Where will Tim Tebow play next? 5 possibilities
Tebow is not totally without options if he wants to keep playing football
Tim Tebow's football career is on hold — for now at least.
The New England Patriots cut Tebow last month after the quarterback failed to impress in the preseason. No NFL team has yet to express interest in scooping up the former Florida Gator star turned Internet meme turned butt-fumbler's backup.
Still, that doesn't mean Tebow has totally lost his shot at throwing a football for a living. Here, 5 options for Tebow's playing future:
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Jacksonville
A Jacksonville, Fla., native, Tebow's greatest on-field achievements came at the University of Florida, where he won a Heisman Trophy and two national titles. And his most-diehard fans live in the state.
That's why some think Tebow would be a natural fit with the Jaguars, who play just over an hour's drive from Tebow's old stomping ground. Jaguars fans even staged a rally Monday urging ownership to sign him.
Sounds like an impressive groundswell of support, right? Except the rally consisted of less than two dozen people, some bearing signs with the uninspiring message, "Jags. Tebow. Why not?"
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The "why not" is fairly straightforward: The Jaguars have four quarterbacks, including third-year project Blaine Gabbert, whom the team has committed itself to for the near future. They also have rookie Denard Robinson, who, given his speed and propensity to run, is more or less a younger, better Tebow sans name recognition.
Russia
A Russian team, apparently unfamiliar with Tebow's body of work, has asked the quarterback to help them win a championship.
"We have offered him $1 million for two games," Moscow Black Storm owner Mikhail Zaltsman told Russia Beyond the Headlines. "I talked with him personally and he wanted to go."
Zaltsman went on to explain how he was prepared to fly Tebow to Russia to play in a semifinal game against the Moscow Patriots in the American Football Championship of Russia. That game is to be played September 28, so Tebow still has some time to mull the offer.
Canada
Many football analysts wondered aloud at the end of last season whether Tebow, coming off a dismal year in which he barely saw any playing time, should head north to extend his career.
The Montreal Alouettes already hold Tebow's negotiating rights, so such a move is logistically feasible. And Tebow could theoretically prove himself during a stint in Canada, thus earning a call back to the NFL.
Yet Montreal general manager and head coach Jim Popp said this month he hasn't considered signing Tebow, despite his team's need for a QB.
"It's all for talk and there's nothing there, there's no substance to it," he said.
Los Angeles
If Tebow decides to remain stateside, he does have one outstanding offer — from Kiss frontman Gene Simmons, no less. Simmons co-owns a team — creatively named the LA KISS — that will kick off its first season next year in the Arena Football League.
"Acquiring Tebow would not only be a great investment for the team, but his exciting style of play would definitely send shockwaves through the league," Simmons said in a statement. "We're excited for the opportunity to see him with an LA KISS uniform on, and for the LA KISS fans to be rockin' their Tebow shirts and jerseys."
It would at least make for an interesting partnership: Simmons, a man famous for proclaiming his desire to rock all night, and Tebow, a guy who may have never stayed up past midnight in his life.
Nowhere
If Tebow insists on playing in the NFL or nowhere at all, he may have to settle for the latter.
Tebow has resisted moving on in the past. When the Patriots cut him, he tweeted that he would "remain in a relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback."
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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