Tim Tebow: His Icy Relationship with John Elway Continues After Trade to Jets

So Tim Tebow is a New York Jet, and his two tumultuous seasons with the Denver Broncos are finally over. In all the shuffle that has come about this week in Denver, Peyton Manning is in, Tim Tebow out, and it is all thanks to one man: Denver's most heralded son, John Elway. 

Since he took over as the executive vice president of football operations, one thing about Elway was very clear: He was no fan of Tim Tebow.

Tebow's lack of quarterbacking skills are well-documented. He is inaccurate, has terrible mechanics and often cannot read coverage. But he was winning games. Tebow took over as the starter last year when Denver had a 1-4 record; with Tebow at the helm the Broncos went 7-4 in the regular season and won the AFC West. They followed that up with a stunning home playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Round. 

But even when Tebow was leading all of those fourth-quarter comebacks, Elway still disapproved. Elway was reluctant to say that Tebow would be the long-term starter; you could see he was extremely uncomfortable with the success Tebow was having. At times it even felt like Elway wanted Tebow to fail, so he had a reasonable excuse to replace him in the offseason. 

Through it all Tebow ignored it and continued to do what he could to lead the Denver Broncos toward a Super Bowl.

But when Denver fell to the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round, it was clear Elway still wanted to replace Tebow if at all possible. With all the popularity Tebow had and the wins he had stacked up, that was going to be very difficult to do.

Elway even went as far as to say he hoped Tebow would be the Broncos quarterback for a "long, long time" in February (per ESPN), but even the most clueless of observers knew that was a lie.

There were few free-agent quarterbacks Elway could replace Tebow with and not completely lose the fanbase. Peyton Manning was one of them. When Manning decided to sign with the Broncos, it was clear that Tebow's time as a Bronco was over, and Elway got his wish.

So now Tebow is a Jet, but just how he ended up in New York is still highly up in the air.

The Broncos and Jets originally announced the trade that would send Tebow to the Jets for a fourth- and sixth-round pick. However, just hours later there was an apparent delay in the trade when the two squads disagreed about just how much of Tebow's contract the Jets would pick up, which allowed other teams to get back in the mix, specifically the Jacksonville Jaguars.

For a solid hour, it was completely unclear whether Tebow was going to be a Jet or a Jaguar next season. It was reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter that Tebow had his choice of which of the two teams he wanted to go to. By the time the dust had settled, the Jets and Broncos completed the trade despite Jacksonville reportedly offering a fourth-round pick and the willingness to pay more of Tebow's contract then New York ended up agreeing to.

The question that has to be asked is what happened? Did Tebow really pick to be the Jets backup over heading back to his home state and playing for the Jags? If you ask John Elway, the answer is yes...well, sorta.

When asked if Tebow was given a choice in the trade during an interview with ESPN Radio in Denver, Elway said the following (via The Denver Post), "We did. There was more (offered) from Jacksonville, but we looked at it and it was close enough and we were in contact with Tim throughout the day and talked to him. He knew what was going on the whole time, so the reports that he was not involved are not accurate."

So Tebow really did pick the Jets, according to Elway. Interestingly enough Tebow himself must have forgot about being contacted about which team he would have preferred because when he was asked if he had a choice Tebow was quoted as saying, via The Denver Post, "Ultimately, I really didn't have any because the Broncos had all that power."

Based on that, there is really no way around it: somebody is lying.

What benefit would Tebow have to throw the Broncos under the bus if he really did choose the Jets? If Tebow really wanted to play in New York, he would have come out and said, "Yes, this was my choice" and stated his reasons for doing so. But why would he choose the Jets?

Say whatever you want about Mark Sanchez; he still is more of an established and experienced starter then Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville, and Tebow knew that, by going there, he would have a chance to become the starter. Plus he would be able to go back to Florida, play in front of his home crowd and ignite a fire in the organization that has been lacking for years.

It just doesn't makes sense. So why would Elway claim Tebow had a choice if he really didn't?  

Elway clearly hasn't liked Tebow from the start and maybe this was just one last send-off or maybe he is just dangerously uninformed. Whatever the reason, it looks sloppy. I don't think Elway hates Tebow, or vice versa. But it was clear from the start John Elway wanted Tim Tebow as far away from Denver as possible and, thanks to Peyton Manning, he got exactly what he wanted.