Full Thoughts on the Tim Tebow Introductory Press Conference

Mar 26; Florham Park, NJ, USA; Newly acquired New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow addresses the media at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

Now that the day is over, and we are a few hours removed from the press conference for Tim Tebow, here are my full thoughts after watching it again all the way through. Sort of like a Monday Morning Quarterback, press conference version.

First of all, the Jets are getting a high quality individual, that is not in dispute. He had a smile on his face the entire time, and looked generally excited to be a member of the New York Jets. He spoke respectfully of his leaders, Coach Ryan, Mr. Tannenbaum, that type of thing. He spoke of how honored he is to be a New York Jet, how honored he was to have the press come and see him speak.

He talked about how he will keep up his charity work with the Jets. He is excited about continuing his work in NJ and NY, and talked about how it’s more important to be role model, his influence off the field is more important than anything he will ever do on the field. If the Jets were looking for a guy with character to change the face of the locker room, they have picked a quality man for the job.

He also spoke about his enthusiasm for the Wildcat packages. When asked how he feels about the sentiment that the league has “caught up” to the wildcat, he spoke to how it is a lot more than just a couple of different running plays. He spoke of how the Wildcat has a lot of different guys on the field that can touch the ball, and that makes it confusing for defenses. He felt that coach Sparano will be able to create packages to make the formation more confusing. That may or may not be true, because the league in a lot of ways has almost made the Wildcat obsolete. Maybe Tim can change that, time will tell.

He also spoke a bit of how he came to choose the Jets over the Jaguars. He spoke of having a strong relationship with the Jets coaches, a stronger one than he had with the Jacksonville coaches. It’s interesting, first that he had some input in the decision, although John Elway seemed to indicate that he did not. It also makes you wonder if the Jets coaches reached out to Tebow in the anticipation that this might happen. Has the coaching staff lost confidence in Mark Sanchez, and have they been looking around for his replacement? We will never no.

Also, Tebow made an interesting comment, when he said the reason that there was a press conference today was because, he “has bosses, and they wanted him to have it”. Hmmm, didn’t Woody Johnson finish telling us that this decision was only for football, and that he didn’t want to attact attention? Isn’t that what he wanted us to believe? Not that any of us do, but isn’t that what he said. Shocking that it isn’t true.

He talked about working hard to earn the respect of his teammates which is great. The only way to get respect is to earn it, and Tebow is known as a hard worker, one of the hardest actually.

The most telling portion of the press conference was when he was asked about his role on the team. He spoke of how Mark Sanchez is a secure player. Really? This is one of the most insecure players we have ever had. If he throws an INT, and the crowd chants for Tebow, he will throw 6 more INTs. He very likely will crawl into a hole and have a lot of difficulty coming out of it. He also talked about how he and Mark are great friends, and will have a great working relationship. But then the contradictory part.

When asked about if he accepts the role of a backup, he talked about coming in to “compete”. He said, “being comfortable with my role…”, and finding “ways to expand the role”. He talks about how all football players want to be on the field, and so does he. That’s true. He talked about how whatever is role is, he wants to expand it. He never said he would be OK with being the backup. Again, wait a minute, didn’t we have a drinking game going with Mike Tannenbaum saying publically “Mark is the starter”? I thought that was written in stone, according to the Jets hierarchy. I guess that isn’t true either. Shocker.

Tim Tebow is a great kid, no doubt. He will be a hard worker, and improve the mood of the locker room. This is not in dispute. But, as a football player should, he wants to start. He wouldn’t say so, because he couldn’t. But his remarks clearly indicate that he wants to. The team is divided over this situation, and has all the makings of a situation that blows up in their faces.

I hope the Jets know what they are doing.