It happened six weeks later than it should have, but quarterback Tim Tebow was finally set free on Monday when the New York Jets decided to waive him without receiving any compensation in return.

Delving into why Tebow-in-New York did not work out is a tired topic at this point. It was the wrong fit from the very start and the coaching staff had absolutely no idea either how to handle Tebow or ensure that he was an effective football player for the franchise. That is quite ridiculous statement when you consider the amount of success he had both in college and with an organization (Denver) that adjusted its offense mid-season in order to get the most out of him.

Most talking heads will spend their Monday asking what will become of Tebow as a football player and whether or not he would dare take a shot with the CFL or AFL to continue his career.

The Montreal Alouettes hold his CFL rights and would accept him immediately though his role would be as a reserve.

“If he wants to come to Canada, he would be in the same situation as the one he was in with New York,” Montreal general manager Jim Popp told TSN. “He can come here and compete to be the backup with Anthony Calvillo and learn the game, just like Jeff Garcia did [behind Doug Flutie]. And one day he might be the guy; that’s our vision. He can learn from the best.”

Orlando Predators owner Brett Bouchy told the Orlando Sentinel more than a month ago that his door is always open for Tebow to play in Florida with his AFL franchise.

“Tim would certainly want to first exhaust his opportunities in the NFL, but we’d love to have him. I think he would definitely improve as a quarterback in our league,” Bouchy said. “Kurt Warner told me once that when he got back to the NFL after playing in the Arena League, the NFL game was like slow motion Everything in the Arena League is just so much faster and quicker and predicated on accuracy. Whenever Tim is willing, we have a contract waiting for him to sign.”

The CFL and AFL should be – and are likely seen as – a last resort for Tebow.

He’s not done with the NFL yet.

Continue Reading » Silver Lining: Tebow’s release is an opportunity

Tags: New York Jets, NFL, Tim Tebow

The New York Jets have finally waived quarterback Tim Tebow.

Just over 13 months after sending a fourth- and sixth-round draft selection (along with $2.53 million of a salary advance) to the Denver Broncos for Tebow’s services, the Jets have officially to cut him loose for no return.

Tebow was completely ineffective during his one year in New York, carrying the ball 32 times for 102 yards and completing 6-of-8 passes for 39 yards in the 12 games in which he saw action. However, his inability to serve as a playmaker for the Jets was hampered both by offensive coordinator Tony Sparano’s lack of creativity and head coach Rex Ryan’s continuously diminishing trust for the former Florida Gators signal caller.

“We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow,” said Ryan in a team release. “Things did not work out the way we all had hoped. Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in this offseason. We wish him the best moving forward.”

Once it became apparent that New York did not see Tebow in its future, the team ruined any opportunity it had to trade him and receive some value back for the player by making it well known that he was not in the Jets’ plans going forward.

Multiple reports of him being cut at the start of free agency on March 13 surfaced and no team in the league had a desire to part with any form of compensation for a player it could theoretically get for free.

That is now a possibility, though it may be unlikely.

New York did Tebow no favors by waiting to the conclusion of this year’s draft to cut him. Aside from undrafted free agents being added to fill out rosters, most teams have their starting quarterback and reserves in place. There are fewer open roster spots now than have been all offseason.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on the air Monday that the Jets had granted Tebow permission to seek a trade in the offseason, but he refused to discuss the possibility of moving to tight end, an offer supposedly made by a number of franchises.

Tebow has been working all offseason to improve his throwing motion in hopes that a franchise gives him the opportunity to compete as a reserve. His quarterback coaches – and supposedly bystanders like Steve Young – have been impressed with the improvement he has made.

Tebow originally chose to play for New York rather than play for his hometown team, Jacksonville, which made a trade offer that Denver also would have accepted. He, his agent and his family decided that he would have a better opportunity to see the field and succeed with the Jets.

