New York Giants: Why Tim Tebow Will Overshadow Super Bowl Champs

The New York Giants got all of about two months in the spotlight as Super Bowl champs.

Then Tim Tebow came to town.

With the New York Jets making the move to bring in Tebow, they now have the most famous backup quarterback in NFL history and all of the headlines that go with it.

Fresh off the high of Linsanity, Tebowmania has struck New York. Much like last season, plenty of storylines are sure to come. Even the defending Super Bowl champs will take a backseat to the media hype storm that is Tebow.

Firstly, there's the on-field drama sure to follow.

Will Tebow unseat Mark Sanchez as starter? How will he fit into the Jets' offense? Is he the best quarterback on the Jets roster?

Every Tebow touchdown and Sanchez interception will reignite the debate on his role. After seeing what Tebow can do as a starter, the pressure to see him on the field will be a constant storyline.

Tebow backing up the likes of Sanchez will only continue the already all-too-familiar debate on Tebow's actual quarterback skills—a debate sure to rage until his football playing days are over.

A quarterback battle between the recently re-signed Sanchez and the always divisive, unconventional Tebow? Riveting.

Watching Eli officially pass Peyton as the best Manning in football? Boring.

Then there's the off-field aspect. That's where Tebow will most certainly overshadow the defending Super Bowl champions. Tebow is more known than the Super Bowl champs already. Ask your grandma who won the last Super Bowl. Chances are she doesn't know.

Ask your grandma who Tebow is. You'll probably get an answer. That's the impact Tebow has had on popular culture as a whole.

Tebow hasn't even been in New York for a month and the headlines are already pouring in from every angle.

Every quote from anyone that has to do with Tebow instantly becomes drive-time radio fodder and a column idea. Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie’s tweets on the quarterback before and after the trade are a great example.

Before Tebow even became a Jet, Cromartie tweeted the team didn’t need Tebow and that teammates Joe McKnight or Jeremy Kerley could run the Wildcat packages that would seemingly be Tebow’s role in the Jets' offense.

Shortly after the trade was made official, Cromartie changed his tune, clarifying that his tweets were not meant as a diss and talking about what Tebow brings to the team.

Tebow, of course, handled the situation perfectly, commending his new teammate on defending his quarterback.

While the crisis may have been averted, Cromartie’s tweet was well-publicized and each progression in the story was covered. Cromartie’s tweet, Tebow’s effect on team chemistry and Tebow’s reaction all became top headlines in the NFL while we were barely coming to grips with Peyton Manning donning blue and orange.

While the Cromartie incident blew over quickly, we can be sure that this isn’t the last time we hear a Tebowcentric story make headlines. Last year, the Jets finished a disappointing 8-8, and a lack of chemistry, not talent, was cited as the primary reason for the team’s lackluster performance.

Could bringing in the game’s most controversial player really fix that? Tebow was able to galvanize a struggling Denver Broncos team last year as the starter. A charismatic leader like Tebow in a backup role could be asking for a split locker room.

With the hype surrounding Tebow both on and off the field, the Giants will be overshadowed.

For the Giants, that could be a blessing.

In normal circumstances, the title “Defending Super Bowl Champ” comes with a big target on your back, and the pressure of repeating the feat. The difficulty in repeating is dealing with the constant pressure of being the defending champion.

Every loss is magnified and dissected as the pressure continues to build to meet lofty expectations. In New York, the spotlight can be all the more intense.

Luckily, the Jets should have the Giants covered when it comes to media attention, and the Giants should be happy to fly in under the radar.

Despite winning the Super Bowl, the Giants were an underwhelming 9-7 in the regular season and struggled during a 1-5 stretch before getting a huge momentum boost in a 29-14 victory over none other than the Jets. While the Giants finished the season hot, they remain a team with holes that lost more key players (Mario Manningham and Brandon Jacobs namely) than they gained this offseason.

Tom Coughlin has more job security than ever before and the somewhat rocky relationship between Brandon Jacobs and the Giants is now over as the big back is headed to San Francisco. The Giants are a team without a whole lot of drama. Should they struggle early on, they can once again thank the Jets for giving them the opportunity to turn their season around.

The Jets may be making headlines now but as Giants guard Chris Snee said, "We only want headlines in February." The battle for the front page may be a landslide, but the Giants will happily defend their title quietly.