Former ESPN analyst and minor league baseball player Tim Tebow saw his pro football dreams dashed today, cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a widely-expected move.
Tebow himself announced the end, although his tweets left it vague enough that some people may have suspected he retired on his own:
Thank you to the @Jaguars organization and everyone who has supported me in this journey.
And we know that…God works all things together for good. Romans 8:28
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) August 17, 2021
A few minutes later Adam Schefter confirmed what happened:
Jaguars have released TE Tim Tebow.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 17, 2021
The move comes after Jacksonville’s first preseason game saw Tebow go viral for a few plays that showed why this entire thing was such a sham in the first place:
https://twitter.com/biggameJames_36/status/1426713414341206023
Honestly, the Tebow block that went viral wasn't even his worst block of the night. This was *the very next play* pic.twitter.com/tINWyJpWSE
— Chris Towers is the Riley Greene Preservation Soc (@CTowersCBS) August 16, 2021
Age aside, it’s a testament to how specialized the NFL is that it’s easier for a quarterback to go play baseball than to try and play tight end.
Tebow will at some point probably return to work in the media; prior to this, he worked as an analyst for ESPN, mainly studio work on SEC Network. Given this NFL experiment ended with weeks to spare before the college football season, it’s not impossible that he lands back on the air in time for opening week. (Or maybe he tries to train for some random Olympic sport now, who knows.)
This whole thing, though, is a pretty tough look for Urban Meyer, another analyst returning to football this year. Bringing Tebow in when it was obvious to just about everyone that it wouldn’t work, and then having it not work in very visible fashion, can’t be a great start for a new coach trying to win the confidence of a pro locker room.
