Tim Tebow once refused to call a Jets play with a bad word in it.
Everyone knows the legacy of Tim Tebow both on and off the football field. As a man of faith, he certainly practices what he preaches.
Sometimes as a quarterback, that’s a blessing to be the leader everyone looks up to. Other times, it can cost a team a few yards. This incident, according to former New York Jets center Nick Mangold, definitely falls in the category of the latter.
During an interview on the BroBible’s Endless Huddle, Mangold was asked about his time playing with Tebow in New York during the 2012 season. Tebow was best-used in a Wildcat formation, and most plays where the former Heisman Trophy winner would pass would be on screens. However, there was one play he wouldn’t call because he didn’t want to say a certain word.
The name of the play? The “Y Oh S**t Screen.”
“He goes through the whole formation and gets to the last play — ‘Y … all right, screen, you guys know what it is,’” Mangold recalled (h/t SDS.com). “And we’re like, ‘No, Tim, what is it?’ Then he goes, ‘No, I’m not going to say it.’ ‘I don’t know what the play is then, you’ve got to be able to say it.’ I mean, I think we ended up getting yelled at for that because we were taking forever in the huddle, but it was like, I don’t know what the ‘Y You Guys Know What It Is Screen’ is.”
Watch your profanity in front of Tim Tebow
Tebow truly embodies the clean-cut All-American look people see from cutouts in the 1950s. His on-the-field production with New York wasn’t enough to save him from being cut, however. In his lone season with the Jets, Tebow would go 6-for-8 passing for 39 yards and rushing for another 102 in 12 games.
As one of the most polarizing sports figures of the 21st century, Tebow will always bring headlines in whatever he does. From his Bible verse eye black to the kneel before each game, the mania that began at Florida only grew over time. Add in this story and it’s right on brand with the 33-year-old’s persona.