Tim Tebow has now been a professional baseball player for seven months and somehow, someway, he has managed to defy all his critics.
Back in September, when the Mets decided to sign the former Heisman Trophy winner, there was not a sports fan in America that didn’t think the move was a publicity stunt. But Tebow has shown signs of improving as a hitter in the minor leagues and if he stays the course, he may one day reach the big leagues.
It’s a stretch, but there were also a lot of critics and experts that were downplaying the possibility of a President Trump.
Face it; Tebow becoming an everyday player on a major league team is still a possibility that cannot be taken off the table yet.
Like him or not, you would have to agree that Tebow has stayed true to his beliefs and himself at every turn during his professional sports career.
Whether it has been on the gridiron or the diamond, he has showed up with an admirable work ethic, attempted to be the best teammate possible and held an unwavering belief that he belongs.
So far it has worked out pretty well for the guy. After his football career came to an end, Tebow made a seamless transition into sports broadcasting. From there, he resurrected a once-promising baseball career and is now making strides to fulfill that dream.
Tebow is not the first semi-productive pro football player to find success on the diamond. Right off the bat, the most recognizable example is Bo Jackson.
Jackson played football, baseball and was a sprinter at Auburn before being drafted in both the NFL draft and MLB draft in 1986.
Tebow is clearly not as gifted as Jackson but they do have the Heisman Trophy in common and that says a lot about them as athletes. There is no chance that Tebow ever reaches the success that Jackson had on the diamond, but there are similarities between the two that we cannot ignore.
Deion Sanders also played at the pinnacle of both professional football and baseball. Like Jackson, Sanders played football, baseball and ran track while at Florida State but unlike Tebow and Jackson, “Primetime” did not get his hands on that Heisman Trophy.
Granted, Sanders played on the defensive side of the ball on the gridiron and still managed to finish eighth in the 1988 Heisman voting.
Sanders had a far more successful career in the NFL but was no slouch during his time in Major League Baseball. During nine seasons in the majors, Sanders batted .263 with 39 home runs and 186 stolen bases. Not too shabby.
At the end of the day, people are going to continue to sleep on Tebow, but if we know anything about this guy it’s that he likes to wake people up. It should continue to be an interesting saga.
