Top 9 Possible Reasons Why the New York Jets Would Want Tim Tebow

There are a lot of questions in New York surrounding the Jets’ recent move to get Tim Tebow, and rightfully so. The Jets are a team that has gotten to the AFC conference championship in 2 of the last 3 seasons with Mark Sanchez at QB (in just his his first and second seasons). Until last year, where they missed the playoffs and went 8-8, the Jets were perennial Super Bowl contenders. And Mark Sanchez just signed a 3-year $40 million extension with the team, basically proving that they wanted to give him an extended chance.

But Sanchez regressed last year in his 3^rd season following a fairly successful sophomore year (only 13 interceptions, Jets 11-5). Even though he just signed this $40 million extension (which is truly puzzling), every year he has been a starter in the NFL, he has been in the bottom third of the league in passing, throwing for less than 7 yards per attempt, with completion percentages eerily similar to those of the infamously armed ex-Bronco QB. Tebow actually has a higher career yards per attempt than Sanchez as well (6.8 to 6.5).

Now, instead of fully solving their QB situation by going for Manning (a bit more on that later), the Jets’ QB issues go from an already muddled situation with Sanchez's constant drama and confidence issues to a full on showcase with two equivalently mediocre passers vying for supremacy. Here are some of the potential reasons why the Jets simply couldn’t resist the chance to make the Mile High Messiah become the Messiah of Metlife, and to ruin life for Sanchez.

9. Tebow Jersey Sales will become an instant hit in New York. Green and white Tebow jersey ads already headline every page on NFL.com. Tebow will also probably increase the jersey sales of all Tebow’s star Jets teammates like Darrelle Revis and D’Brickishaw Ferguson (D’Brickishaw jersey sales would skyrocket if they were granted an exceptional first name status. Come on Jets' marketers!).

8. Rex Ryan wants Tebow on his Madden team for when he plays against his Jeff Bridges fused identical twin brother, Rob Ryan. Rex might have had his fragile patience shattered after watching the Ravens defense pick off Mark Sanchez 114 times over the last three years of playing the game.

7. Rex Ryan couldn’t handle his frequent flashbacks he had been experiencing since Tebow’s 20 yard game winning last minute run against the Jets last November (the other Denver score came off a Mark Sanchez throw). This game was just the example Jets' management needed to see that a Tebow led offense could outdo a Mark Sanchez led offense, especially when Sanchez throws costly pick 6's at the end of games.

6. The Jets wanted to steal attention from the Giants. The Jets must be annoyed because, all of a sudden, everyone in New York is for some reason making a big deal out of the Giants after they won two Super Bowls in five years in miraculous fashion. The Jets, and Rex Ryan in particular, have a recent tradition of making wanna-be Namath Super Bowl predictions just to get attention. Acquiring Tebow is a much less humiliating way of getting everyone’s attention after ending up losing each of the last few years and looking like fools making empty promises.

5. Media coverage revenues will shoot up for the Jets by the mere presence of Tebow. He will become must see TV and will get national coverage every week when he starts, and even Tebow on the bench or in situational settings makes for a story that people want to see.

4. The Jets simply liked the value trade of a 1^st round pick for a 4^th round pick and a 6^th round pick. New York could have just gone for the fact that Tebow is a still a former 1^st round pick with a successful season under his belt, going for a 4^th and a 6^th round pick. Just last year, Carson Palmer, another former first round pick who is older and probably has less starting years ahead of him than Tebow, attracted a 1st and 2nd round pick from the Raiders. Based on value, even if he does make Mark Sanchez feel a bit queasy in close games to start out the season, Tebow's an insane value pickup and without a doubt a worthwhile addition to the team in specialty situations.

3. Tebow can save the Jets’ rushing attack, which only averaged 3.8 yards per carry last season and was outrushed by its opponents. The Broncos led the NFL with 4.8 yards per carry last year, and there’s no reason to think the Jets won’t be able to do the same this year with Tebow. Although Willis McGahee was underratedly amazing last season for the Broncos, the combination of Shonn Greene, Ladainian Tomlinson, and Joe McKnight will provide much more for Tebow than what Denver had to offer at the running back position from a talent perspective. Rex Ryan has always fantasized about a ground and pound attack, but Shonn Greene and LT haven’t seemed up to the task in recent years. Now, the Jets have a number of serious rushing threats, especially if Joe McKnight can take another step forward this season. Tebow is sure to become quick friends with all the Jets’ running backs, as he’ll open up all sorts of new lanes as a double threat to run the ball.

