Why Jacksonville Jaguars’ Tim Tebow addition is no reason to get upset

So what’s behind his mid-30s opportunity at tight end.

Well, Tebow is known to be — by just about every reasonable standard — a good and decent man. He handles himself with class and dignity. He’s gracious with his time to the less fortunate. In what we know about Tebow, which is to say what we have been allowed to know, he treats people the right way.

I have met him several times. He’s a down-to-earth nice guy. Cuss words are not in his livelihood.

And while he is also supremely athletically gifted compared to the general population, he never quite got to the 1% of 1% of quarterbacks or baseball players.

It is widely understood and agreed upon that his celebrity (which is driven in part by his own Christian faith and genuflecting) his athletic talents and his good nature have combined to offer him opportunities in two of North America’s professional sports.

Soon he will sign a one-year contract to play tight end for the one National Football League team, coached by the one NFL coach who would even consider inking the soon-to-be 34-year-old to such a deal.You see, new head coach Myers was in the same role when Tebow played for the University of Florida.

It is though unheard of. It is quite possible that if the Jaguars were any other team and if its new head coach Meyers were literally anywhere else, Tebow would not be getting this opportunity, and I would not be writing this commentary.

Instead, a butterfly flapped its wings in Week 16 and the hapless New York Jets defeated the Cleveland Browns, and so Jacksonville got the No. 1 pick in the college draft and, after signing Meyers as its new head coach, picked Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence as its No. 1 choice.

Myers knows how elite Tibow was with the Gators and so his former star is getting this opportunity because of this incredibly rare occurrence. What are the odds of being killed by a falling coconut while being chased by a loose tiger in a Houston neighborhood? Those were about the odds last fall of Tebow getting a shot at tight end in the NFL.

After all, his celebrity status began as a stellar high school quarterback who chose Florida from a load of recruiting offers, won the national championship and was named the prestigious Heisman Trophy Award winner. And in his short NFL years with the Denver Broncos and Jets, he played quarterback.

But Meyers is clearly making this move because he feels Tebow will be good

for the team on and off the field. Meyers thinks Tebow has a vision of what Jaguar football will look like, and believes it involves a whole lot of what he brings to a locker room.

Along with his athletic ability (he played football, baseball and basketball in high school) Tebow also brings leadership. He’s always been a team player, he never finds fault with his teammates, he just plays to win.

Has he ever played tight end? The answer is no. Well, New York Mets’ gifted pitcher, Jacob deGrom, played shortstop at Stetson University in Florida and pitched only occasionally. Now he takes the mound as the No. 1 hurler in Major League baseball.

And so don’t count out Tebow. No doubt he can catch the ball, he has the size needed for that position, he will report for practice and, despite his age, will learn. That’s the way he is. With the Mets, he was recalled from the minor league numerous times, worked hard to improve his hitting and fielding, and now he’s traded baseball to be back on the football field.

Yet Tebow might very well fail, although there’s no evidence that he fears failure. To Meyers, his presence will surely take up a lot of space in the locker room, which can be interpreted one of two ways. Either he relieves some pressure off Lawrence and the rest of the Jags to focus on football or the daily circus will overwhelm the pursuit of getting in the best position possible to win games.

Now, is Meyers doing it for ticket sales because he knows that Tibow now lives in the Jacksonville area? I can’t rule out the possibility of it as a secondary motivation, especially since Tebow is closely tied to a franchise owner who’s probably hoping to recoup lost revenue from the coronavirus pandemic season.

But the Jaguars were already on track to be on a par with their most financially successful season of all time, so a gimmick isn’t totally necessary.

Now are you a fan? Are you mad that Tebow is taking up a roster spot? No, you really aren’t. This is something on the professional level you’ve ever been mad about before. You have never once truly, deeply cared about the bottom of a roster.

After following along for Twitter updates on the probable fourth-string tight end, and from the team’s beat reporters for a few weeks of camp, it normally takes you about a month before you realize that whatshisname didn’t even make the practice squad.

But Tebow is getting this shot because of who he is and who he knows. He could surprise us all and make the final roster based on merit. Or he could fail spectacularly and have this blow up in Meyer’s face.

Or Tebow’s play could be just enough, and when combined with whatever he’s perceived to bring to the locker room culture, and he makes the practice squad. After all, football is a meritocracy, right?