Tags: Denver Broncos, New York Jets, NFL, Tim Tebow

1 » Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons concluded the 2012-13 NBA regular season in style, draining an improbable three-pointer at the buzzer to extend his team’s season finale into overtime. Though Houston fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 99-95, Parsons finished with 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, adding four rebounds and three assists. The Rockets will be the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

2 » During a pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, New York Jets general manager John Idzik remained non-committal but nevertheless seemed to foreshadow quarterback Tim Tebow’s future with the team. “I’m not saying he is, I’m not saying he isn’t,” said Idzik after being asked if Tebow would be involved in the Jets’ offseason quarterback competition. “I’m just saying let things play out.” He continued: “I guess I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. … He’s a Jet, and we’ve gone through some change here and that’s what I mean by letting things play out. We have a new coordinator, we have a new quarterback coach, we have a new offensive system, I’m new. We have several new people within football administration. I think you just got to let these things develop and evolve.”

3 » Workouts at this point in the offseason do not include on-field drills, so Tebow has not yet had an opportunity to show these new coaches his ability. If one is to believe veteran quarterback coach Steve Clarkson, who told Newsday on Wednesday that he fixed Tebow’s flawed mechanics in just three days, the player may be able to impress if given a chance. “I would hope wherever he ends up, they give him an opportunity to play, because if they do, they’ll be pleasantly surprised,” he told the paper. “I think he can still play.” Clarkson spent three days working with Tebow in Arizona during the month of February and explained that he fixed the flaw in Tebow’s throwing motion.

“The footwork is essentially what caused a lot of his looping motion,” Clarkson said. “A lot of what was happening with his throwing motion and why it was elongated was because of the way he placed his feet at the end of his drop. Right before he’d make his throw, his hips would stop at mid-motion, and the ball would come off in funny places. So that was one thing that we really honed in on, was trying to tie his feet up.” Clarkson went on to say that though Tebow has a high football IQ, his footwork was slowing him down. He even used Tai Chi to help Tebow “make his body work as one unit.” He added: “The things that he needs to work on are very coachable and actually very minor. … He just needs to have someone not be afraid of the phenomenon.”

Check out three more BITS of Florida Gators football news…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Parsons’s buzzer-beater, Tebow’s fixed footwork, Powell’s excitement to return

Tags: Chandler Parsons, Cleveland Browns, Dante Fowler, Fred Taylor, Houston Rockets, Jevon Kearse, Joe Haden, Jonathan Bullard, NBA, New York Jets, NFL, Playoffs, Ronald Powell, Tim Tebow

Aside from a story specifically about the events that took place on Monday, OGGOA chose to refrain from posting new material out of respect for those in Boston, MA. Below are six stories from Monday that we did not cover at the time.

1 » Senior forward Jennifer George was chosen with the No. 33 overall pick in the third round of the 2013 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever on Monday, becoming the first Florida Gators women’s basketball to be selected in the event since Sha Brooks in 2009. George is the 17th Florida player to ever be picked in the WNBA Draft and joins an Indiana team that concluded the 2012 season by winning the league title. She will not, however, be the only former member of the Gators to be a part of the Fever as former Florida head coach Mickie DeMoss is currently serving as an assistant coach.

2 » Could senior Mike linebacker Jon Bostic be the third Florida player selected in next week’s 2013 NFL Draft. According to veteran analyst Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net, Bostic – who is widely expected to be a third-round selection – may be drafted even higher. “In recent conversations, I’ve been told it’s a distinct possibility he could slip into the late part of the second frame,” Pauline writes. “Teams like the fact that Bostic is a three-down defender and offers the potential of being a day-one starter.”

3 » After informing the New England Patriots that he had decided to return to the track but also hoped to continue his football career – a move that would involve missing much of training camp and perhaps even a few early-season games – running back Jeff Demps was thought to be a goner from the organization. And while that may very well wind up being the case, the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe reports that another option may be on the table – a trade. Demps’s agent Daniel Rose told Howe that the Patriots have discussed a possibility, which is not much of a surprise considering New England’s propensity for making deals (especially around draft time).

Read three more BITS of Florida Gators news…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: George, Bostic, Demps, Tebow, Caldwell

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Andre Caldwell, Denver Broncos, Draft, Indiana Fever, Jeff Demps, Jennifer George, Jon Bostic, Mickie DeMoss, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL, Tim Tebow, track, WNBA

1 » Only one of the two Florida Gators golfers competing in the 2013 Masters moved on to weekend play. After hitting an even 72 in the opening round on Thursday, Brian Gay shot a +2 (74) on Friday and is currently tied for 37th, three strokes above the cut line. Senior T.J. Vogel, who earned a spot in the major as an amateur event winner, was not as fortunate. He shot a +5 (77) on Thursday but was able to bring his score down with a +3 (75) on Friday. Vogel missed the cut by four strokes, ending his special weekend earlier than he would hoped. “I just had a good time,” he said Thursday after his first round. “This experience, I can’t even explain even in words. I’m just having such a great time playing in front of so many people and it’s just a really cool feeling when you know you hita great shot and you got people cheering for you. And I’m not used to that yet. It’s just really cool.”

