You may have recently read on here that a group of prominent tight ends around the NFL were forming a ‘tight end university’, a summit similar to that which other position groups such as edge rushers and offensive linemen hold, in which they gather to bond and discuss their craft.
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron will be a part of this university project among others such as Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Greg Olsen, Mark Andrews, David Njoku, and Mike Gesicki. Ebron is apparently hoping to get at least one more tight end to commit: The recently signed Tim Tebow of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
we inviting Tebow to @te_university 👀 @gkittle46 @tkelce @gregolsen88
— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) May 20, 2021
Tebow, of course, is a former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the Florida Gators,. He won two national titles there under Urban Meyer. He also famously refused to switch positions when it was evaluated that he wouldn’t have a long-term future at cornerback.
Now with Meyer the head coach of the Jaguars, he has finally embraced the position switch a decade later. And after having given up on his baseball career path, spending about five years in the New York Mets’ farm system but never making it up to the major leagues.
Now 33 years old, Tebow has not touched an NFL field since 2015 when he last played for the Philadelphia Eagles, completing 21 of 36 passes for 286 yards with two touchdowns and an interception during the preseason — before being cut. He also failed to make the New England Patriots’ 53-man roster in 2013. He was out of football in 2014.
Tebow was, inexplicably, a first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos under Josh McDaniels in 2010. He would start 14 of 23 games played over two years for the Broncos. Denver went 8-6 in those games as they completely revamped their offense to work around him out of desperation. Tebow completed just 167 of 353 pass attempts (47.3 percent) for 2,383 yards, with 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions and a quarterback rating of 75.1. He also rushed for 887 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Of course, his most famous moment came in the Wild Card Round of the 2011 postseason, when his Broncos coming out of an awful AFC West (they went 8-8) hosted a 12-4 Steelers team without Ryan Clark, since he couldn’t play at Denver’s altitude without major risk to his health due to sickle cell anemia.
He would ultimately complete just 10 of 21 passes in that game, but for 316 yards and two touchdowns. That included an 80-yard game-winner on the first play of overtime to Demaryius Thomas. It was the first-ever postseason game to go into overtime after the rule change to eliminate sudden death and require a touchdown on the opening possession to win.
Tebowmania didn’t last long, however. Frankly, it wouldn’t be even remotely surprising if he completely flames out at tight end. After all, he is 33 years old and hasn’t played football in more than half a decade — and has never played tight end. He may have his old coach at the helm, but that’s not exactly a recipe for success. Sounds like Ebron is right, and Tebow could use a crash course at a university…
