COLUMN: Tebow At The Bat

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James Brennan, Sports Editor

It is hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Tim Tebow was America’s sweetheart. He was winning national championships and a Heisman Trophy.  There’s an argument to be made that Tebow had the most successful college football career in the history of the game.

Then in 2010, he was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos and the whole peanut gallery that is the sports media completely turned their backs on him.  They all were saying how he does not have the arm to make it in the NFL, the defenses are going to pick him apart, the only way he can succeed is if he switches positions, and so on.

And you know what?  The media was absolutely right about two of those things. Tebow had possibly the worst accuracy I have ever seen from a starting NFL quarterback.  He could not hit a receiver that was 10 yards away from him.  However, in ways that at times seemed nearly impossible, Tebow seemed to always find a way to win.  The term “Tebow Time” was invented to show how he would find some odd way to pull out a victory.

This was on full display in the first round of the 2011 playoffs when he hit Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard game winning touchdown on the very first play of overtime.  Plain and simple, Tebow always found a way.

After his football career came to an end he became a broadcaster.  That wasn’t exciting enough for him.  He missed displaying that world famous Tebow magic to a stadium full of people.  So he decided to take a stab at baseball.  A sport that is often referred to as the most difficult sport to play, and not to mention a sport that he had not played competitively since his junior year of high school.

Of course, someone was going to sign him though for the publicity.  Tebow eventually signed with the New York Mets and suddenly his popularity saw another spike in popularity.  On the first pitch of his “professional” career he hit a home run to center field, causing the internet to go wild.  He was invited to the Mets spring training this year and has been getting some playing time with the every day starters.

We have seen him hit moon shots in batting practice, look like a bafoon at the plate trying to get a hit off a Cy Young winner and make diving catches. Literally the whole nine yards.  On March 20, it was announced that Tebow would play for a low-level minor league club in South Carolina.

I don’t know how to feel about Timmy right now.  He has less playing experience than I do yet he was given a contract for a professional team.  He is playing on the team that I hate the most in all of baseball.  He constantly has this goofy smile on his face even when he’s stinking up the joint.  Yet in his first at bat of the spring I found myself sneak away to the bathroom during work to get a glimpse of what he does.  A little part of me even wanted to see him hit a home run.  I haven’t had such a love/hate relationship with a player since Alex Rodriguez in his early years with the Yankees.  I don’t know how, but come August I have this gut feeling that Tebow is going to be batting cleanup for the New York Mets.  Please don’t quote me on that though.