2 » Former Florida QB Jacoby Brissett sounds more than slightly perturbed that he lost the starting job to Jeff Driskel last season. In a feature penned by Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com, Brissett indicates that he did not receive a fair shot to start for the Gators before throwing a barb at Driskel for his performance in the last game of the season. “It wasn’t right,” he said of the competition. “In the saying that God don’t like ugly, it came up to us in the Sugar Bowl when we couldn’t throw to save our life.” He then took a second shot at Driskel, basically questioning his former teammate’s work ethic while explaining why it was Brissett who should have started at Florida. “Just my competitiveness, I don’t think it was matched with that other guy,” he said. “The willingness to put in that extra work to win.”

Read four more Florida Gators news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Masters, Brissett, Booth, Tebow, PIT

Tags: All-American, Brian Gay, golf, Great Floridian Award, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, Kenny Boynton, Laura Booth, Masters, Mike Mularkey, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Championship, New York Jets, NFL, PGA, Portsmouth Invitational, swimming, T.J. Vogel, Tim Tebow

1 » Despite ending their 2013 NCAA Tournament run in the Elite Eight for the third-straight year, Florida Gators basketball was placed at No. 9 in the final USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 poll of the 2012-13 season. Florida was not the only Elite Eight team to fall outside the top eight of the poll, however, as Marquette checked in at No. 11 in the final rankings. Indiana (Sweet 16 loss to Syracuse) and Kansas (Sweet 16 loss to Michigan) took the two other spots in the top eight. The Gators also checked in at No. 9 and No. 10 in 2011-12 and 2010-11, respectively, after losing in the Elite Eight. Florida will likely enter the 2013-14 campaign ranked in the preseason top-10.

2 » No. 2 Gators women’s tennis (17-2, 10-1 SEC) ran through its competition over the weekend, extending their winning streaks to 10 consecutive team matches and 30-straight individual matches. Florida swept the Ole Miss Rebels (10-10, 4-6 SEC) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-12, 1-10 SEC) in a pair of home showdowns over the weekend at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL. The Gators won all 11 matches and had the opportunity to celebrate Senior Day against the Bulldogs on Sunday. Seniors No. 1 Lauren Embree and No. 125 Caroline Hitimana were each unable to finish their singles matches due to Florida registering a quick 4-0 victory but both won their doubles contests. The No. 20 duo of Embree and junior Sofie Oyen picked up an 8-2 win, while Hitimana and junior Alex Cercone won 8-0.

On Monday, head coach Roland Thornqvist praised Embree at his press conference, making note of her incredible career and tremendous work ethic. “You want to know why Lauren Embree is the best college player to ever play the game?” he asked rhetorically. “It was Monday morning at 8:30, and after a weekend full of matches and practices, she runs to the courts, hits serves for 30 minutes, then I show up and we go at it [on the court] for an hour and 15 minutes. By 10:00, she’s done with two workouts already while the rest of tennis America is still sleeping. That’s why we’re good and that’s why she’s good. She sets the tone, the bar is high, and I think everybody feeds off of it. We’ve just been blessed to have that for four years. Frankly, it’s just amazing.” The Gators women’s tennis program is hoping to win its third-straight national title.

Read four more BITS of Florida Gators news…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: top 25, tennis, Muschamp, PIT, Tebow

Tags: Alex Cercone, baseball, Caroline Hitimana, Detroit Pistons, Draft, Elite Eight, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Mike Rosario, Mississippi State Bulldogs, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL, Ole Miss Rebels, Orange & Blue Debut, Portsmouth Invitational, Ring Tennis Complex, Roland Thornqvist, Seattle Seahawks, Senior Day, Sofie Oyen, softball, St. Louis Rams, Tim Tebow, Vernon Macklin, Will Muschamp, women's tennis

1 » Contrary to comments from the front office and coaching staff of the New York Jets indicating that quarterback Tim Tebow is currently in the team’s plans to be part of the competition at his position for 2013, ESPNNewYork.com reported Tuesday that “nothing has changed with regard to Tebow’s status on the team.” A league source tells Dan Graziano that “the Jets are holding out hope they can trade him and are in no rush to do so. They could stretch the process out to the draft, but failing a trade, the Jets will release him, the source said.”

