Chicago Bears Must Kill Any and All Tim Tebow Speculation Immediately
Published by Jeff Chase on January 16, 2013
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears General Manager Phil Emery has already rolled the dice on the future of his position by hiring Marc Trestman of the CFL Montreal Alouettes to be the team’s 14th head coach. To avoid a potential disaster in the Windy City, Emery must make sure to kill off any rumors linking the team to New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.
In a recent column by USA Today’s Dan Shanoff, we are reminded of not only the connection Trestman had with Bears quarterback Jay Cutler pre-draft, but also that he played a similar role with Tebow before he was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round.
Trestman was part of the phalanx of tutors who worked with Tebow in advance of the 2010 NFL draft, notable for Tebow’s elevation from a third-round pick in the estimation of draftniks like ESPN‘s Todd McShay to a first-round pick by the Denver Broncos.
As the speculation over where Tebow might end up next season pinballs from Jacksonville (near his hometown)—though the Jaguars are now quashing that notion—to Arizona (where he is spending the week training) to any number of copycat teams that will likely try to adapt some of the zone-read principles that fueled the success of the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks in 2012 (and the Broncos with Tebow in 2011), it isn’t unreasonable to add Chicago to the mix, given Tebow’s history with the new head coach.
While the hiring of Trestman could ultimately be a great move (there is no denying the support he has received from the likes of former players such as Steve Young), in the end the signing of Trestman will result in a lot of questions from those who continue to believe the Bears could have gone for somebody a bit more well-known. Bringing in Tebow could just add to the potential failed experiment.
This Bears team isn’t terrible—heck, they won 10 games—and perhaps one of the most underrated positives from the Lovie Smith era was how controlled the locker room was. There was always controversy around Cutler, as there is with any Bears quarterback, but one thing you never heard about was a divided locker room or any PR messes that overshadowed the performance of the team.
In both Denver and New York, we saw what the media does around Tebow, especially when he doesn’t play. If Tebow was brought into Chicago, he would be nothing more than a backup to Cutler. One would have to imagine the Bears would have to make some packages to suit the unique-passer, but in the end, it will be Cutler’s team—at least for the 2013 season.
There is no doubt to what Tebow brings to a team. At both Florida and Denver he was a proven winner, and he stayed relatively positive throughout his time with the Jets. Fact is, Tebow carries with him an overwhelming amount of media, unfortunately something he can’t avoid. However, the Bears can avoid such a situation by just avoiding No. 15 all together.
The Bears will need to address the backup quarterback situation following how the Jason Campbell experiment didn’t exactly work out, but they need to bring in someone who is actually a backup, not a player who is labeled a starter by many. They could do so in the draft or free-agency, but they must bring in a player who is ready to sit behind Cutler and step up when needed.
Maybe Tebow is ready to be that guy, but unfortunately the national media is not ready to let him. One bad outing by Cutler and Tebow-mania will be taking the situation in Chicago to 11.
The Trestman-era is only getting started in Chicago, and while it is clear Emery got his guy, fans can only hope that this team won’t be making too many more drastic decisions that could ultimately throw this Super Bowl contending team off the tracks.
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