2. Reality TV show opportunities. Hard Knocks would become must see TV if it chooses to cover the Jets and gets to follow two quarterbacks who are glamour hogs: Mark Sanchez by artificial design, and Tim Tebow by sheer force of character Words like ‘soap opera,’ ‘drama,’ and ‘media circus’ are already being used to describe the two QBs' relationship, but when you throw in other supporting characters like Rex Ryan, Santonio Holmes, Ladainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie, this has an entertainment potential far beyond Hard Knocks. We’re talking about prime time TV potentially. The show will really take off once Tebow begins to win the heart of Mark Sanchez’s girlfriend, SI swimsuit cover model Kate Upton, converts her to Christianity, and proceeds to be too holy and too faithful a teammate to go through with any of her frequent attempts to get in bed with him.

1. New York wanted to be the media center of Tebowmania. After what was essentially a day of testing how excited New York fans would be about Tim Tebow, the buzz his move created and the support given by the local media proved that it was clear that it was easily worth it for the Jets to spend the extra $5 million to buy out Tebow’s contract. At Denver’s asking price, it was easily worth it economically for the team in the biggest media market in sports.

  

What will actually happen with Tebow on the Jets

Tebow will absolutely eat up Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez is delicate enough as it is, and he doesn’t exactly exemplify the Rex Ryan demeanor. Rex Ryan is a 300 pound human volcano and Sanchez is a pretty boy, wannabe Mexican David Hasselhoff pretty boy. Tebow is the type of player who absolutely will get along with Rex, with his combination of modesty and leadership that makes him one of the biggest coach’s pets in the NFL. And did I mention that Mark Sanchez is an annoying pretty boy? People are mentioning Tebow as a situational goal line guy or a situational wildcat specialist. The Jets do have new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, who was part of bringing the wildcat to the NFL in 2009, but Tebow’s usefulness in this offense is likely to expand past situtational wildcat duties.

This is a job Tebow will win. Mark Sanchez has no significant statistical passing advantage over Tebow for his career, and you could definitely argue that Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes provide much more talent and experience at wide receiver than DeMaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, even though they both had their moments last year. There were already anonymous requests from some of the Jets’ players to get Peyton Manning to replace Mark Sanchez, and this small din from within will only expand as Tebowmania begins to infect the entire locker room.

The Tebowmania epidemic proved fatal for Denver, as the Mile High Messiah’s popularity actually proved to be too intense after Tebow’s miraculous last season. Tebow's media buzz would have actually made the team worse. There was no way it could be quieted now, even if Peyton Manning manages to play as amazingly as, well, Peyton Manning for the Broncos. It is true that Tebow could have potentially been a diligent pupil to Peyton, and he probably would develop into a significantly better quarterback after a season or two on the bench learning from Manning, who said he’d be a willing teammate. But no matter how positive an internal locker influence Tim Tebow would have been inDenver, the media would have cancelled out his positives and made him a detriment to the team and Manning.

The roaring force of this epidemic eventually made Denver give up its most hyped player since Elway, but they deserved a much better price. From an economic standpoint, there are honestly few players as valuable as Tim Tebow, and for me it makes sense to have that be valued heavily in a deal. Tebow would have been worth a number of top draft picks, and probably players too, if GMs were actually factoring in the enormous economic benefits of having Tebow.

Once Tim Tebow gets the starting job, and it will happen, just as soon as the Jets start 1-3 or Sanchez throws multiple picks in the game, don’t count out what he can do. There’s still a long time until the NFL season starts, and the on-field success of this trade will depend upon how Tony Sparano and the offensive coaching staff use this time to create an offense where Tebow can thrive.

The Jets are a better team defensively than the Broncos, and their offensive support players are also stronger. There’s no reason to think Tebow’s on-field success should be diminished now that his team situation has improved. How Tebow embraces the New York media will be another question, but he succeeded last year handling his enormous fame in Denver, and he appears to be completely media savvy. I’m mostly worried about all the scrutiny that will be on his private life in the busy New York metropolis, which will be full of distractions from a celebrity life much more extensive than what Tebow is used to from Florida and Denver.

