Saying that Tim Tebow was “introduced” by the New York Jets today at a press conference is really overstating things, since Tebow was up on the podium by himself. The coaches and owner were down in West Palm Beach for the NFL owners’ meetings this week. And perhaps Tebow standing alone at the podium says more about the situation than the Jets intended.
Has any significant player signing EVER been followed by a player introducing himself to the media, without anyone from the team there to make a few comments? I’m not sure it could or would happen with anyone else, and it represents a strange mixture of trust and neglect on the part of the Jets.
Typical free agent signings are accompanied by some comments from the coaches, and for a big signing by the team owner as well. Look at the announcement of Peyton Manning’s signing in Denver or Mario Williams’ signing in Buffalo as recent examples. A less noteworthy player signing may not have a press conference at all, but a player of Tebow’s stature (or “celebrity” if you prefer) going to New York and facing the New York Media is certainly worthy of a press conference.
It shows a very high level of trust to put Tebow up there by himself with no one from the team there to answer questions. But it also shows a certain degree of neglect. Obviously, the Broncos have tremendous trust in Manning, but it would have seemed disrespectful if John Elway and Pat Bowlen weren’t at the announcement.
And for anyone who thinks that the press conference was a Tebow publicity stunt, nothing could be further from the truth. Asked about the media circus at his press conference, and the potential of media interest becoming a distraction to the team, his answer was classic Tebow – humble and self-deprecating.
“It’s an honor for all of you to show up to hear me say a few words today. I really don’t feel like it will be too much of a distraction,” Tebow said, then added with a chuckle, “The reason we’re doing this today is because I have bosses too, and they wanted me to stand up and talk to you all. So you can blame it on them.”
The Jets indicated that they had so many requests for interviews that they felt that this was the only appropriate way to handle it, but the way they handled it may reveal a little bit about their attitude towards Tebow. Certainly there were on-field considerations, and Tebow’s talents as a player should not be overlooked. With Tony Sparano at offensive coordinator, the Jets figure to work the Wildcat, or some variation of it, into their offense for next season. The Jets’ offense was near the bottom of the league last year, so they could certainly use a spark at times.
But there has been talk about his “locker room influence” and “leadership” and I think Rex Ryan is hoping both for a positive influence in the currently divided Jets locker room, and an additional lightning rod to draw attention to the Jets, hopefully positive attention, in the media circus in New York.
The one thing nobody questions about Tebow is his character. He is a positive force, on and off the field, and a hard-worker who puts the team first. Elway, while he was in the process of replacing Tebow with Peyton Manning, said that if he could pick someone to marry his daughter, it would be Tebow. That’s just the kind of guy he is.
But to ask one man to try to fix a divided locker room and a leadership vacuum, and to do it from the position of backup quarterback / Wildcat option, is probably asking too much even for Tebow. At the very least, he’s going to need a lot of help to turn things around for the Jets after the disappointment of last season, and if the empty podium is any indication, I’m not sure he’s going to get it.
For a few other significant comments from the press conference today:
On working with Mark Sanchez:
“From my conversations with him, he was excited about working with me and I’m excited about working with him,” Tebow said. “I have a lot of respect for him as a football player and a person. He’s always handled himself with a lot of class and integrity and won a lot of games as a quarterback. I think we’ll have a great working relationship, supporting each other in our roles. I’m excited about that opportunity and hopefully we’ll be able to thrive together.”
On wanting the starting job:
“I think for everybody that puts on a uniform, you want to go out there, you want to play. That’s why you play football,” Tebow said. “That’s why I’m excited to be a jet, to go out there and help them anyway I can and expand on my role. Every day in practice I’m going to go out and compete and get better as a quarterback and help this team any way I can.”
On religion, which had never mentioned until he was asked, more than 15 minutes into the interview:
“I don’t think I’m the first athlete who’s gotten on my knee and prayed,” he said with a smile. “But it’s known as Tebowing, I’m not sure why. It’s not all a bad thing. If people are talking about prayer and talking about my faith, I think that’s pretty cool.”
On the Wildcat offense:
“I think one misconception is that people think the Wildcat is a direct snap to a running back, you fake it and run power, outside zone or inside zone,” he said. “To have the ability to have five or six people who can touch the ball on every single play, I think it can be confusing, it can make defenses play slow. When you have a great offensive coordinator like Coach Sparano putting together packages and plays, I think it can be effective.”
