Tebow Victim of Informal Discrimination?

There are more than 70 quarterbacks in the NFL.  There are maybe a half-dozen really good ones raking in huge salaries and many of them have their teams still alive in the NFL playoffs.  The rest work hard as they dream of joining the elite group of quarterbacks like Manning and Brady.

But out of all those quarterbacks, there is one who is facing a likely expulsion from the league without being given an opportunity to prove himself.  Tim Tebow took over the starting job in Denver a couple years ago.  He was not a prolific passer, but Denver still made it into the playoffs.  Tebow wasn't the only reason they achieved a playoff berth, as they had a good running game on offense and an above-average defense.  But he was certainly a factor, because despite his unorthodox throwing style, he was a fierce competitor who found ways to win.

The Broncos jumped at the chance to sign Peyton Manning, so Tebow had to move on.  The Jets decided to take him as a change-of-pace quarterback to run wildcat sets and perhaps other creative plays that were promised for the 2012 season.  They ran a handful of wildcat plays with Tebow early in the season, then sat him on the bench.  Oh, they had him block for the punter.  When the Jets' starter, Sanchez, struggled badly for most of the season, the Jets stuck with him rather than try their backup.  When the coaches finally gave up on a demoralized Sanchez at the end of the season, they bypassed Tebow for the third-string guy.

So Tebow's future is in doubt.  He almost certainly won't be a Jet next season.  News today is that even his hometown Jaguars aren't interested.  Very possibly he'll simply be released, then no team will invite him to camp next summer, even for a tryout.  Why has that happened?

Because he's a strong Christian who does not shy away from letting it be known.  And many people hate him for it.  How many unproven quarterbacks, especially former Heisman Trophy winners, are trashed daily on ESPN as incompetent and worthless?  If he played in a half-dozen games this season for the Jets and stunk up the stadium, that would be one thing.  But he hasn't even been on the field at quarterback.  And there are plenty of quarterbacks who played horribly this season.  So why the hyper-focus on Tebow?

I believe it stems from an anti-Christian bias.  If Tebow is out of the league next season, it won't be due to any government sanction against Christian players or even a league policy that frowns on the famous Tebow prayer pose.  It will be an insidious popular culture shunning of somebody who doesn't fit the modern template for expected behavior.

My wish is that he can get free of the Jets then be invited to an NFL camp this summer where he'll either earn a backup job or he won't.  But whether he sticks on a roster will be based on how he performs in preseason, and not his faith.