Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is ready to have a crack at Major League Baseball, his agents Jimmy Sexton and Nick Khan claim.
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Tebow, who is currently working as an ESPN broadcaster is ready to pursue a career in baseball, but can he really cut it? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time an athlete has decided to change sports and enjoy some success. For the past year Tebow, who is turning 29 on Sunday, has been improving his hitting and fielding skills in Arizona and Los Angeles.
He hasn’t played the sport full-time since 2005 when he was an all-state player in Florida and led Nease High School to the final four of the state playoffs. ”Obviously we support Tim in his pursuit of a baseball career, as we have in all his ventures,” Tebow’s football agent, Jimmy Sexton, said. “Tim’s athletic ability, his work ethic, his leadership and his competitiveness were evident in football and will show in baseball. Knowing Tim’s passion and desire, we won’t be surprised by anything he accomplishes.”
Even though Tebow has made it clear to ESPN that he wants to pursue a career in baseball, he will respect his contract with the network and continue to fulfill his obligations. Tebow’s pivotal moment will come when all 30 Major League Baseball teams come to his workout session at the end of the month. He had a trial with the Los Angeles Dodgers with the team showing interest in him afterwards, which is quite encouraging.
Catcher Chad Moeller, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007, had this to say: “I am beyond impressed with Tim’s athleticism and swing, and it goes without saying that he has shown a high level of discipline and strong work ethic. I see bat speed and power and real baseball talent. I truly believe Tim has the skill set and potential to achieve his goal of playing in the Major Leagues, and based on what I have seen over the past two months, it could happen relatively quickly.”
Moeller was full of praise for Tebow, but others are less optimistic. A major league scouting director said, “Eleven years [of not playing baseball], nobody can overcome that.” “[When I coached him] he was very competitive and very dedicated to life. He’s a guy I was very, very impressed with. He also took us [the Broncos] to the playoffs and won a playoff game for us. [I enjoyed] being around him because he works extremely hard at whatever he does,” Chicago Bears coach John Fox said.
NFL wide receiver Eric Decker, who played with Tebow during his stint in Denver, says that a minor league team will definitely be interested in signing him. “I’ll just say if you haven’t played baseball for 10 years or however many years it’s been, I don’t know what the chances are, but if I was a double-a or single-a team, I’m signing him to get the ticket sales up,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll have success in that field. But as far as the skill aspect, I think hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things so it’ll be interesting to see his progress.”
Everything hinges on the workout session at the end of the month. It’s make or break for Tebow, who’s been preparing for this for more than a year.