Tim Tebow Has No Future in NFL as a Quarterback

Tim Tebow will never throw another pass in the NFL.

He’s played, they’ve watched, you’ve watched, and now the polarizing quarterback is left jobless once again after being turned away by a third NFL team. And the New England Patriots genuinely wanted him to succeed, too—that’s the kicker.

Prior to catching on with the Pats during training camp, there were rumors that Tebow had given up on his NFL career and would retire or look to the Canadian Football League or Arena Football League for a fresh start. A source told USA Today’s Mike Garafolo that those reports were false, though, and that Tebow would continue to pursue employment in the NFL.

He did.

Tebow kept hope alive and caught on with an ideal team for his development. Bill Belichick’s high-tempo offense would have looked fancy with a polished and improved Tebow in a couple of seasons.

The stage was set. We heard his throwing motion had improved during the offseason. Reports out of Pats camp were mixed, but still people clung to hope that he could not only make the roster but eventually be an important piece for the team. And he almost succeeded, too, if not for that tiny detail about his not being able to actually perform on the field.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported on NBC’s NFL Kickoff 2013 show that one NFL team contacted Tebow about a position switch after his release from the Patriots but the former Gator wasn’t interested, per SI’s John Otano.

After being cut, Tebow tweeted his intentions to the world:

While his persistence in following his dream is certainly admirable, it will be his downfall. His lack of prowess as a passer is strikingly apparent. Not every great athlete is fit to be a quarterback in the NFL. That’s not an opinion—that’s a fact.

There are a select few who have the total package required to handle the rigors and challenges of the position.

And it’s not for a lack of effort on Tebow's part. He has repeatedly worked with coaches and trainers to help fix his mechanics and improve his throwing motion.

The results have been a lot of the same: traded by Denver, cut from a New York Jets team that’s miserable at the quarterback position and cut following the preseason by New England this year.

All of that tweaking, second-guessing by media and coaches, and lack of playing time has apparently affected Tebow's ability. Rather than improving, some scouts have attributed his continued lack of success to an actual regression since he entered the league three seasons ago, per Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman.

People talk about the game “slowing down” for players once they start to “get it.” Unfortunately, Tebow has apparently slowed down in a different way.

“That lack of speed is evident in three critical phases of Tebow’s game: his throwing motion, his mental acuity and his ability to avoid tacklers,” Freeman wrote.

None of this should be surprising to any of us, but for some reason, we all get sucked in and want to believe in Tebow. He’s never given anyone a reason not to.

His determination is commendable, but his play on the field simply is not.

Best of luck to him. He’ll likely succeed in whatever else he does in life, but it won’t be as a quarterback in the NFL.