College Football

Tim Tebow a big-time free agent — as college TV analyst

Three big-time organizations are jockeying for Tim Tebow’s services. Not as an NFL quarterback — it appears that ship has sailed, and wobbled, and fallen incomplete, like so many Tebow’s passes — but as a television analyst for college football.

ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports will be eager suitors of Tebow, the polarizing pop-culture quarterback who is resigned to hanging up his spikes after failing to latch on with another NFL team this season, according to a report on The Big Lead. Tebow hired powerful broadcasting agent Nick Khan in November, which started the speculation of a move to television.

The report hypothesizes the competition will heat up after the NCAA season concludes in January. Before he was a walking meme and breathing debate topic as signal-caller for the Broncos and Jets, Tebow became one of the most decorated college players in history, winning the Heisman Trophy and two national titles during a four-year career at Florida, which plays in the SEC.

ESPN is launching an SEC Network in August 2014 and reportedly has plans for a Saturday pre-game show in the mold of “College Gameday” on which Tebow would be an analyst. CBS broadcasts the premier SEC games each week and could revamp its pre-game show to feature Tebow, according to the report. Fox — which is trying to make a dent with Fox Sports 1, its national cable offshoot — could offer a dual role with appearances on the network’s NFL coverage.