No Divine Intervention Here

By Andrew Wyrich

Tim Tebow is not a good quarterback — let’s get that straight right off the bat.

That makes the Jets decision to trade two draft picks for the highly-polarizing but less-than-enthralling team leader more than a head scratcher. It literally doesn’t make any sense.

Let’s face it: the Jets did not acquire Tebow for football reasons. Don’t sell yourself short and be naive here, it was a classic Jets public relations move that was made solely to steal some crafty New York Post headlines.“Tebowmania” hitting Broadway was not for some super-scheme wildcat offensive plan. It was a calculated attempt to steal some much-needed attention, which is something the Jets are quite adept at doing. Rex Ryan and Woody Johnson’s assurances that this was only a football-related move have about as much credibility as Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmerio saying they didn’t use steroids.

Anyone with half a brain bobbing from side-to-side on their head can see the flames as bright as Hades itself that are about to ignite around the God-loving quarterback. For a city that never sleeps and is full of lust-tempting “Timtations,”  the circus that is about to engulf every waking second of Tebow’s life will surely drag him from his lofty perch.

Even if Tebow wasn’t a one-hit wonder and actually had an actuate arm that might have some semblance of an impact on the Jets 2012 season, the trade still doesn’t make any logical football sense. The ugly truth is that Tebow is a hyped-up quarterback who lacks the necessary skills to provide a team with a Super Bowl crown. He isn’t Eli Manning and he never will be.

Now the Jets have a convoluted quarterback controversy on their hands that will only get worse once Mark Sanchez inevitably continues his less-than-stellar career as a Jets passer. I’m not defending Sanchez here, but come on, anyone can agree that he is better than the running back who is pretending to be the quarterback that Tebow is.

Every single incomplete pass Sanchez makes will be met with the loud — not to mention incredibly misguided — chants of “Tebow” that will engulf Metlife Stadium. Is that the kind of attention you want to surround an already self-absorbed and inadequate quarterback? I don’t think so.

Tebow and Sanchez are both laughably mediocre, which makes the media circus surrounding the controversy equally laughable. The idea that Tebow, who is possibly the most divisive player in NFL history, will actually solve the Jets copious off the field issues is downright insulting to those currently on the team. But besides that, it’s not just one backup quarterback that is going to solve the litany of problems the Jets have.

At the end of the day, this move smells calculated and intended to steal some attention away from the Jets’ stadium-sharing rivals. The likelihood of the Tebow-experiment blowing up in Ryan’s face midseason is as high as the clouds his new quarterback constantly prays to.

I’m a Believer in Tebow

By Julie Mansmann

Regardless of his passer rating or religion, Tim Tebow could resurrect a bygone New York Jets tradition: winning ugly.

The cockier new breed of Jets fans may not remember a time when Chad Pennington (who?) was at the helm and Herman Edwards told the world that “you play to win the game.” But those Jets made it to the playoffs too, all while fans wore Shrek ears in the stands. The ogre served as a perfect mascot for a too-often bumbling, stumbling and sometimes fumbling team that defied odds when they scraped together a win.

The 2012 Jets can be more accurately compared to the character Donkey: loud-mouthed and playing a secondary role. These selfish players seem more concerned with talking about each other under the guise of anonymity like middle school girls on AIM Instant Messenger than winning. Something needs to change.

Believe it or not, a God-loving, good-ol’-boy who has been nothing but an underdog in his professional career could be just what they need.

Yes, Tebow’s 46.5 completion percentage was impossibly worse than that of current starter Mark Sanchez. But sports are as much about momentum as they are about statistics, and Tebow has been able to build plenty of the former. His fourth quarter heroics are too numerous to be deemed fluke. Considering the Jets’ choke artist culture, losing a few draft picks could be worth it for some “Tebow time.”

The fact that Tebow has already been told he’ll be second string should also ease Gang Green tension. If Mark Sanchez is worth a damn, this bold trade should make him better. The pressure is on to stop whining and start winning. The fear of hearing someone else’s name reverberate through MetLife Stadium the same way it did in Mile High better be enough motivation for Sanchez to not throw 18 interceptions. If a starting quarterback can’t handle high stress situations, then are they truly fit to be a starting quarterback at all?

Then there’s the wildcat factor of this trade. While this formation isn’t fool-proof, the Jets have already reaped the benefits of a quarter-back-turned-runner in Brad Smith (who arguably played an integral role on the two-time conference championship level team). For a team that only rushed for 3.8 yards a carry last season, Tebow introduces a possibly explosive option for an offense with a new coordinator eager to spice things up.

Hardened New Yorkers should also keep in mind that where Tebow goes on Sunday morning has nothing to do with what happens on the field in the afternoon. The player has become polarizing in popular culture for his evangelical beliefs, but that ultimately is unrelated to football. From one-on-one interviews with critics to being thrown to the press conference wolves without the support of anyone in the organization last week, Tebow has proven he can take the heat with, well….grace.

Tim Tebow’s wobbly passes aren’t pretty, but the Jets’ failure in the postseason hasn’t been either. The quarterback will certainly hit plenty of bumps on Broadway, but his determination can and should make him successful on some level in the NFL. No matter what, it will certainly be  fun to watch.