But I trust in Tebow to handle all that, and quickly win over his teammates in the locker room. What he will be able to do on the field is still up for grabs, but if last year taught us anything, it was that everything was possible with Tim Tebow at quarterback. The Jets may have just won the lottery by merely putting up two mid-late draft picks to secure a potential starting QB, and Tebow might prove to be the savior that makes the Jets offense viable enough to make them a Super Bowl team that no longer has to be stuck in the shadow of Eli Manning and their crosstown brethren.

Coping with Linsanity

4 Lins, 0 Losses. That’s the New York Knicks’ record after inserting Mr. Lincredible, 6’3 Harvard grad Jeremy Lin, into their lineup. If you had somehow avoided the Linsanity before last night, you couldn’t have possibly avoided the media earthquake that ensued following the point guard himself into the record books last night with his 38 point outburst in the Knicks’ victory over the Lakers.

Before the main stream media Linfestation after Lin shut up Kobe, the impressive Lin stat I was going to give you was that he’s the first player since LeBron James in 2003 to average 20+ points and 8+ assists in his first two NBA starts. Now, that stat is that no player in the NBA has scored more points in his first three starts since the NBA/ABA merger. Let’s rewind a bit though, before Lin had outdueled and upstaged Kobe, passed MJ, LeBron, Shaq, and everyone else in the modern NBA in terms of a scoring start to career, and had completed the fast path to icon status in only a week.

The Lincredible Journey to Stardom

It’s an understatement to say that Jeremy Lin doesn’t have the classic formula for a basketball upbringing. Lin was born the son of two 5’6 Taiwanese immigrants and raised in the fairly wealthy suburb of Palo Alto, CA just across the street from Stanford. Sounds like possibly the right upbringing environment for a nuclear physicist or Google executive, but certainly not the best fit for basketball success.

The Harvard Hurricane’s Linspirational story is the complete opposite of that of the last Asian player to have a serious impact in the NBA, Yao Ming. In case you were unaware, Yao Ming is the closest thing to an engineered basketball superstar that the Chinese could conjure up. He was twice the size of a normal baby at birth, and his parents were 6’7 and 6’3, as well as the two best basketball players in China. He was raised to be a basketball star, and he successfully became one in the NBA until his tragic foot injuries.

No, Jeremy Lin is different. He’s excelled on the court at every level, but every step of the way he’s been doubted and told he couldn’t play. His dad had a passion for basketball that he shared with his kids, playing with them as often as he could at the local Palo Alto YMCA. Jeremy luckily missed out on the short gene from his parents and kept growing into his solid 6’3 200 pound point guard frame, developing a reputation as one of the best high school players in all of California with his leadership for Palo Alto High School.

Fast forward to the California Division II State Baskeball Finals in 2006, where Lin’s undermanned and undersized Palo Alto High School team is supposed to have its surprise run to the state title stopped playing perennial powerhouse Mater Dei, a team featuring Taylor King, who is the 3^rd all time leading scorer in California high school basketball history, as well as Travis Wear and David Wear, two skilled 6’10 twins who currently play at UCLA. Mater Dei was undefeated in California, but Lin somehow willed Paly to the championship upset.

Still, Lin received no interest from his choice school, UCLA, or even the local choice, Stanford, who showed only a “fake interest” in Lin. The future star was treated like a mere Taiwanese trinket and ended up going to Harvard without a basketball scholarship, even though he had just proven he was as good as any player in the state.

The High-Expectations Asian Baller again proved himself a star in the Ivy League, setting records at Harvard while bringing the team to new heights as a three time All-Ivy selection. He stepped up in big games against better competition, and even managed to get an Economics degree with a 3.1 GPA.

Despite excelling in college, the high-brow hooper was undrafted after struggling to distinguish himself without 5-on-5 drills in workouts. He caught some attention though after outplaying John Wall in the #1 overall pick’s first preseason game, and the Warriors, Mavericks, and Lakers (!) made offers. Lin chose to play for Golden State, his hometown dream team. I’ll just say that if the Lakers had him, they would be legitimate title contenders. I guess you Lin some you lose some.

