When the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, the world was in shock.
The former Heisman winner was a star college quarterback, but few believed his game could translate well enough to the professional level. There was no question he had the leadership, toughness and passion to be successful, but his arm was shaky at best.
In week five of the 2011 season, Tebow took the starting job from Kyle Orton and helped the Broncos to the playoffs. Denver knocked off the Steelers thanks to Tebow’s game-winning 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in overtime. A week later the Patriots dismantled the Broncos with a 45-10 victory in the divisional round and all but ended Tebow’s career.
That offseason, the Broncos signed Peyton Manning and traded Tebow to the Jets. He sat behind Mark Sanchez, throwing only eight passes the entire season. The Jets let him go in the offseason. He tried out for the Patriots but ultimately didn’t make the team.
But Tebow Time is back.
The Eagles signed the Florida product to a completely non-guaranteed contract earlier this week. Many say Tebow is better than he’s ever been after working on his throwing mechanics in his spare time for the last two years while working for ESPN.
But why should Tebow have to work out on his own? Why aren’t there developmental leagues in the NFL like there are for the MLB and NBA?
Many will say the college game is the minor leagues of the NFL. But with most of college football shifting to an up-tempo, wide-open style of play, players are having a harder time transitioning to the slower, more systematic professional game in one offseason.
Tebow faced the difficult jump. Many others, like last year’s Saints second round pick cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste or Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, had a hard time getting on the field in their first seasons and struggled once they did.
With the win-now attitude of fans and owners, coaches don’t have time to give playtime to players who don’t help the team win. The struggles these players face make a separate developmental league necessary to help them grow into an NFL-ready player.
There are current attempts create such a league like the Fall Experimental Football League, which is a four-team league with a six-week regular season. But without support from the NFL and its billions of dollars, the FXFL stand little to no chance of survival and won’t get NFL capable players on their teams.
The NFL used to have the World League of American Football, later named NFL Europe and NFL Europa. You may have seen it in “Madden,” or at least that’s where I remember it from.
It existed from 1991 to 2007 and did everything I’ve laid out in this column, like development of players and showcasing American football on an international stage. Since the closure of the league, the NFL has played 11 games in England, has three more set for this upcoming season and is mulling the option of putting a team in Europe full-time.
Now that the NFL is more popular than ever in Europe, why not try to reboot the NFL Europe league instead of putting a real NFL franchise? The league could be self-sustaining overseas and give players like Tebow, Jean-Baptiste and Manziel an avenue to become better suited pros.
The NFL owners make enough money to help these players become better, and it’s about time for them to care about their employees.
Brian Pellerin is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.