NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports Tim Tebow will look for a college football television job if he receives no further interest from NFL teams, which, if true, pretty much means Tim Tebow is looking for a college football television job.
Tim Tebow hired prominent broadcast agent CAA’s Nick Khan to join Jimmy Sexton in repping him. If no NFL, will look at college TV jobs.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 10, 2013
Going to TV is the obvious next step for Tebow and seeking a college football gig is a natural. Though Tebow has soma NFL bonafides (he’s won a playoff game more recently than Peyton Manning and Drew Brees) and would look good next to Al Michaels, going back to college is the right call.
Let’s look at Tebow’s comfort level on TV. Here he is with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard before this year’s Sugar Bowl.
It’s not great, but few athletes are when first appearing on a panel. Tebow relies on crutches like “you know” and “I think” and has a habit of calling things “great” and “blessed.” But those are verbal tics that can easily be worked out with practice. He has a good camera presence and when he discussed the importance of maintaining timing with wide receivers during a long break, he showed an ability to add some insight into a broadcast.
The bigger issue was how Tebow refused to talk about the NFL — something Chris Fowler made sure to mention at the top of the segment. It’s understandable given that Tebow was in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, but when pressed later on to talk about his NFL future, he brought it back to talking about how much he loves Gator fans. If that was off-limits, what else would be?
The best analysts in football, like Cris Collinsworth and Dan Fouts, are the ones who can offer critique in addition to insight and praise. Would Tebow be able to do that? For now, he seems too much like the rah-rah type. His personality suggests he couldn’t be hard on players and teams — another reason why college suits him better.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
Given his inexperience and temperament, a studio gig feels like the best fit for Tebow. He can start with a few segments per show, then work his way into a bigger presence as he gets more comfortable. It’s harder to get acclimated to a role in a booth. Either you start at the bottom and work your way up, or you get thrown into the deep end without knowing how to swim and turn into something unlistenable, like Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football. Since it’s hard to see Tim Tebow calling Bowling Green games to build experience, the studio makes the most sense.
Naturally, the biggest job in college football will be getting Lee Corso’s chair on College Gameday whenever he walks away. “If he chooses to end his playing career, we’d have an interest in exploring it,” ESPN spokeswoman Gracie Blackburn said in an email, of having Tebow join ESPN’s broadcast team.
It’s hard not to wonder whether that January appearance was a sign of things to come or whether Fox will try to make a splash by bringing Tebow onto its low-rated Saturday pregame show. Provided a network wants his services, Tim Tebow may be going back to college.
Check out more photos from Tim Tebow’s career below …
[sigallery id=”1b3d3bc69bfb8fb5635e3451d3cc41e0″ type=’sigallery’]
