Watch out sports world, it just may be Tebow Time again. Unfortunately for NFL fans and Tebow alike, it just might have to happen on a much smaller scale.
Reports are surfacing that the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators have expressed a large amount of interest in getting the former Heisman winner on their team. Considering that his relationship with the New York Jets organization ranges somewhere in between abusive and hopeless, it might not be such a bad fit.
"Tim would certainly want to first exhaust his opportunities in the NFL, but we'd love to have him," Predators president Brett Bouchy told the Orlando Sentinel.
The story of Tim Tebow is one that has caused quite a bit of controversy and I-told-you-so's ever since he was selected with the 25th pick in the 2010 draft by the Denver Broncos. As a Heisman winner with poor technical skills at the quarterback position, he was regarded as an interesting prospect but also a bit of a risk.
In his second year with the Broncos, Tebow was finally given the opportunity to lead his team after starting quarterback Kyle Orton could only manage one win in the team's first five games. It then became Tebow Time. Tebow put on a baffling display of football prowess mixed with a complete lack of quarterbacking fundamentals, and was able to lead his team to a 7-4 record as a starter, and amazingly, right into the playoffs. They were able to beat the Steelers at home but stood little chance against the Patriots thereafter.
A solid campaign for someone's first shot at a starting job, right? Well, it wasn't good enough, and Tebow soon found himself out of Denver, who elected to sign the ever-productive Peyton Manning instead. Tebow eventually found a home with the New York Jets, but they always shied away from using Tebow and his run-option offense to its full extent, and so languished with Mark Sanchez as their starting quarterback.
A move to the Arena Football League might not be a bad option for Tebow. The New York Jets have made it clear they have no interest in using him, and no other teams seem too keen on him either. Playing outside of the NFL will at least give him the repetitions and exposure he deserves right now. If he is able to be highly productive in the AFL, it might give his career just the spark it needs. Kurt Warner, a former NFL MVP and AFL quarterback, certainly saw the benefits for Tebow when talking to Bouchy:
"Kurt Warner told me once that when he got back to the NFL after playing in the Arena League, the NFL game was like slow motion. Everything in the Arena League is just so much faster and quicker and predicated on accuracy. Whenever Tim is willing, we have a contract waiting for him to sign."
