Ezra Shaw/ Getty Images
Boomer Esiason (l.) - here with fellow analysts Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher - is critical of Tim Tebow.
As the second week of the Jetsâ soap opera begins there is no shortage of characters. Yet there is always room for another actor â" bad or otherwise.
Norman Julius (Boomer) Esiason has taken the stage to stir the plot.
Esiason bypassed Acts 1 and 2, going straight to the line recited before the final curtain is drawn. âI would cut Tim Tebow,â Esiason said Monday on the WFAN morning show he co-hosts with Craig Cartoon. âI really would. ... It (using Tebow as a backup QB) is not in any way, shape, or form benefiting this team.â
Oh what evil lurks in the hearts of some men. Especially this man who would dare condemn a benevolent icon like Tebow to such a dastardly, humiliating fate. Esiason couldâve said Tebow eventually wonât work out with the Jets. Instead, heâs an advocate for the kid losing his job, pronto. Esiason, who should exit the Jetsâ soap opera with a daytime Emmy, showed multiple acting skills by covering his tuchis.
âIâd love to have him (Tebow) be my son-in-law,â Esiason said, âbut I donât want him to be my starting quarterback.â
Bravo! Pass the Kleenex.
Seriously, though, as far as we can figure, Esiason is the first media member (or jock-turned-media-member) urging the Jets to take such drastic action and cut-and-run from Tebow â" now. Esiason also went against the grain, putting a stake through the heart of local coverage of Tebow which, mostly, has been anecdotal, over-the-top and deferential.
Not only that, but considering the multiple national platforms (including CBSâ âThe NFL Todayâ) he performs on, Esiasonâs opinions are, at least, perceived to have more credibility and carry more weight than your garden variety talkie.
On WFAN, the âBoomer and Cartoonâ show generates big-time ratings. So his call to cut Tebow wasnât an attention-getting ploy to inject some juice into the numbers. On the contrary, by calling on the Jets to take such definitive and swift action before even seeing Tebow in his first Jets preseason game, Esiason is, figuratively, putting his neck on the chopping block.
None of these marquee NFL analysts enjoys being wrong. Esiason could have played it safe, waiting to see how Tebow performs in a couple of preseason tilts before instructing the Jets to dump him. The fact Esiason pulled the trigger now shows how committed he is to the concept of Tebow being a miserable flop as Mark Sanchezâs backup.
This is just what Gang Greenâs reality show needed. An âoutsiderâ from the media, who once played quarterback for the team, telling Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum what to do. No doubt up at Jetsâ training camp in Cortland, Esiason will be considered a villain. Even more despicable and despised than his colleague Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa, the serial Jets basher. Esiason now moves up the charts, passing the pontiff as Gang Greenâs Public Enemy No. 1.
Then there are the Tebots who reside from coast to coast and border to border. Esiason immediately felt their wrath.
Tebowâs legion of disciples has proven to be relentless. On Mondayâs show, Esiason read an email he had received from a CEO of a California-based company. âIâm Tebowing you and your family. I hope you fall on hard times,â the CEO wrote. âIâm sticking a needle in the back of your voodoo doll. Can you feel it?â
No doubt Esiason will be hearing more from Tebowâs fans. Those âneedlesâ wonât sting as much as the ego blow Esiason will take if Tebow comes up big. Esiasonâs suggestion will look moronic if, leading up to the Jetsâ opener, the quarterback is impressive.
Thatâs why Esiason must be positive the path the Jets put Tebow on will lead to a dead end and miserable failure.
Esiasonâs always been critical of the way Tebow throws the football. He has previously stated that no amount of work with a variety of coaches, or passing gurus, is going to significantly change a thing.
âYou can see them (Tebow and Sanchez) standing next to each other throwing the football (and see the difference),â Esiason said. âIâm not a critic of him (Tebow) as a human being. Iâm a critic of him playing quarterback in the NFL. Iâm sorry. It ainât going to work.â
Now that Esiason has thrown down the gauntlet, will others in the football media follow his lead? Has he made it safe for them to join him in the deep end?
Or will they ridicule Esiason, saying he was too hasty to dismiss Tebow? Or that he had some sort of agenda?
None of it really matters. All this yap-flapping is for the greater good of the Jetsâ soap opera â" Gang Greenâs circus.
Thatâs all that matters.
The show must go on.
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