Whatever plan the New York Jets had in place when they traded for Tim Tebow, it failed miserably. Tebow did nothing in New York aside from giving the media something else to talk about, and it’s unlikely he’ll be with the team next season. The person who made the decision to bring him in made a huge mistake, but who was that person?
If it was Rex Ryan, you’d have to assume the Jets head coach would have given Tebow more opportunities to contribute. With that in mind, the decision had to have been made by the team’s ownership group with the interest of selling more tickets and merchandise in mind, right? Not according to former Denver Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist, who claims team owner Woody Johnson did not want Tebow. From ESPNNewYork.com:
Former Broncos GM Ted Sundquist, who interviewed for the job nine days ago, said Johnson told him it wasn’t his idea. According to Sundquist, Johnson said the trade was “forced” on them — meaning him and team president Neil Glat, who also participated in the interview. That makes it sound like Johnson was blaming former GM Mike Tannenbaum for the Tebow debacle; in a sense, Johnson did exactly that, firing Tannenbaum. Johnson also said, according to Sundquist, that he eventually “jumped on board” with the idea, deferring to his football people.
Even if the Tebow acquistion was Tannenbaum’s idea, how does a team’s owner have something forced on him? We’ve heard of general managers and coaches being forced into things by owners, but doesn’t the guy who is cutting all the checks get the final say?
Regardless of who spearheaded the whole “bring on Tim Tebow” initiative, people like this former Jets employee have reminded us that nothing good came of the move. At this point, it doesn’t really matter who was responsible. The Jets simply need to move on.
