (Before Denver, After Denver). And then we weren’t.
The idea to bring the deposed Tebow back home was shopped. However, Khan concluded the deal for a third round pick would have to be made without Tim’s approval. “That would have been the worst thing for Jacksonville and the worse thing for him,” Khan told the Florida Times-Union.
The following year, populist attorney John Morgan even ran an ad beckoning President Obama and others to “bring home the native son.”
Realizing there is probably one chance in 1,000 of this ever happening, let me explain to you why will not give up on this quest. I am The Patron Saint of Lost Causes. Ask my friends.
The other day I heard one of those Washington politicians we so love to hate say something downright inspirational: “I eat ‘NO!’ for breakfast!”
Yeah and sometimes I dine on “No Way!” for lunch, followed by “You’ve got to be kidding!” for dinner, followed by “You’re nuts” for a snack.
When everybody gives up and tells me I am wasting my time, that’s when I like to dig in even deeper. If and when I ever do enjoy a rare victory, it tastes even sweeter.
Why Tebow? Why Jacksonville? Not just because his roots are “DUUUU-Vall” and he’s one of the cities indigenous people, or native sons. His coach needs him. (This is my take and not Urban’s). And, finally, it’s the right thing to do.
This should have happened a long time ago when Tim first came on the market in the 2010 draft. Jacksonville had the No. 10 choice and could have traded down for more picks (no second available) and gotten Tebow plus the defensive end it coveted instead of using that for Cal DE Tyson Alualu. Instead, Tim became a Bronco.
Full disclosure: Alualu has been a solid player for 11 seasons, his first seven with the Jags and last four for the Steelers. However, he wasn’t a transformative player or a franchise -maker. Could Tebow have done that? We’ll never know.
Although I have not discussed Tebow as a Jag with Urban, over the years we have talked about his NFL career many times. Meyer has always been mystified why some NFL coach couldn’t capitalize on Tim’s inspirational leadership skills and secret recipe for winning.
You did say, coach Meyer, that you wanted people who respected the Jaguar shield, wanted to be in Jacksonville and believed in rebuilding this thing from the bottom up. OK, Urb, the ball is in your court.
I don’t suggest that you put Tim in the quarterback room with Trevor Lawrence, or even that Tebow play quarterback.
Now that he’s quit baseball, however, my guess is that he’ll be craving some kind of competition. Why not give it a year as a player, maybe as an H-Back, Tim? Plus, the tight end today is becoming such an integral part of the offense – see Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay, Travis Kelce in Kansas City, etc. – and is often featured.
Perhaps he could try H-Back in camp and see if it works for a year or two, somewhat in the fashion of Trey Burton, who once was a Gator QB and has enjoyed a successful career with the Eagles and now plays for the Colts. Certainly even at 33, with the body he’s built there are still a couple of years in it.
He’d even make an excellent coach or coaching analyst but I doubt Tim is able to commit to the time. However, it leaves me wondering -- given that so much is being remotely these days during the Pandemic – why he couldn’t do the remote thing inseason and be a part of the draft, OTAs, etc. during the off-season.
Finally, imagine the unity that could forged in the JaGator Nation? They could even bring the Head Ball Coach in for a spring visit!
Hey, I’m a Happy Ending Guy. And the Patron Saint for Lost Causes won’t give up easily.
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