The Cambridge Commander’s year with the Warriors and the D-League was underwhelming, but he did establish a cult following of Asian Americans rooting for the best Asian-American basketball hope since Robert Swift.

Fast forward again to now. Less than a month after playing in the NBDL, Lin’s cult following has exploded, building off a combination of Asian pride and citywide enthusiasm in New York that Lin is taking in after the Giants’ Super Bowl victory. Spike Lee is gawking so much in the stands he might have to roll up a joint movie to tell the most Lincredible story in recent NBA history (Linvictus?). Since stepping into a starting role for the Knicks after their two “bona fide superstars” were forced to miss time, the Knicks have played as well as ever, winning their last 4 games to get back into the playoff mix under Lin’s lead. The Lin Dynasty has begun in New York.

Why this level of Linsanity though? The Chinese have already bought TV rights so they can air Lin’s games to his fan base overseas. In only his second career start, Lin was hearing MVP chants in Madison Square Garden against the Jazz. Those chants only got louder Friday night against Kobe and the Lakers, as Lin absolutely humiliated Kobe. He lived out every every Asian-American’s basketball player’s dream of all dreams, to be cast aside by Kobe and then shove it in his face by outplaying him head-to-head on the court.

"Asian-American basketball player" is a term not often heard in the NBA, strangely, and it is a term that Jeremy would probably rather cast aside, considering how much disrespect it’s caused him at every level of evaluation as a player. What Jeremy Lin is doing is acting as a long overdue hero for a fan base that needed one. Asian-Americans are visible on just about any pickup basketball court, and even though they aren’t the typical kind of athletes you see in the NBA, they know the game. Asian ballers seem to be stereotyped as undersized, quick, almost ninja-like ball handlers, who play with a determined focus. Those types of players certainly exist (and they can be dominant at the pickup level), but there are just as many Asian Americans who are pure shooters, crafty big men, lockdown defenders, lazy defenders, and everything in between. So to say Lin plays “Asian” is unfair, to him and to the legions of skilled Asian-American ballers nationwide.

The True Way of the Linja

This is how Jeremy Lin actually plays, and these are his qualities that should allow him to continue to succeed. He has a versatile offensive skill set with more deadly weapons in than the Linja turtles. Lin has great size for a point guard, and he uses his body well to protect the ball. He’s good at being aggressive and maintaining his dribble with his body control. He has a sick hesitation dribble that he uses frequently to get his defenders off balance. Lin is fairly quick and decently athletic, but he's far from being a Wade or Rose type athlete. He makes up for his lack of athleticism with his strength and solid finishing ability though.

He is an infectious leader, and he understands how to use his teammates’ skills properly. It’s as much his attitude has anything that has so quickly endeared him to fans. Mike D’Antoni is the most thankful Lin supporter out there, as Lin's saved D'Antoni's job by proving that the ex-coach of the year remains a point guard instructor extraordinaire. No offense in the NBA would fit Lin better, and Lin couldn’t ask for a better coach/team situation now. Lin has been great at running the pick and roll in D’Antoni’s offense with Tyson Chandler, and he’ll find only another capable pick and roll partner in Amare Stoudemire once he returns. I’m glad Lin also understands that Steve Novak is a 6’10 shooting machine (98% FT in college!) who is an automatic 3 points if given time and space behind the arc . He understands the niches of every one of his teammates’ games, and all of them are playing better after Jeremy’s Linsertion into the Knicks’ lineup.

What really is Lin's ultimate skill that endears him to fans and teammates is his modesty about all his recent success, the genuine smile on his face as he achieves his lifelong dream of basketball stardom, how he always points the focus away from himself towards other players in interviews. Basically he has the Tim Tebow trait.

Lin Tebow

The Fake ESPN dubbed Jeremy Lin the Official Asian Tim Tebow, and it’s hard to dispute that the two breakout athletes have some uncanny similarities.

Both are devout Christians. Tebow is practically the son of the Lord, and Lin is a lifelong Christian who one day hopes to be a pastor.

Both achieved academic success at prestigious universities, Jeremy Lin getting a 3.1 GPA at Harvard, and Tebow outdoing him with a 3.6 at the University of Florida.

