NFL: Did the Philadelphia Eagles Use Tim Tebow as Publicity Stunt?
As we all know by now, the Philadelphia Eagles have released quarterback Tim Tebow. After four preseason games of play, the Eagles have decided to move on from the former Heisman Trophy winner. Whether or not the Eagles should have kept Tebow is one debate, but many NFL fans are speculating that the Eagles just signed Tebow as a publicity stunt.
In addition to Tebow being cut, the Eagles traded away fourth round draft pick Matt Barkley to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional seventh round pick. Barkley has not impressed Eagles fans at all, so this comes as no surprise. The Eagles have to make space to ensure they have a standard 53-man roster, so Tebow's release wasn't a huge shocker to many.
What was a huge surprise was what the Eagles did the very next day. The Eagles signed quarterback Stephen Morris.
Morris has never thrown an NFL pass in a regular season game, he was undrafted by any team in 2014, and he didn't have a great college career at Miami. The Jacksonville Jaguars even cut him last year after he went undrafted, and again this year. Which begs the question: Why did the Eagles even sign Tebow in the first place?
The Eagles never started Tebow in any of the four preseason games, not that he was ever going to start over Sam Bradford anyway. The final preseason game would have been a good chance to start Tebow to see if he could fully grasp the system, but instead the team went with Barkley. Tebow played in the second half, completing 11 of 17 passes for two touchdowns, and had a 117 passer rating. Obviously the Eagles never planned on using Tebow in their offense this season, given the facts that he never got a chance to start a preseason game and he was cut even after a strong performance against the New York Jets.
There's no doubt about the ratings. Tebow has a strong fan base around the world, one that firmly believe he should be a starting quarterback. Without Tebow playing the second half of the Eagles vs. Jets preseason game, would anybody even care to watch it? Speaking of the Jets, they for Tebow in 2012, but never started him at quarterback the entire season. Instead, he simply took up a roster spot, despite the fans chanting his name. The Eagles won't be using up a roster spot on Tebow, but for 4.5 months, they were the most talked about team in the league.
Obviously Tebow isn't the next Dan Marino or Brett Favre, but the Morris signing is a real head-scratcher. Tebow is easily more accomplished than Morris, having led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs in 2011 after the team was 1-4 without him. Tebow also went on to win in the playoffs, beating the No. 1 defensive team in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is also a risky decision for the Eagles considering who else is still on the roster. Bradford has torn his ACL the last two consecutive seasons, and Mark Sanchez isn't exactly a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. Many thought Tebow would be an ideal fit with the Eagles because he's an elusive mobile quarterback, and Kelly runs a fast paced spread option offense. Apparently, that wasn't the case. According to multiple reports, Kelly told Tebow to "get more reps" in the Canadian Football League.
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