Joe Namath rips the Jets for Tim Tebow trade: It will be a ‘tremendous distraction’

Just when it appeared Joe Namath may finally start giving the Jets a break and stop blasting them every opportunity he gets, New York went and acquired Tim Tebow. Naturally, Broadway Joe couldn’t resist sharing his opinion on such a high-profile transaction. In fact, that’s exactly what he thinks it is — a high-profile publicity stunt that was done with ticket sales in mind.

“This goes beyond X’s and O’s and football,” Namath told Yahoo!Sports on Thursday. “The Jets have a way of maintaining a high profile and this is another way again that they’re doing that.”

In a sense, Namath is probably right. After signing Mark Sanchez to a $58.25 million deal this offseason, it’s obvious the Jets expect him to handle all the starting quarterback duties from here on in. From a football standpoint, that makes Tim Tebow nothing more than an expensive backup who may or may not bring a wildcat element to New York’s offense. The money Tebow will generate up in merchandise sales will more than validate his contract, however.

“These guys are expected to be professional but it doesn’t work that way all the time,” Namath continued. “There’s a split there with the players and they’re a bit confused — I am too. I talk about Sanchez and the other players. You can’t help but like Tim Tebow, I’m sure all the guys do but this is going to be a tremendous amount of distraction for the players.”

In other words, Namath feels the same way about the trade that he does about the Jets draft picks over the last few years. Namath also added that he is hopeful the trade will work out for the team and the fans. While I would typically rip Broadway Joe for hogging the spotlight and not minding his own business, I tend to agree with his thoughts on the Tebow trade. If the Jets don’t trust Sanchez, they shouldn’t have given him such a lucrative extension. If they do trust Sanchez, it’s hard to believe bringing in Tebow was merely an insurance policy.