Both have a Lintrospective quality where they are self aware of their game and their limitations, which should aid them as they improve upon their flaws and work hard throughout their careers. What does Lin think of his game? He compares it to Goran Dragic’s, which when I think about it is the perfect comparison. Both players are 6’3 scorers who use crafty dribbling, euro steps, and creativity in the paint. Spot on comparison by Lin that no analyst could top.

Both have been doubted due to unfair racial stereotypes. Tebow suffers being a white quarterback in a fullback's body with questionable throwing ability who relies on his running to create the offense. Lin suffers from being judged as inferior in skill to his counterparts just because he doesn’t look the part of NBA superstar when that is what he is.

And that’s where the similarities end between Tebow and Lin. Jeremy Lin is the real deal. He has had undisputable success on his team and individually on the basketball court. Tebow’s run as a starter and into the AFC divisional round was anything but indisputable. Tebow’s skillset is undeniably inferior to most quarterbacks, and much of the Broncos’ success was due to other players stepping up to keep the game in reach for the first 3 quarters of Tebow suckage. Well, Lin should face no such controversy.

The Taiwanese Taskmaster’s midrange jumper is money, his crossovers are unique and consistently manage him to get penetration, he’s great at drawing contact and finishing strong with his deceptively strong frame, and mostly he has an uncanny feel for the game in 5 with his ability to set the pace and control the game. There's no lack of skill or performance in this case. Sure, his numbers now are a bit Linflated due to the hype and the lack of quality point guards he’s had to go up against (John Wall, Devin Harris, Deron Williams, Derek Fisher), but it’s hard to write off his run as a fluke.

The only thing stopping the Harvard Hurricane from further entrenching himself in history is Linjury and the increased burden of heavy minutes. He has set himself up well for this current media storm, making his presence felt on the Linternet on Twitter and YouTube. Lin is friends with the #2 and #10 most subscribed users of all time, Nigahiga and Kevjumba, and by appearing in their videos that are seen by tens of millions, he’s only expanded his legend

For now though, Jeremy Lin remains humbled. He returns to the life the Lincognito life in New York, crashing on his brother’s sofa where he’s been sleeping the last few nights. The NBA will be hard-pressed though to put Linsanity to bed, as the young star’s dream appears to have no end in sight. 

Plays That Mattered in the NFL: Week 15

For the last few weeks of the NFL season, I’ll be providing Monday night posts with links to the plays you should check out and some quick analysis to recap what mattered each week around the league. NFL.com is a great resource that has every play and game highlights available to stream free instantly.

Week 15 was the most bizarre and unpredictable week yet in what has already been a historically unpredictable and bizarre season. It’s always been risky business trying to make NFL predictions, especially on a weekly basis, but this year it’s been practically impossible. Sunday certainly confirmed the notion that nothing in any matchup is certain as the 0-13 Colts defeated a Titans team battling to make the playoffs, the lowly Redskins shut down Eli Manning and the Giants, and, of course, the Chiefs' shocking assault on the 13-0 Packers right after firing their head coach, Todd Haley. Here are some of the plays that made today into one of the strangest this week one of the strangest in NFL history:

Donald Trumps the Titans

Donald Brown made this clutch run to seal the Colts’ upset victory, showcasing vision, power, and breakaway speed that he hasn’t shown at any other point in his disappointing career. Good for the Colts.

Big Mistakes from Giants

One of several unforgiveable mistakes by the Giants that will surely have the New York media ranting and raving. Nicks provided a somewhat valid excuse that the ball hard to spot in the in the sun, that thing is right in the friggin' bread basket. The Giants didn't score a touchdown until there were 33 seconds left in the game.

All Hail Hali

This was one of Hali’s three sacks on the day, and a play that pretty much epitomized a game where the Chiefs hustled, played hard, and snuck up from behind the Packers to shock them with a big hit.

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This is how Tim Tebow avoids a sack

This is how Caleb Hanie avoids a sack

Tebow’s run to cap off the game’s opening drive marked the high point of the night for the Broncos. They went on to lose to Brady’s Patriots 41-23, but I was pretty impressed with the Broncos’ performance. Their offense showed they can score points outside the 4^th quarter, and if it weren’t for three costly turnovers, this game could have been in Tebow range at the end for another Hail Mary victory.

