Tim Tebow deserves credit for giving football one more shot

After years away from the NFL Tim Tebow decided to give football one more go and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars last May. Although he didn’t make the team, he should be commended for giving it a shot even though the odds were against him.

Have you ever watched that one movie called Monsters University? The main character, Mike Wazowski, dreams of being the best professional scarer. He outworks everyone and studies day in and day out only to realize he isn’t “scary enough”. After coping with his disappointment, he comes to the realization that he’s got a talent for coaching and goes on to teach others how to “scare”.

By now, you may be wondering what this has to do with Tim Tebow, and the answer is a lot. You can work hard and do everything you can to achieve your dreams but you’re going to sometimes fall short. That’s precisely what happened to the 25th overall selection in 2021’s draft.

Even though Tebow enjoyed success playing quarterback at the college level, he didn’t cut it in the pros and was out of the NFL after just three years. He attended a few tryouts but they never materialized into a roster spot, so he changed the cleats for the spikes, and focused on his baseball career for a few years. In the end, he wasn’t good enough but then came Urban Meyer, his head coach at Florida.

Tim Tebow made the most of his chance with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Meyer became the head coach o the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this year and invited Tebow to work out and even offered a spot on the 90-man roster. The catch was that he was going to switch from quarterback, the position he had played all his career, to tight end. Despite the fact that the transition wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, he still took the offer.

From the get-go, Tebow faced an uphill climb, as he was 33 when he joined the Jags. While that’s pretty young for most people who aren’t football players, it is quite old from an NFL perspective. Also, he was learning a position that he hadn’t played and he was going to have just a few months to have a good grasp of it. It was too much, and the Jags pulled the plug on the experiment when they reduced their roster from 90 players to 85. He struggled as a pass blocker and as a pass-catcher. Moreover, he couldn’t contribute on special teams. Simply, there was no space for him on the team.

Some people say that you miss 100 percent of all the shots you don’t take. Tebow gave football one more try, and he deserves credit for doing what he thought was the best for him. Just like Mike Wazowski’s case, it’s not the end of the road. The two-time SEC Player of the Year won’t be able to give his “heart and soul” to the game he loves but he will have options. He could return to the broadcast booth or give coaching a chance. Regardless of what he ends up doing, he’s shown he is willing to work hard to be the best at what he does.

Everyone likes to go on their own terms but Tim Tebow won’t have any lingering doubts about whether he should have returned or not. Even though the outcome is not the one he would have wanted, he can leave the game knowing he gave his everything.