Alouettes hold Jets' Tebow's CFL rights

[RICKEARS]

Sportsnet Staff


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

[ArgoGabe22]

He has no future in the CFL IMO. Just leave at that. I don't get how a 3rd string QB can get so much press.

[mchesher03]

agreed - with his arm on a wider field where passing is a premium? hahah. not sure what fired up all this nonsense but its run its course i think.

[ArgoRavi]

He has no future in the CFL IMO. Just leave at that. I don't get how a 3rd string QB can get so much press.

I suspect that his level of religiosity has something to do with it.

[argolio]

I suspect that his level of religiosity has something to do with it.

And He......I mean he won a Heisman, and conference championships, and national titles, and regular season pro games, and a playoff game. It's not like he has no resume at all.

I don't have a clue how he might do in the CFL, but I doubt that would happen anytime soon. He'll probably spend at least a few more years on an NFL roster in some capacity.

[AngeloV]

I think if he was willing to put in the work as a back-up and learning the mental part of the game, he can be successful down the road. Same goes for Vince Young.

[Will]

He has no future in the CFL IMO. Just leave at that. I don't get how a 3rd string QB can get so much press.

Like Argolio said it's not like Tebow has no resume. He is considered to be one of the better college football players of all-time.

[OV Argo]

Like Argolio said it's not like Tebow has no resume. He is considered to be one of the better college football players of all-time.

Yeah, but - there's still tons of haters: the religious angle; he gets too much hype; the NFL super experts know his throwing "mechanics" are all wrong, etc. blah, blah.

Don't bother with going by on-field evidence stuff; get with the program = the classic football cliche - "not good enough" - that bill of goods gets sold to lots of football fan suckers.

[ArgoRavi]

Like Argolio said it's not like Tebow has no resume. He is considered to be one of the better college football players of all-time.

So was Eric Crouch.

[argolio]

So was Eric Crouch.

He did nothing as a pro QB compared to Tebow.

[294life]

He has no future in the CFL IMO.

what Joe Theismann said.