By Zack Peñalva, Sports Editor
When the New York Mets had their first instructional league camp earlier this month, the media circus that descended on the practice facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, came courtesy of one man: Heisman winner and former-NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.
With the University of Florida alum mostly out of work now, besides his commentating gig for college football on the SEC Network, Tebow decided to join up with the Mets minor league affiliate in the chance of reviving his professional sports career, this time in a different game.
While some critics have already come out against Tebow to claim that the whole ordeal is just an elaborate publicity stunt for his upcoming book, Tebow has remained adamant in the press that he’s for real. “I’m not doing it for them,” Tebow told The New York Times. “I’m doing it to pursue what’s in my heart.”
Two-sport athletes aren’t unheard of, but when it comes to finding success in two games, very few have done it.
The most famous case might be that of Bo Jackson, the Auburn University graduate that was drafted first to play football, but chose to play baseball after a dispute with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers caused him to refuse a contract. Jackson was an incredible athlete and extremely gifted at both sports.
In baseball, he had four 20-homerun seasons, one 30-homerun season and was the MVP of the 1989 All-Star Game. Because of his baseball commitments, he was never able to play a full NFL season. Despite that, he still holds a career average of over five yards a carry. A hip injury cut Jackson’s career short in both baseball and football.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I’m not doing it for them. I’m doing it to pursue what’s in my heart.”[/perfectpullquote]
Deion “Primetime” Sanders was another athlete that made a career as both a football and baseball player. An NFL Hall of Famer, two-time Super Bowl Champion and eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Sanders was undoubtedly more famous for his work on the gridiron. That’s not to say he didn’t do well in the MLB, too. As part of the 1992 Atlanta Braves team, Primetime hit .304 for the season and made it to the World Series.
Since Deion, there hasn’t been any athlete that has been able to make headlines in more than one sport. With Tebow’s football days looking to be numbered, his best bet might be with the Mets. And while he has every right to go out and try to make a name for himself as a pro baseball player, it doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that he hasn’t played organized ball since his junior year of high school.
Regardless, Tebow can enjoy the time he has once again in the spotlight. With fans continuing to come out to meaningless training days and ESPN reporting that the number 15 Mets jersey with his name was the team’s highest seller on the opening day of practice, it’s clear that the fame is still there; now it’s just up for his performance to keep him relevant.
