“Tim Tebow: baseball player” is a real thing, no matter how much you might try to ignore it. But according to the former quarterback, the NFL hasn’t stopped knocking on his door just because he changed careers.
When Tebow joined the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, he said he still gets calls from the league gauging his interest in playing — at positions other than QB, anyway. His response? Thanks, but no thanks.
DP: When’s the last time you got a call from somebody with the NFL?
Tebow: I’m not sure. I mean, honestly, we still might get some calls about other positions. I’m not even sure.
DP: Did you think about playing another position?
Tebow: Not really. Honestly, it was just, I think, for me, it’s always about pursuing what’s your in heart, what you love, what you’re passionate about. And I love the game of football, but what I really loved doing was playing the quarterback position.
And so I had a lot of good opportunities to play other positions, but that just wasn’t in my heart. It wasn’t something that I wanted to do. If I was going to make a change, I would rather make a change to baseball, to pursue it, because I love it. And I’m just grateful that we’re in a country where we get to pursue what we love, and I don’t have to do what maybe a lot of other people want me to do. I get to pursue what I want to do, and what I have a love for, and what I have a passion for.
And the two greatest things I love in sports since I was a little boy was hitting a baseball and playing the quarterback position. And I like both of them because they’re really hard.
Patrick also asked Tebow, who signed a minor-league deal with the Mets, if he’d asked Michael Jordan for advice on making the transition from a different sport to baseball. Unfortunately for those of us who love comedy, Tebow shot down that idea. Frankly, if he wanted to get some advice, Deion Sanders might be a better mentor, anyway.
Reports came out in 2013 that various teams contacted Tebow about a position change in the NFL, but the 2007 Heisman trophy winner refused to consider such a move. Now, we know why. While the football world tried to turn Tebow into something he’s not, he was dreaming of baseball.
