There’s no doubt in Tim Tebow’s mind: He’s all in on baseball and continuing to chase his dream of reaching the majors.
Former University of Florida and Washington Redskins coach Steve Spurrier asked Tebow to quarterback his team in the new Alliance of American Football league. Tebow told MLB.com the decision to decline Spurrier’s offer “wasn’t very hard.”
In his third spring training with the New York Mets, he doesn’t want to stop now.
“Succeeding or failing is not making it to the bigs, or it’s not necessarily fulfilling that,” Tebow said. “It’s having to not live with regret because I didn’t try.”
"You’re always going to have critics and naysayers and people that are going to tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those people are the people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t."
Baseball aside, there's no doubt he's an inspirational guy pic.twitter.com/FDTwUuKXI2
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) February 16, 2019
While with the Mets for spring training, Tebow and teammates participated in a clinic the organization puts on for local Special Olympic athletes.
Each spring, the Mets hold a clinic for local Special Olympic athletes in Port St. Lucie. This year, Tim Tebow, Michael Conforto, Steven Matz, Dominic Smith, Paul Sewald, Luis Guillorme and many, many others took part. pic.twitter.com/c4UTCZFF5J
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 17, 2019
Last season, Tebow hit .273 with six home runs in 84 games with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies — the Mets’ Double-A affiliate — and was named an Eastern League All-Star. His season was cut short due to a broken bone in his right hand.
In November, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen announced Tebow would start the 2019 season in Triple-A with the Syracuse Mets.
His faith in Christ has helped Tebow remain positive through the challenges of minor league baseball and the criticism he’s received.
“There’s one thing that defines me, and that’s what God says about me,” Tebow said. “Besides that, I get to go live out my dreams and try to help as many people as possible along the way.”
Tebow and the Mets face the Atlanta Braves in their first spring training game on Saturday.
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