2 » Wide receiver Louis Murphy is the only former Florida Gators free agent to sign with a team thus far in the 2013 offseason as the New York Giants decided to bring him on board with a one-year contract last week. Speaking with the SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday, general manager Jerry Reese raved about what Murphy brings to the table. “I think he’s going to add another dimension to our offense,” Reese said. “We have a scout named Jeremiah Davis and he talks about guys being a ‘knife.’ This guy is a ‘knife.’ This guy can take the top off your defense. He gives us a different dimension in our offense [...] a deep threat that we haven’t had. We haven’t had a guy who can run like this guy.” Murphy should enter the season as the Giants’ fourth or fifth receiver but may still see a good amount of time on the field next year.

3 » Greg Cosell, the senior producer for NFL Films, recently praised what he has seen from Gators tight end Jordan Reed. Cosell wrote on Twitter that he loved what he saw from Reed on tape and believes he has the chance to be the next successful ‘Joker’ tight end in the league, comparing him (as many other have done already) to New England Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez.

4 » Florida safety Josh Evans has private workouts scheduled with the Jets and Patriots, OGGOA learned on Wednesday. Evans, who turned heads with his performances at the 2013 NFL Combine and Pro Day, is beginning to draw some significant buzz in league circles. According to the National Football Post:

While Evans has been viewed as the “other safety” at Florida throughout the 2012 season and not regarded as a top prospect, sources at the Florida Pro Day told us that Evans had a strong all-around workout. Although not an explosive athlete, Evans was smooth throughout the positional drills staying over his feet and changing directions easily. One NFL person in attendance told us that it was clear to him that Evans is the more flexible and fluid athlete of the two safeties, Matt Elam being the other, and that he felt Evans was also better in coverage in games. Although his workout was impressive and we think he warrants being selected above Elam, the sources we spoke with said that while they agreed with our evaluation of Evans as a better prospect that Elam will still likely be selected first.

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, combine, Jordan Reed, Josh Evans, Louis Murphy, Matt Elam, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, Pro Day, Tim Tebow

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share – too much to fit into one of our truncated BITS segments. When stories like these fall through the cracks, we catch and wrap them all up with Gator Bites.

» Though President Barack Obama‘s official 2013 NCAA Tournament bracket will be released on Wednesday at 9 a.m. on ESPN, the network released his Final Four late Tuesday night. President Obama chose the Florida Gators to win the South Region and also has Louisville, Indiana and Ohio State advancing to the Final Four.

» Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah had a hellacious experience during his team’s game on Monday evening. With 5.7 seconds left in overtime and Chicago trailing Denver by a single point, Noah got in perfect position underneath the basket and tipped in what otherwise would have been a missed shot. Though Noah scored the apparent game-winner and the referees did not call interference on the play, they checked the replay and eventually reversed their decision. The problem? Referees are only allowed to use replay to review on-court calls of interference, not to check on non-calls. Take a look at the video below to see what transpired on Monday.

Read 14 more interesting bites of Florida Gators news…after the break!
Continue Reading » 16 Gator Bites for Wednesday, March 20

Tags: Allie Kiick, Barack Obama, baseball, Billy Donovan, Bridget Sloan, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Browns, Cornelius Ingram, Duke Dawson, Final Four, Georgia Bulldogs, gymnastics, Joakim Noah, Joe Haden, Keanu Neal, Keiwan Ratliff, Kentucky Wildcats, Kytra Hunter, lacrosse, Lauren Haeger, Marcell Harris, Matt Elam, McKethan Stadium, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, New York Jets, NFL, North Florida Ospreys, Oregon Ducks, Percy Harvin, Ryan Lochte, Seattle Seahawks, SEC, SEC Championships, softball, Stetson Hatters, swimming, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, Tim Tebow