The decision to bring in Tim Tebow as a tight end is certainly a bold one for coach Urban Meyer. If the report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, which indicates a deal between Tebow and the Jags is imminent, holds true, it will certainly be a controversial move.
Tebow a polarizing football player. To some, he’s the victim of an NFL media apparatus that never believed in him or gave him a fair shake in the first place. To others, he represents a player who can’t give up on dreams of glory and continues to attempt to leverage his fame into new opportunities, whether earned or not.
It seems these differences in opinion aren’t limited to fans and media talking heads. According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, the Jaguars locker room is split on the potential news. On a SportsCenter appearance on Tuesday, Darlington said some players think the signing of Tebow sends the wrong message to the team.
“When you cite the resume, when you talk about all of these things, it sounds pretty wild, and that certainly is the mindset of those in the Jaguars building,” Darlington said, according to a transcript from Bleacher Report. “Not everybody—obviously Urban Meyer is the one behind all of this—but not everybody in the Jaguars building is thrilled with this. They don’t think that it necessarily sends the proper message to the rest of the team in the locker room and the guys trying to make this team. Urban Meyer, though, is quite the opposite. They said this can be a ‘cultural jolt’ in the locker room to kind of send a message that Urban wants.
“Now, I covered Tebow pretty extensively back in 2011 and basically lived in Denver throughout that whole experience, and what I can tell you is that Tebow’s leadership might be a little bit different in the NFL than what it was in college when Urban Meyer remembered him. So, when I talk to coaches and players in the NFL, they do look at this and say, ‘If you’re looking for somebody to change culture, it’s not necessarily a guy like Tebow, especially at this point in his career.'”
To be frank, it’s unclear what “cultural jolt” signing Tebow would provide considering he’ll be 34 by the time the regular season starts and hasn’t appeared on a 53-man roster since 2012. Rather, it seems most likely that the Jaguars whiffed on their offseason tight end targets, and Meyer sees it as an opportunity to bring in someone he’s very close with.
It would be understandable if that rubbed players on the current roster the wrong way. Tight ends like Tyler Davis, who saw minimal action as a rookie last year but is hoping for a bigger 2021, or free agent signing Chris Manhertz may see the addition of a player who has never played the position at a high level as a bit of an insult.
Whether intentional or not, the decision could be perceived as Meyer giving special treatment to players with whom he has a prior relationship — not exactly the best way for a first-time NFL coach to ingratiate himself with professionals.
Theoretically, there isn’t much to lose by signing Tebow. His odds of making the team are pretty slim (though it would be quite an indictment of the tight end group if he did). But if his presence in the locker room is a divisive factor, it begs the question, “Is it worth it?”