Ex-Jaguars WR Jimmy Smith thrilled for Tim Tebow, says Colin Kaepernick could 'divide' team
It’s easy to see why people are confused by Urban Meyer’s move to consider bringing Tim Tebow to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The former Heisman Trophy winner hasn’t played in the NFL since 2012 and has been busy trying to make it in Major League Baseball for years. Tebow, 33, also hasn’t ever played tight end, which is what Meyer is considering for his former star QB on a one-year deal.
Longtime former Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith, however, is all about it.
“We need a guy like Tim Tebow, whose a hometown hero who has love for the city anyway,” he told TMZ Sports.
Smith: Colin Kaepernick would have divided Jaguars
One of the arguments people made, particularly on social media, regarding Tebow landing in Jacksonville is the fact that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job in the league.
Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2016 season, when he first started taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial and social injustices throughout the country. While that form of protest is now commonly seen across all sports and at all levels, his protest caused an uproar and essentially led to him being exiled from the NFL. In 2019, Kaepernick reached an undisclosed settlement with the league after filing a collusion grievance that accused the NFL of blackballing him.
Kaepernick was far more successful in the NFL than Tebow. Tebow, arguably one of the most popular college players in recent history, lasted 35 games over three seasons with the Broncos and the Jets before he was cut. Several teams gave him chances to come back, but he could never stay on a roster once the preseason ended.
Yet Smith — who racked up more than 12,000 receiving yards and 67 touchdowns with the Jaguars from 1995-2005 – said that Kaepernick would “divide our locker room.”
“We don’t need Colin Kaepernick on our team,” he said, via TMZ Sports.
While Smith says that Kaepernick could be a dividing force, according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington, not everyone in the Jaguars' organization is happy that Tebow might join the team.
The other positive Smith sees with Tebow is that, despite playing a different position, Tebow can be a “great support” for former Clemson star and No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence.
“He’s going to be a great support for Trevor Lawrence. Whatever capacity that is, it’s going to be a positive rather than a negative,” Smith said, via TMZ Sports.
“I pray that he makes the 53-man roster, because we need all we can get.”
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