CORTLAND, N.Y. â€" The biggest sign of the Tim Tebow tsunami swarming this college town of roughly 20,000?
Julio Cortez, AP
Tim Tebow (15) and Mark Sanchez. Can the Jets' experiment work, or will it fail miserably?
It pops from a Main Street store-front billboard sporting Tebow's famous face, a New York Jets logo and Thursday's buzzword as the players reported for training camp.
"Tebowmania" screams the green-and-white placard inside Bernard's Custom Logo & Trophy Source shop, a commercial grotto cashing in on a three-week "Tebow Fest" here.
Four months after the Jets traded for the massively popular and lightning-rod former Denver Broncos quarterback, Cortland is home for Tebowmaniacs and quarterback conspiracy theorists wondering how Tebow's sandlot style will mesh as wildcat complement to fourth-year quarterback Mark Sanchez.
While Sanchez remains the face of the Jets, Tebow owns early momentum as the franchise's new football and evangelical force of nature.
"It's absolutely Tebowmania," said Steve Wineburg, 38, president of Bernard's and a longtime Jets fan. "We've gotten calls from Tebow fans in Florida and Virginia wanting shirts.
"I had one church group wanting a T-shirt with Tim's 'Tebowing' pose on the front. His impact will be huge."
The popular backup and unorthodox passer is expected to draw 53,000 fans and pump more than $5.8 million into Cortland's economy before the Jets break camp, said Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau director Jim Dempsey. In 2010, their last visit, the Jets drew 41,000 fans here, about a four-hour drive northwest of MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
A "Welcome Jets" pep rally attracted 1,000 fans Thursday. Practice begins today.
Jets coach Rex Ryan insists Sanchez is entrenched as the starter. But if Bernard's lineup of Tebow T-shirt variations is an indicator, the scorecard is Tebow 5, Sanchez 1.
"My relationship with Mark is great," Tebow said. "We're friends. We support one another on and off the field. I know I'll support him and he'll support me. Our No. 1 goal has to be, 'How can we win games and make this team better?'
"If that's our No. 1 goal, it can definitely work out."
Sanchez was complimentary of Tebow: "Tim's huge. He can help any team, and we're lucky to have him. It's going to work out well."
Later, he said, "I'm confident that I'm ready to lead this team."
Will the two-headed signal-calling succeed â€" or implode?
"You guys are making a big deal out of it," Jets guard Brandon Moore said. "We have two quarterbacks that are going to play. That's all there is to it."
Split decision
Tebow is here because the Jets lost their way and Ryan lost the pulse of his locker room during a late-season meltdown by wide receiver Santonio Holmes over a rift with Sanchez.
Tebowites will swarm Saturday's first public practice to pass judgment on Sanchez's sidekick â€" and to see if he's the kick-start for a Jets starting quarterback coming off a 26-touchdown, 26-turnover record in an 8-8 non-playoff season.
Tebow went 8-5 in replacing Kyle Orton after Denver's 1-4 start last season. Sanchez is 31-22 as a starter, including 4-2 in the postseason.
Ryan shot back at Holmes for last week saying he has doubts about how the two-quarterback system will work. Holmes did not address the news media Thursday.
"I'm proud Tim Tebow is a New York Jet," Ryan said. "I want them all to be as popular as Tebow. I don't think that's going to happen, especially Santonio Holmes, obviously. …
"We brought Santonio here to be a receiver, not the offensive coordinator. We'll make those decisions."
Gone is offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, replaced by former Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano in a bid to return to Ryan's "Ground and Pound" run-based roots. Gone, too, is 41-year-old backup Mark Brunell, who threw all of three passes, with one completion, last year.
Ryan would not elaborate on how Sanchez-Tebow will split time in camp: "We have a clearcut starting quarterback. We also have a great football player in Tebow. … Tim's going to play here, no question about that."
A national sensation in leading the Broncos to six fourth-quarter comeback wins last season, Tebow has the versatility to be a red-zone wildcat threat who figures to play a major role.
Tebow, who helped to beat the Jets 17-13 last Nov. 17 on a 20-yard touchdown run, will reprise the Brad Smith-wildcat role that helped Sanchez reach the AFC Championship game his rookie season.
"Tebow brings his own following," said Mark Braun, a Jets season-ticket holder and owner of Doug's Fish Fry, a popular restaurant a quarter mile from camp. "He's a hard guy not to root for."
Calm before the storm?
Bottom line: There's no quarterback controversy here. Now.
But it could turn ugly should Sanchez, off a three-year, guaranteed $20.5 million extension signed in March, slump early.
Former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, who led the Dolphins to the 2008 AFC East title under Sparano, said the Sanchez-Tebow saga will remain a season-long elephant in the locker room.
"It will be important Mark and Tim handle the situation the right way and communicate about it because there are going to be plenty of people who could care less about the Jets' success, who are going to try to divide the forces," Pennington said. "There can't be any doubters or players within the locker room giving their opinions on Twitter and Facebook.
"Either Mark plays well and the Jets win â€" or Mark and the Jets lose and Tebow comes in and has to play."
Franchise icon Joe Namath, initially shocked by the trade's impact on Sanchez's psyche, now says the starter's best football is still ahead in being pushed by Tebow.
"I've bought into the acquisition of Tebow because I have to believe the coaches know what the hell they're doing," the Hall of Fame quarterback says.
"I can understand how controversy is going to continue to play a role. The more time I've had to think about it, it's a brilliant move."
Why the reversal?
"Tebow's a positive force," Namath said. General manager Mike Tannenbaum and owner Woody Johnson "reached for the fans, the offseason excitement, and they want a soldout stadium.
"Super Bowls have never been won without the passer being able to throw efficiently from the pocket. You can't win with a steady wildcat diet."
Namath isn't the only former Jets quarterback who thinks Tebow is a red-zone threat.
"The Jets are more likely to go to the Super Bowl before Tebow replaces Mark Sanchez this season because of ineffectiveness," said CBS analyst Boomer Esiason, with the Jets from 1993-95.
"Problem is, you have one legitimate quarterback in Mark Sanchez, who has shown the ability to play big in big games, which he's proven on four different occasions in the playoffs on the road. Then you have another guy who really is a tremendous football player with tremendous heart. But Tebow isn't the finesse quarterback you need in order to be successful longterm.
"Mark will respond to Tebow's presence."
Will the Jets make a deep postseason run? Or will Tebow start games sometime this season?
"The scale is completely even. It's 50-50," Pennington said. "It really starts the first day of training camp, and only people on the inside can know how this thing is going to start.
"It could be a neat experience and something very beneficial for that organization to where they turn this into a big-time positive and win.
"Or it could go completely south."
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