Pre-draft After passing on the
2009 NFL draft for his senior season at Florida, Tebow went on to enter the
2010 NFL draft. Despite his college success, Tebow's NFL potential was much debated. At the time,
Jon Gruden said Tebow was "the strongest human being that's ever played the position" and "is the kind of guy who could revolutionize the game". Former
Indianapolis Colts coach
Tony Dungy said he would pick Tebow with a top 10 pick over any quarterback in the 2010 Draft. However, NFL analyst
Mel Kiper Jr. believed Tebow did not have the intangibles to play quarterback in the NFL. "I don't think he can be a fulltime quarterback. I don't think he can be the quarterback of the future for you, but I do think in the third round, maybe the second round, he'll be the same as
Pat White", said Kiper. Tebow was particularly mentioned as a potential third-round pick of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, his hometown team. Some, including Florida governor
Charlie Crist, suggested that Tebow could be the remedy for dwindling Jaguars ticket sales at
EverBank Field. Early in the 2009 season, Jaguars owner
Wayne Weaver stated: "He (Tebow) clearly is an outstanding football player and would be an asset to any football organization. Clearly there's going to be a groundswell for Tebow, and we'll have to make that evaluation if we have a draft pick that's going to be anywhere near him." Not everyone in the organization agreed, as Jaguar lineman
Uche Nwaneri posted doubts about Tebow's potential NFL success on his team's website message board. {{nfl predraft
Denver Broncos 2010 season in 2010 Tebow was selected by the
Denver Broncos in the first round (25th overall) of the
2010 NFL draft. The Broncos had acquired the pick in a trade with the
Baltimore Ravens on the first night of the draft for the Broncos' second, third and fourth round picks. Broncos head coach
Josh McDaniels said about drafting Tebow, "He has all the traits you look for. It's a good pick." When asked how Tebow will be used, McDaniels commented that Tebow probably wouldn't start at quarterback as a rookie, and that he'll, "Play when he's ready."
The Denver Post columnist
Woody Paige praised the pick, saying "Tim Tremendous may be high risk, but he will be a Mile High Reward." He set an NFL Draft record for jersey sales and continued to have the top selling jersey through the 2010 season. On July 29, Tebow signed a five-year contract with the Broncos that had a base value of $11.25 million (he could make as much as $33 million through certain performance-based incentives). The contract included $8.7 million guaranteed. On October 17, Tebow scored his first NFL touchdown, which was a five-yard running play against the
New York Jets. On November 14, Tebow threw a three-yard touchdown pass to fullback
Spencer Larsen on his first career NFL pass attempt, as part of a 49–29 home victory over the
Kansas City Chiefs. He also added a one-yard rushing touchdown in the game. Tebow
started his first NFL game on December 19, which was a 39–23 road loss to the
Oakland Raiders. He completed 8-of-16 passes for 138 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown pass. He also rushed for 78 yards, 40 of which came on a touchdown run in the first quarter of the game. It was the longest touchdown run for a quarterback in Broncos history and the longest touchdown run in NFL history for a quarterback in his first start. Tebow's first career victory came in his second start on December 26. The Broncos defeated the
Houston Texans, 24–23, in Denver. He helped rally the Broncos from a 17–0 deficit at halftime, as he finished the game with 308 passing yards and one touchdown pass. He also added a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown, which capped the comeback. Tebow finished his
rookie season playing sparingly in six games as a back-up (primarily on plays involving the wild horse formation, which is Denver's variation of the
wildcat formation) before starting the last three games of the Broncos' season. He passed for a total of 654 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 227 yards and six touchdowns. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for a touchdown in each of his first three career starts.
