York Jets Quarterback Tim Tebow, known for his religious expression on and off the field, was apparently never wanted by the team and had been forced upon management, according to an ESPN article published Monday.
Now, the Jets want him gone, and the Vatican would like to recruit him – not to play football, but to fix it and other sports.
Although many believed Tebow was brought to the Jets as part of a publicity stunt by owner Woody Johnson, Johnson was not behind the trade, according to
ESPN reporter Rich Cimini.
"Former Broncos General Manager Ted Sundquist . . . said Johnson told him it wasn’t his idea," wrote Cimini. "According to Sundquist, Johnson said the trade was ‘forced’ on them — meaning him and team President Neil Glat."
"That makes it sound like Johnson was blaming former General Manager Mike Tannenbaum for the Tebow debacle. In a sense, Johnson did exactly that, firing Tannenbaum. Johnson also said, according to Sundquist, that he eventually ‘jumped on board’ with the idea, deferring to his football people," Cinini concluded.
Throughout the 2012 season, the Jets misused Tebow, a Heisman Trophy recipient. He was the backup quarterback to starter Mark Sanchez, and was kept on the bench most of the year even when Sanchez repeatedly had bad performances on the field.
Having finished last year with a record of 6 wins and 10 losses, the Jets are making no secret of their intention to trade both Tebow and Sanchez during the off-season, according to Foxsports.com.
Where the quarterbacks will go is anyone's guess at this time, but the Vatican has expressed interest in working with Tebow.
According to the Catholic News Service, the Vatican is reaching out to high-profile Christian athletes, including Tebow and Houston Rockets' Point Guard Jeremy Lin, another devout evangelical Christian, in an attempt to reintroduce ethical values to the scandal-ridden world of sports through a proposed Faith Conference.
"We want to work with the big sports bodies to give new value to sports," Monsignor Melchor Sanchez de Toca Alameda told CNS in a Jan. 16 interview. He heads the Vatican's faith council's culture and sport section.
"First: to help put healthy values back into sport and counteract the current market logic, because if the current state of affairs continues, all is lost. Second: to help the church see sport as an important resource for future priests, Catholic schools, parishes and catechists," said the monsignor.
Tebow and Lin have yet to respond to the request.
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