IT'S SHOWTIME!
NFL's latest PR stunt has familiar flavor of hypocrisy
May 13, 2021, 3:22 pm
IT'S SHOWTIME!
Did you hear? The prestigious Royal Shakespeare Repertory Company has signed Kim Kardashian to star as Lady Macbeth on Broadway this fall.
Of course that didn't happen. Kim Kardashian doesn't have the talent, the experience or acting chops to play Lady Macbeth. Nobody in their right mind would take Kim K seriously on a Shakespearean stage.
So what the hell are the Jacksonville Jaguars doing signing Tim Tebow to try out as a tight end this year? He is 33 years old and hasn't played NFL football in nearly a decade. And back when he did play, at the height of his physical skills, he was pretty lousy. This isn't an inspirational comeback, this is a sad clown show. This is supposed to be the NFL, not Pagliacci.
Let's review: Tebow played quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 2010-11, then made a brief cameo appearance for the New York Jets (8 passes) in 2012. His career completion percentage is 47.9. In 2011, his one year as an NFL starter, Tebow had the lowest completion percentage in the league. For comparison’s sake, 59 different quarterbacks started at least one game in the NFL last year. Ben DiNucci was No. 59, dead last on NFL.com's ranking. He completed 53.5 percent of his passes.
After crapping out with the Jets, Tebow signed deals with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles but failed to stick on their rosters out of preseason.
So Tebow turned his attention to baseball, where he signed to play in the New York Mets organization. He played four seasons in the minors. His batting averages were: .194, .225, .273, and .163. He retired earlier this year.
Now he wants back in the NFL and will sign a one-year, non-guaranteed contract to play for his old college football coach Urban Meyer in Jacksonville.
Tim Tebow, a below-average player in his prime, is attempting to come back to a pro sport after a nine-year absence. Good luck with that. Sure, players have returned to perform well after being out for an extended period of time, like Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Josh Hamilton, Muhammad Ali, I'll even give you Michael Vick. But in most cases the absences were caused by injury, legal problems or personal issues, and didn't last more than a couple of years.
Tim Tebow's nine-year absence was caused by lack of talent.
His attempt at playing football in 2021 is an affront to dedicated, supremely skilled NFL players. Tebow has been reduced to an attention whore, a burned out athlete who can't give it up, who can't live outside the stardom of sport. I'd say he is a once-great athlete who misses the adoration of fans, but he never reached elite status on a professional level.
Tebow is a human publicity stunt, robbing a real hopeful of his dream of trying out for an NFL team. From friends in sports media, I hear "Tebow has absolutely no chance of making the Jaguars. He knows it. Urban Meyer knows it. The Jaguars just want to sell preseason tickets." If Tebow isn't going to make the team, why are they wasting time with him? The Jaguars can't be that desperate to sell tickets or make Hard Knocks. They have a successful new coach and the No.1 glamour rookie Trevor Lawrence.
Instead, the media's focus in camp will be on a diva's attempt to recapture the glory he last enjoyed in the late 2000s. Tebow is turning Jaguars preseason into an E! Entertainment reality show.
Shannon Sharpe, one of the greatest ever to play tight end, hit the bull's-eye: "Tim Tebow is a straight, white evangelical male. There are privileges that come along with that."
You know who isn't white, and isn't getting the same privilege as Tebow? Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick is the same age as Tebow. That's where the comparison ends when it comes to football.
Kaepernick played five years in the NFL, three years as a starter with the San Francisco '49ers. His career passing percentage is 59.8. He led his team to a Super Bowl. Where Tebow threw a flutterball, Kaepernick had (has) a cannon arm. In his last season, before he became a political prisoner of the NFL, Kaepernick threw 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
While both are famous essentially for the same thing, taking a knee, Tebow is better at playing the political and culture game. Kaepernick is better at football. One is getting an undeserved NFL contract to play again, one isn't being given a chance.
Kaepernick will never make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he is being immortalized by something even more popular and beloved than the NFL … ice cream.
Ben & Jerry's newest flavor is "Colin Kaepernick's Change the Whirled," a combination of non-dairy chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate fudge brownie spiked with fudge chips and cookie swirls. Like Kaepernick, it's 100-percent certified vegan. Kaepernick's image with right fist raised and wearing a T-shirt that says "I know my rights" adorns the pint cartons. Kaepernick's portion of the proceeds will go to his Know Your Rights Camp, dedicated to empowering economically disadvantaged minority kids.
Ben & Jerry: "We are proud to be working with a dedicated activist like Colin Kaepernick, whose work helped spark the international conversation around racial justice."
Years from now, Kaepernick's legacy will be heroic (and delicious). Tebow will be remembered as a nice guy jock who couldn't give up the limelight.
Rockets' Alperen Sengun recently was a guest on Paul George's podcast and spoke about a conversation he had with James Harden.
He said Harden told him he was proud of him. This led George to saying he thinks this means the torch has been passed from Harden to Sengun.
Which made us wonder, is this now Sengun's team? Or is that a little premature and the true leader of the team is head coach Ime Udoka or Fred VanVleet?
Plus, Jalen Green has responded positively from being benched. Is this proof that Ime Udoka has the team taking more accountability and heading in the right direction?
Be sure to watch the video above as we break it all down!
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