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Tim Tebow clears waivers, and his old QB coach thinks Canada is the place for him

Eric Edholm

Tim Tebow has cleared through waivers after being released by the Patriots and now is a free agent who can be signed by any team. But after 31 other teams passed up the chance to take on his minimum-level salary, you'd have to think Tebow's next best job offer will not come from the NFL.

Although Tebow said on his Twitter account that he "will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback," there might not be many teams in hot pursuit.

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His former quarterback coach, Steve Clarkson, told USA Today that he thinks the Canadian Football League might be an ideal landing spot for Tebow.

"It's time now to maybe just reconsider a different path to his ultimate dream. Tim might want to look to the CFL because he may have run out of options in the NFL,'' Clarkson said. "Sitting is not an option for Tim. He's ultra-competitive. He needs to stick to his strength, which is being in a competitive environment.

"Anyone who wants to work on their craft the way Tim does, he just needs to give himself a couple of days and really decide, 'Is this what I want to do?' Clearly, football is still in his blood.''

It's not a completely far-fetched idea. After all, the Montreal Alouettes own the rights to Tebow and Als GM Jim Popp suggested earlier this year, following the release of Tebow from the Jets, that the door is open for him to come to the CFL and back up celebrated passer Anthony Calvillo.

But that might be a steep learning curve. The Canadian game, with a field 35 feet wider than NFL fields, is even more wide open and precision-pass-dependent. In three NFL seasons with the Broncos and Jets, Tebow has completed only 47.3 percent of his passes, and Tebow completed a mere 11-of-30 attempts with the Patriots this preseason.

The former Heisman Trophy award winner is 26 years old and at a crossroads, having been cut from two NFL teams in the past four months. He likely will have to take a step backwards to go forward at this point. Maybe that's the CFL. Maybe it's Arena League, or some other professional pit stop. But the point is this: The combination of Tebow's wild popularity, which teams often see as a distraction, and his lack of passing prowess are not NFL-caliber at this point.

We hope the best for this talented and driven young man. We just think it's going to be a rough road back to NFL glory without a few stopovers along the way.

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