At Best it was a misunderstanding. At worst it was a conspiracy to make Tim Tebow the scapegoat for everything that has gone wrong in the Jets’ season. Maybe somewhere between the two lies the truth about whether Tebow opted out of the Wildcat offense for last week’s game against the Chargers.
Tebow was emphatic yesterday he never asked out of the Wildcat offense during his “man-to-man conversation” with Jets coach Rex Ryan on Dec. 18. Yes, he expressed his frustration at being passed over in favor of Greg McElroy to replace Mark Sanchez as the starting quarterback for Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Chargers. Yes, he complained about his utilization in the Wildcat, mainly the preponderance of running plays up the middle. Yes, he asked for the opportunity to play a conventional quarterback role.
But at no time, Tebow says, did he tell Ryan he no longer wanted to be part of the Wildcat package, reported and taken as truth through Twitter and various media outlets.
“I never said ‘Hey, I don’t want to do anything or I won’t do anything,’ ” Tebow said. “That wasn’t the talk at all.”
I believe Tebow. I believe Tebow because his integrity is important to him. It is his platform. He admitted to not having a very Merry Christmas because of the talk of him being a phony and quitting on his team. Football is his job. But his calling is based on being a man of faith and character.
“That’s one thing if you’re good or bad at football,” Tebow said. “But your character and your integrity, that’s who you are as a man and I think that’s a lot more important. I think that’s what’s disappointing for me and frustrating. I take that a lot more seriously than I’ll ever take a football game.”
Ryan left Tebow dangling until yesterday by not denying the report that surfaced after Tebow didn’t play a down in Sunday’s loss. Ryan could have denied the report without getting into specifics. But not once did he say Tebow never asked out of the Wildcat.
“There’s only two people that know what went on in that conversation and that’s Tim and I,” was all the elaboration Ryan offered yesterday.
Perhaps Ryan misunderstood Tebow when they had their conversation, and then told somebody who leaked after the game Tebow had opted out of the Wildcat. That might be why Ryan’s been so tight-lipped, offering lame support for Tebow by saying: “I believe that if his number was called, that he would have, without question, he would’ve gone in and played.”
Again, it’s hard not to believe Tebow. He seemed genuinely stunned and upset by the perception he had quit on his teammates.
“You work your whole life to build a reputation and then people try to bring you down when they don’t even understand what happened,” he said.
Tebow thought he cleared any misunderstanding with Ryan last Friday when he met with the coach again after watching Jeremy Kerley take all the Wildcat reps in practice on Thursday. It was during the Friday meeting when Tebow says he reiterated he was willing to do anything to help the Jets.
“He appreciated me coming back to him and reiterating the fact that just like I have done all year I’ll do anything for you,” Tebow said.
Maybe I’ve watched too much “CSI,” but why would Tebow meet with Ryan again over concerns about not getting snaps in the Wildcat during practice if he didn’t want to be part of the Wildcat in the first place?
Maybe Ryan didn’t mind having Tebow twist in the wind a bit. Maybe the coach really didn’t appreciate “the good conversation” Tebow thought they had. Maybe this was a way to detract from the team’s horrid performance on the field.
In fact, maybe Tebow did have a role in Sunday’s loss to the Chargers: It’s called scapegoat.