Via (CBS Sports)
A year after helping the Broncos to a division title and a wild-card playoff win over the Steelers, Tim Tebow found himself at the other end of the football-happiness spectrum. Traded to the Jets last March after Denver signed Peyton Manning, coach Rex Ryan said in the weeks and months leading up to training camp that Tebow would be a “major contributor” on offense, not to mention the special teams advantages he would offer as a punt protector.
Credit: US PressWire
All talk, it turned out.
By the time the season was over, Tebow’s line looked like this: 12 games, 6 for 8 passing for 39 yards, 2 sacks, 32 rushes for 102 yards and no touchdowns. Rock bottom came in Week 16 when Ryan benched Mark Sanchez for third-stringer Greg McElroy while a perfectly healthy Tebow watched from the sidelines.
McElroy suffered a concussion in the game and Ryan returned to Sanchez a week later while Tebow remained on the bench.
“It was my decision to stay with Sanchez [once McElroy was out with a concussion],” Ryan said at the time. “I was the only one who made that decision. It’s on me and, obviously, it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. … If I thought Tebow would have helped us win the game playing quarterback or defensive tackle, I would have played him.”
Following that Week 17 loss, Tebow sounded understandably uncertain about his future in New York.
“I think I’ll have to take a few days to really soak in and think about everything that happened,” he said Sunday when asked if he could remain in New York though he wants to be a starter. “I think you have to take a few days to take it all in and look at the season. Obviously, there were ups and downs.”
On Wednesday, Tebow spoke for the first time since the season ended. During an appearance on the Fox Business Network, the former Heisman Trophy winner was asked about his time with the Jets.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Tebow said, via the Newark Star-Ledger. “I believe everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future and in that there is a lot of peace and a lot of comfort.”
Doesn’t sound like somebody seriously considering the prospects of returning to New York. Tebow was noncommital on whether he’d be back in 2013, which was the answer Ryan and owner Woody Johnson offered up during their Wednesday press conference — the one where Ryan unveiled his plans for the Jets’ new “unpredictable” offense that is currently without a quarterback.
No way this doesn’t work out.
Source: CBS Sports News