As for the Bears, the  post-Cutler Hanie-over continues. This guy has a career 3-10 TD-Int ratio and 41.7 QB rating, and it’s unlikely he gets any other shot to improve those numbers for the rest of his career after his recent performance. Having lost their starting quarterback and running back already to injury, Chicago was dealt another blow after it lost its best WR, Johnny Knox, on this hard-to-watch hit.

Johnny, welcome to the school of hard Knox. I doubt you could even pay Johnny Knoxville to go through that pain for Jackass 4 (okay, maybe you could), and I’m sure he’d rather snort wasabi every day than ever have his spine cracked like that. All puns aside though, I hope Johnny Knox is okay, and it was good to hear today that he underwent successful surgery today to stabilize the vertebra on his lower to mid back. He’s obviously out for the year, but he should be ready for the start of next regular season.

Speaking of big hits, this was a week that did not feature the most notorious perpetrator, the Steelers’ James Harrison, who was serving a one game suspension for his hit on Colt McCoy last week. Harrison still made his presence felt on his twitter account however, which is a kick and worth checking out.

I always appreciate a good double negative, and they don’t get no better than in this tweet during a blackout that delayed the 49ers and Steelers Monday night game: “If I can’t play, then can’t nobody play… Lights out.” Harrison was active on Twitter throughout his personal bye week, mostly just fastidiously critiquing and complaining about other hits that he thought were illegal across the NFL, and talking about how much he lifts, in case you couldn’t tell the man with "Silverback" as a nickname was strong.

This guy is a joke if he thinks he doesn't deserve a suspension. He's met with the commissioner about the hits, and he's publicly called Goodell a "devil" and a "crook,"so he should assume he's not on the commissioner's good side. He drew $120,000 in fines last year for dirty hits. And anyone who thinks his hits aren't dirty is crazy. Here's visual evidence.

That's right, Harrison's a total jerk. One of those hits was even on a college teammate, Joshua Cribbs, whose body immediately started to go limp. The dude is a supervillain practically. He's actively trying to inflict damage on people, and he needs to be punished just so he stays somewhat in line.

The ugliest touchdown play I’ve seen in a while

After almost manage to get sacked by his own player, Tony Romo almost managed to throw an interception, but Miles Austin got in the way and wrestled the ball away for a touchdown. This play was remarkably similar to one of Austin’s TDs earlier this year where he wrestled the ball away from Antonio Cromartie.

Apparently, someone on the Cowboys called ‘first’ on that play, because was a jump ball if I’ve ever seen one. That’s actually one of the very rare situations where the NFL’s only rule that explicitly favors the offense comes into play—if a ball is possessed by two players throughout the motion of the catch, the tie goes to the offense. James Harrison festers rage over this rule.

Here’s Tebow again, with a classic Madden play, getting sacked for 28 yards on a 4^th and 17

Here’s the most exciting of LeSean McCoy’s 3 touchdowns

Shady McCoy has done that Marcus Allen move countless times this season to fool defenses, but what impressed me is that DeSean Jackson actually made an attempt to help his teammates by throwing a half-committed downfield block.

Reggie Bush looks like he’s back in the Pac-10

Now that’s the Reggie Bush I remember, effortlessly breaking loose big plays, and capping off his touchdowns with flavor. He didn’t do his signature front flip, but he sure made me wish I could run so fast that I'd have to slide for 20 yards to  come to a stop. The most impressive player on that run might actually be Brandon Marshall, who showed uncharacteristic hustle down the field to join in the celebration. He had a remarkably quick reaction time to follow the cue to slide alongside his teammate, thereby causing a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty.

And finally, a shout out to a player not getting nearly enough notice.

Drew Brees throws for 412 yards and 5 TDs

No truly outstanding play here, but a dominant game for a fantastic player having a historic season. There was fairly decent coverage on all those throws, but Drew Brees used his superhuman accuracy to throw his receivers open. Aaron Rodgers has been getting more attention, but Brees’ season has been equally magnificent. There’s little doubt he’ll break Dan Marino’s passing yards record, and if he can add a Super Bowl to this season, it’ll have to go down as arguably the best year ever by a quarterback. This was the week where Brees showed that he might even have an edge on Rodgers and Brady in terms of executing an offense to perfection.