The New York Jets have been in the news for their quarterback situation, as they have brought in free agent David Garrard to compete with starter Mark Sanchez and the front office has also expressed interest in Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb, leaving Tim Tebow as the odd man out on the offense.
Although Tebow is unsure of where he will be next year, which is what he said at an appearance at the evangelical Liberty University last week, he is a busy man and this weekend he will be spending time in his home state of Florida. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Tebow will be in Central Florida on Sunday at D1 Orlando, which is a training facility that the quarterback owns with recently retired Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.
People from the area can come the Division I Sports Training center to work with Tebow as he shows off some of his training skills and conditioning programs. Each participant will get 30 minutes of training as well as free range of giveaways and a photo with the quarterback. The report says that proceeds will benefit underprivileged student-athletes in the central Florida area.
The reporter jokingly (or not so jokingly), suggests that Tebow could resurrect his career in his home state with the Orlando Predators in the Arena League and is curious about why Tebow hasn't gotten his chance in the NFL. Mike Bianchi makes an interesting point though, comparing Tebow to a number of other quarterbacks, including Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, Brandon Weeden and Josh Freeman and wonders why they are allotted years to develop, while Tebow was only given a short amount of time before teams gave up on him.
Tebow led a team to the playoffs and while he does have a unique throwing motion and style, that was a knock on Aaron Rodgers when he was drafted as well. On top of that, Ponder, Weeden and Gabbert have all struggled at times, yet teams have given them more time to develop into starters than Tebow received. He also says Tebow could thrive in the AFL, much like another NFL quarterback did in Kurt Warner.
If Tebow wanted to take that route, there would be a job for him.
"Tim would certainly want to first exhaust his opportunities in the NFL, but we'd love to have him," Predators owner Brett Bouchy said to Bianchi. "I think he would definitely improve as a quarterback in our league. Kurt Warner told me once that when he got back to the NFL after playing in the Arena League, the NFL game was like slow motion. Everything in the Arena League is just so much faster and quicker and predicated on accuracy. Whenever Tim is willing, we have a contract waiting for him to sign."
The Jets left Tebow on the sidelines for most of the season and only brought him in sporadically on offense. Tebow rushed for 102 yards and completed six-of-eight passes for 39 yards and zero touchdowns. He also served as a punt protector and blocker on special teams and as a decoy in other spots, but the Jets never could quite figure out how to successfully bring in him and Sanchez.
Here is the full schedule of the event:
12:45 p.m. - Rookie (ages 7-11)
1:15 p.m. - Developmental (12-14)
1:45 p.m. -Prep (15-18)
2:15 p.m. - Adult Boot Camp
