Sounds to me like Weaver is saying that wins and losses don't matter if we have Tebow.
I love Tebow and all - but how does this make sense?
Seems to me - the most important thing in the NFL is your win-loss record. I doubt whether you like the players has much of an effect. Would you be willing to lose a bunch of games but have Tebow on the roster?
I don't know if Tebow would be an all pro NFL QB or not. Especially if someone drafted Tebow and put him in the wrong type of offense and completely changed him.
Would it be better to hire a player with the background of Michael Vick - but you know he can win games - or hire someone with the background of Tebow - but not know if he can win games?
Remember that a first round draft pick usually guarantees tens of millions of $$$.
And if you are paying someone that much $$$ - are you going to let him run "Tebow plays"?
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gatornews] Jags owner: Drafting Tebow possible (ESPN)
From: Mary Lynn <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, September 17, 2009 8:42 am
To: GatorNews <[email protected]>
Jags owner: Drafting Tebow possible
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars lost 17,000 season
ticket-holders after last season, a staggering number that could lead
to blackouts for every home game in 2009.
Most blamed the sluggish economy. Some pointed to the slumping team.
Either way, team owner Wayne Weaver has to find a way to get them
back.
How about Tim Tebow?
Weaver told The Associated Press this week that drafting Tebow, the
2007 Heisman Trophy winner who grew up in Jacksonville and has top-
ranked Florida seeking its third national championship in four
seasons, is something he will consider next year.
Early Tebow Talk From Jags
The story of the Jaguars considering drafting Tim Tebow is inevitable.
Paul Kuharsky just didn't think we'd hear it addressed by the team so
soon. Blog
• AFC South blog
Think LeBron James in Cleveland. James, from Akron, Ohio, turned the
foundering NBA franchise into an Eastern Conference power and made the
Cavaliers the hottest ticket in town.
"Star power is incredible, and Tebow is an iconic figure," Weaver
said, noting that Brett Favre's arrival in Minnesota prompted about
7,000 season ticket sales. "That's very compelling. He clearly is an
outstanding football player and would be an asset to any football
organization."
Weaver pointed to Tebow's popularity, marketability and leadership
skills as reasons he would be a perfect fit in Jacksonville. Weaver
also believes there's no doubt Tebow will play quarterback at the next
level.
Weaver has already started to hear chatter about drafting the 6-
foot-3, 240-pound left-hander who has broken several school and
Southeastern Conference records.
It was one of the first questions asked when he spoke at a business
luncheon Monday. There are "Draft Tebow" stickers circulating the
city. And that rumor about the Jaguars commissioning a survey to see
what effect Tebow would have on ticket sales?
"I don't know that it's actually a survey," Weaver said.
This much is certain: Weaver expects the Tebow talk to increase
between now and April's NFL draft.
"The game is such an important part of this community, and Tebow is
such an iconic figure that people would legitimately think, 'Wouldn't
it be great if he was a Jaguar,'" Weaver said. "I'd be silly to sit
here and think that's not going to be a huge thing.
"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," he said.
Tebow's draft stock is routinely debated. He has taken every
meaningful snap from the shotgun formation, has a long windup, throws
sort of sidearm and finishes each pass with a leg kick. His arm
strength is average and his ability to read defenses is questionable.
But his accuracy, durability and determination to be an NFL
quarterback might be hard to overlook -- especially for the Jaguars.
Jacksonville's ticket woes are arguably the worst in the league.
There's virtually no chance for the team to avoid blacking out
Sunday's home opener against the defending NFC champion Arizona
Cardinals, and the situation looks just as bleak for the other seven
home games.
Teams normally need to sell out games 72 hours before kickoff to
prevent a local television blackout, and Weaver doesn't even
anticipate getting a deadline extension from the NFL -- something that
prevented blackouts in Arizona, Cincinnati and Oakland last weekend.
"We're far enough away that I don't want to send any false hope out to
the community," Weaver said.
It's the latest setback for a franchise that doesn't have a lucrative
naming-rights deal for the stadium, already covered up nearly 10,000
seats to reduce capacity and lower ticket-sales requirements and faces
constant speculation about relocating to Los Angeles.
McShay: Tebow's Throwing Motion
Tim Tebow still has much to prove in terms of decision-making and
overall accuracy, and one thing we have noticed over the first two
weeks of the season is that his delivery is still extremely slow by
NFL standards. Blog
"It's no fun to be in that position," Weaver said. "It is what it is.
I'm not going to hang my head. I'm going to work hard and keep doing
everything we know how to do to get out there. We've got to realize
we're in a difficult economy and do everything we can do to make it
affordable."
The Jaguars have tried just about everything.
They didn't raise ticket prices. They focused on group sales. They
created value meals at concession stands. They offered season-ticket
packages for half the games and recently introduced a "flex pack,"
which allows fans to buy tickets to any three games and save $30.
The response has been minimal.
Jacksonville mayor John Peyton showed up at practice Wednesday and
appealed to fans to buy tickets.
"The viability of this team in our city is critically important,"
Peyton said. "The Jaguars have become part of the fabric in this city.
It's hard to imagine not having this team here and we need to do a
better job citywide supporting this team."
The five-county Jacksonville area has 1.3 million people. It wouldn't
seem like a stretch to find 60,000 to attend Jaguars games, especially
since there's no other major league teams competing in the area.
It wasn't a problem when the franchise started in 1995. But after the
newness wore off and losing seasons followed -- the Jags have made the
playoffs twice in the last nine years -- attendance started to
dwindle. The economic collapse and last year's 5-11 record have season-
ticket sales at an all-time low.
Weaver said the market was hit hard because it only has two Fortune
500 companies, CSX (No. 240) and Winn-Dixie (No. 340), and lots of
service-based industries.
"The people who own our tickets are families and small businesses, and
they're the ones going through the toughest time with tight credit and
other things," Weaver said. "We're not in this by ourselves. But we
just felt it worse because of the size of our market."
Weaver insists he's committed to Jacksonville and sees signs that
things will turn around.
The father of a 14-year-old boy recently called Weaver to let him know
his son spent all summer working odd jobs so he could afford season
tickets.
"This young man is so passionate about the Jaguars," Weaver said.
"He's grown up with us. That's all he knows. There's thousands more
like him out there that are growing up with us. As they come of age
and they have their own disposable income, they're going to start
buying season tickets."
It might happen sooner if Tebow comes to town.
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