Even as Tim Tebow puts the NFL behind him and pursues a career in professional baseball with the New York Mets, he still has his defenders who insist he could have been a winning quarterback in the NFL.
Add Jon Gruden to the list. The NFL coach-turned-broadcaster shared this opinion on ESPN's First Take, insisting that he could have won with Tebow as his quarterback.
That may be an instance of Gruden's ego shining through, but at the very least he thinks Tebow is capable of doing well enough to keep a good team in the win column.
Now, in fairness to Gruden, this is the same coach who won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson under center. That was a team built to win on the strength of its defense, and the strategy worked out very well. Given that bullet point on his resume, you can see where Gruden's coming from: He doesn't believe he needs Tom Brady to win in the NFL.
Bear in mind, it's not like Gruden's saying Tebow would be his first choice. More likely, he's just arguing that, were Tebow one of the cards he was dealt, he'd be able to win regardless.
And lastly, the Broncos did reach the playoffs -- and win a playoff game -- with Tebow as their starting quarterback. It may have been ugly, and that team certainly wasn't a Super Bowl contender, but it did happen -- and Gruden clearly feels that he could at least do as well.
