The main reason Tim Tebow has not appeared in a regular season NFL game since 2012 is that he is not very good. Despite that, the media is still obsessed with the former Florida star. That could be another thing that has worked against him.
During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” Tuesday, Urban Meyer — Tebow’s former college coach — said that NFL coaches have indicated the media circus that comes along with Tebow can be an issue.
“I talked to many of the coaches involved, and one thing every coach wants is lack of distraction so they can focus on their team,” Meyer said, as transcribed by Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Talk. “And when all of a sudden ESPN has live people watching practice, and every time you wake up there’s ‘Tim Tebow this, Tebow this, Tebow this’ and you’re talking about a backup quarterback. And that did wear on people.”
One person we know Meyer is close with is New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. The Pats signed Tebow during the 2013 offseason, and we wouldn’t be surprised if The Hoodie was annoyed by reporters asking questions about the former Heisman winner every day.
Now that Tebow has been away from the game for so long, Meyer doesn’t think the media coverage will be an issue.
“The problem with Tim — and this is the only problem — he creates so much conversation and distraction that I think that spooks some teams,” he added. “And I think we’re that far beyond it now, that that’s not that big of a distraction anymore. He’s just a quarterback trying to make a team now.”
Meyer said last year that he was stunned Tebow didn’t have a job in the NFL, but he was one of the only ones. The Philadelphia Eagles have two decent backup quarterbacks behind Sam Bradford on their roster in Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley. We’d be stunned if Tebow is on an NFL roster at the end of August.
Unless, of course, Chip Kelly doesn’t want him to be a quarterback. We wouldn’t rule that out, either. But if you heard what Sanchez said about Tebow over the weekend, that seems just as unlikely.