2011 season Tebow began the
2011 season as the
Denver Broncos' backup
quarterback, behind
Kyle Orton. After the Broncos started 1–3, Tebow replaced Orton at halftime during a home game against the
San Diego Chargers in week five. Tebow passed and ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, narrowing a 16-point difference to an ultimate 29–24 loss. Shortly afterward, Broncos'
head coach John Fox announced Tebow would start in the following game on the road against the
Miami Dolphins. Tebow struggled for three-and-a-half quarters against the Dolphins, taking six
sacks, but rallied from a 15–0 deficit in the last three minutes to win the game 18–15 in overtime. The next week, Tebow took seven sacks in a 45–10 loss to the
Detroit Lions. On November 6, Tebow rushed for 118 yards, along with passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns, as part of a 38–24 road victory over the
Oakland Raiders, second only to
Norris Weese in Broncos history for rushing by a quarterback. The Broncos followed with another road win over the
Kansas City Chiefs. Tebow completed two passes on eight attempts for 69 yards and a touchdown. His second completion, a 56-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to wide receiver
Eric Decker, sealed the game for Denver. Four days later, Tebow was 9-for-20 with 104 yards in a
Thursday Night Football home game against the
New York Jets. He led a 95-yard, game-winning touchdown drive with less than six minutes to play, capped by a 20-yard touchdown run on third-and-four with less than one minute remaining. Tebow guided the Broncos to another comeback victory the next week—a 16–13 overtime road win over the San Diego Chargers, where he ran the ball 22 times for 67 yards. In the tenth start of his NFL career, Tebow led the Broncos to their third consecutive come-from-behind win at the
Minnesota Vikings, 35–32; followed by a fourth comeback win, this time 13–10 in overtime at home over the
Chicago Bears after being shut out for almost 58 minutes. in January 2012 It was the last regular-season win of Tebow's career. In week 15, Tebow rushed for two touchdowns and completed 11-of-22 passes against the
New England Patriots in a 41–23 loss. He was sacked four times in the game and had one fumble. In the Broncos' 40–14 loss to the
Buffalo Bills the following week, he had one passing and one rushing touchdown but also threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and two fumbles. He struggled for a third straight game the following week in a 7–3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, completing only 6-of-22 passes and finishing with a career-low quarterback rating of 20.6, but a loss by the Oakland Raiders clinched a playoff spot for the Broncos in the
AFC West. After the three consecutive losses, Broncos vice president and former quarterback
John Elway said Tebow was playing tentatively and needed to "pull the trigger". On January 8, Denver hosted the
Pittsburgh Steelers during the
Wild Card Round of the
NFL playoffs. Tebow completed 10-of-21 passes for a career-high 316 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard touchdown to
Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, as the Broncos won 29–23. The next week, Tebow completed just nine of 26 passes and took five sacks in a 45–10 defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots in the
Divisional Round. After the season, Elway confirmed that Tebow would be the Broncos' starting quarterback going into
training camp in 2012. Despite on-field successes by the Broncos under Tebow, he finished the season with the lowest passing completion rate in the NFL (reaching 50% in just four of his 14 games) which led many to question his potential as a quarterback at the professional level. Tebow's persistent fumbles also created uncertainty about his future as a quarterback.
New York Jets After the Broncos signed
free agent Peyton Manning, Tebow was traded to the
New York Jets on March 21, 2012, along with the Broncos' 2012 seventh round draft pick, in exchange for the Jets' fourth and sixth round picks. Jets
special teams coordinator
Mike Westhoff stated that Tebow would be used on special teams, while head coach
Rex Ryan and
offensive coordinator Tony Sparano stated that he would also be used in the
wildcat formation on offense. The presence of Tebow throughout the
season, in which the Jets struggled, created a controversy as the fans and media called for Ryan to bench the inconsistent
Mark Sanchez in favor of Tebow. Tebow suffered two broken
ribs during a road game against the
Seattle Seahawks, but his injury was not confirmed until two days before the Jets'
Thanksgiving game against the
New England Patriots. He was active despite the injury, which was publicly revealed after the game. Tebow was inactive during the Jets' subsequent game against the
Arizona Cardinals in which Sanchez was benched in favor of
Greg McElroy. Tebow was credited with two starts in 2012, one while lined up at tight end to start the game and another while lined up at
fullback. On April 29, 2013, Tebow was released by the Jets. He had thrown only eight passes and rushed 32 times in his one season with the team.
New England Patriots The
New England Patriots signed Tebow on June 10, 2013, the day before the team's mandatory
minicamp; Tebow signed a two-year contract with no guaranteed money, although it did have playing time-based incentives in 2014. The move reunited him with
Josh McDaniels, who had resumed his positions as Patriots offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Tebow played in the first two of New England's preseason games, against the
Philadelphia Eagles and the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers; he completed just five passes in both games, was sacked several times and intercepted once, intensifying criticism of his football acumen. He went 6-for-11 for 91 yards, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and one interception, and gained 30 yards on six carries against the
New York Giants, but he also was sacked four times. He threw a total of two touchdown passes and two interceptions in the preseason and had a passer rating of 47.2 and completed 36.7% of his passes. He was released from the Patriots on August 31, 2013, the day NFL teams were required to cut their rosters to 53. After being cut, he publicly thanked the Patriots organization for the opportunity and stated: "I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback." Though he began
his broadcasting career in December 2013 on the
SEC Network, Tebow continued to seek opportunities to resume his career as an NFL quarterback.
Philadelphia Eagles Tebow signed a one-year contract with the
Philadelphia Eagles on April 20, 2015, and was in competition with
Matt Barkley for the Eagles third-string quarterback job. Tebow played all four games in the preseason with no starts, going 21-of-36 for 286 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, while rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown. He was released by the team on September 5, following the fourth preseason game.
Jacksonville Jaguars On May 20, 2021, after spending six years out of football, Tebow contacted his former college coach, Urban Meyer, then coach of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, about returning to the sport. The Jaguars released Tebow on August 17, 2021. He had not caught any passes or played on special teams during limited playing time in the preseason. ==Career statistics==