If Tim Tebow decided to come north of the border to play football, the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League would have first crack at the 25-year-old.
According to Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, while Tebow was once on the negotiation list of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, he is now property of the Alouettes.
Tebow has had a very limited role in the Jets’ offence this season. During Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, head coach Rex Ryan turned to third-stringer Greg McElroy, who stepped in for a struggling Mark Sanchez and energized the Jets and their fans. Tebow was unavailable due to injury.
Fans chanted “Mc-El-Roy!” throughout the first three quarters as Sanchez went 10 of 21 for 97 yards and three interceptions. McElroy threw a touchdown pass to cap his first NFL drive early in the fourth quarter, leading New York to an ugly 7-6 victory.
Sanchez has been in a dreadful slump but Ryan remained committed to him as the starting quarterback while Tebow has been used sparingly in various roles.
A report in the Daily News on Nov. 14 said that more than a dozen players and members of the Jets organization believe there’s no chance Tebow could overtake Sanchez for the starting quarterback job — with one saying of the backup: “He’s terrible.”
“We never say that it always has to be a bed of roses,” said Ryan, who encourages his players and coaches to “be yourself” in interviews. “But again, put your name to it. I think people would respect you a lot more for it.”
Tebow was acquired from Denver in a stunning trade in March, with the Jets envisioning using the popular player in key spots on offence. Instead, he has had little impact through 10 games, rushing 29 times for 87 yards and completing six of his seven passes for 39 yards. Tebow also has not scored with the Jets and the wildcat package he was supposed to be such a large part of has been inconsistent and mostly ineffective.
The Montreal Alouettes season ended in an upset at home by the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division Final. The Argos went on to beat the Calgary Stampeders in the 100th Grey Cup.
Als quarterback Anthony Calvillo has yet to decide if he will play another season. Calvillo indicated after the season that he would wait at least a couple of weeks to let his body and his mind rest before deciding what to do going forward.
–With files from The Associated Press
