Mike Ditka Would Take a Chance on Tim Tebow

Free agent Tim Tebow is attracting no attention from teams on the open market after being put out of his misery by the New York Jets. He has had some offers from the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League, but he is still holding out hope that he will land on a NFL roster for the 2013-14 season (You gotta keep the faith!).

While the chances aren’t looking good for Tebow, he can take away some positives from a former head coach who says he would take a chance on the unorthodox passer.

Former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka wrote that he would take a chance on Tebow because he is a winner and a leader.

“I think [Tebow] can play quarterback in the NFL, but whatever offense you run might have to be tweaked a bit,” Ditka wrote in his column in the Chicago Sun-Times.

“This kid is a talent and he proved it in college.  He is an outstanding leader.  Now, does he have an unusual throwing motion?  Yes.  But there a lot of quarterbacks that didn’t have a perfect throwing motion.  Some of them turned out to be great quarterbacks because they were great leaders.  I really do think there’s a place for him.  If not at quarterback, I think he could play tight end.  If I was in the league and coaching today, I would take a chance on him at quarterback.”

It should also be noted that Ditka coached in a league where the quarterbacks did not have to throw as often or efficiently as they do nowadays, so Tebow would have been a much better fit back then, since, you know, he can’t really throw a football.

One day Tebow may catch back on in the NFL. There is a chance that it could be during training camp or in the preseason if a team suffers some unfortunate injuries at the position, but it doesn’t appear that he will be finding a home in the league anytime soon.

At least he has that support from former coaches.