National Football League

Tisch blames Jets for Tebow fall

Published May. 13, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

Sam Gardner

Over the last 16 months, Tim Tebow has gone from leading the Denver Broncos to the NFL playoffs to looking for a job after being released by the New York Jets.

There are several reasons Tebowmania never quite panned out on the field, but according to one rival owner who knows a thing or two about the New York market, the Jets — the team with which his shares a stadium — may be the reason for Tebow’s recent career tailspin.

Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was in Los Angeles recently, where he was tracked down by TMZ coming out of a restaurant. And after a couple cursory questions about the Giants’ draft and their recent signing of linebacker Aaron Curry, the photographer moved onto the good stuff: Tebow.

“I feel badly for the guy,” Tisch said. “Had another team picked him up after the Broncos, maybe he'd have a career. I think him going from the Broncos to the Jets was not in anybody's best interests.”

Tisch went on to say that he’d like to see Tebow make an NFL roster again — though it doesn’t sound too likely that it’ll be his.

“I hope he plays football,” Tisch said. “I think he's got talent, (and) I think he's probably a decent guy and not a bad quarterback. So I wish him all the best. … I think he should try to get a job in the NFL, not in the lingerie league.”

That might be easier said than done, however, especially in the wake of a Yahoo! report that Tebow is being "blackballed" by NFL teams as a result of his cult-like following and the distraction it brings to the locker room.

One NFC coach told Yahoo's Michael Silver he'd be tempted to bring Tebow in as a backup, "but it's just not worth dealing with all the stuff that comes with it." An AFC coach told him that he didn't want to "put up with the circus" that Tebow would bring.

The AFC coach also seemed to echo Tisch's comments to TMZ, that the Jets had a lot to do with Tebow's slide.

"I don't understand what the Jets did," the coach said. "You have to have a plan for him, but they had no idea what they were doing. I do think they were shocked how bad he looked in practice and in the preseason … how bad his accuracy was. But why make the trade for the guy if you're not clear on how to use his abilities?"

There’s still plenty of time for Tebow to make a roster and resurrect his career, of course. And the legions of Tebowlievers out there will tell you that his career is only just beginning. But by the sounds of things, that might be wishful thinking, and maybe Tebow would be wise to hold onto those non-NFL offers... you know, just in case.