Tim Tebow on the road to redemption with the Philadelphia Eagles

Fans’ favourite hopes to soar again with the Eagles after almost ending up on NFL scrapheap, writes Rupert Cornwell

Tim Tebow (GETTY IMAGES)

He’s back. He may not have thrown a touchdown pass in the National Football League in more than three years, and for the last 18 months he has been working as a college football broadcaster. But now Tim Tebow – he of the erratic arm, the penchant for late-game drama and acts of Christian devotion on the touchline – is back, pursuing his lifelong dream of being a locked-in starting quarterback in the NFL, this time at the Philadelphia Eagles.

Once, back in 2011 and 2012, Tebow may have been the most talked-about professional athlete in the land. A star college player at the University of Florida, he was picked in the first round of the 2010 draft by the Denver Broncos and played in the last nine games of that season. The next one, however, saw his apotheosis.

Tebow took over as starting quarterback in October with the Broncos at a dismal 1-4. He led them to the playoffs, amid a string of 11th-hour comeback victories, and then to a first-round, post-season win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the second round, the Broncos were blown out of the water by Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. But no matter. Tebow-mania gripped the land.

Remember “Tebowing”, when after one of those game-winning throws or rushes, he would fall to his knees and give thanks to the Almighty? The gesture spawned its own website and even Lady Gaga was moved to comment. “That’s what the **** a champion looks like,” the flamboyant pop diva tweeted. But then everything went downhill.

After his 2011 heroics, Tebow was promised the starting quarterback spot for 2012. Then the Broncos unexpectedly signed Peyton Manning, perhaps the greatest quarterback of his generation, and Tebow was traded to the ever-dysfunctional New York Jets, for whom he failed to throw a single touchdown in 12 appearances. Then it was off to the Patriots, who promptly cut him before the 2013 season had even begun.

There were good reasons for Tebow’s fall from grace. He possesses strength, tremendous rushing ability and a fabulous arm. The trouble was, how he used that arm. His pass completion rate was abysmal. Critics said he took too long to get rid of the ball, meaning endless sacks, while his “field vision” – his ability to quickly spot a running back or receiver who was open – was miserable.

But honest, unsparing determination was one reason the fans adored Tebow, despite his shortcomings. He might have been languishing as a broadcaster on a college network, but the dream never died.

He has been quietly working in California on his throwing technique with the legendary coach Tom House, whose clients have included Brady and Drew Brees, Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the New Orleans Saints.

Last month, House went on the NFL network to sing Tebow’s praises. “What amazes me is that this young man with no job prospects has prepared just as hard as if he were the No 1 quarterback for an NFL team. He’s busted his butt. He’s much more accurate than he was. I think he’s ready.”

Tebow, of course, is not exactly a “young man” in terms of NFL career life expectancy. Can a quarterback rewire his muscles and completely remould his throwing action at the age of 27?

Eagles coach Chip Kelly has gambled that he can. This week, Tebow signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Tim Tebow gives thanks in his trademark pose which has become known as 'Tebowing' and swept across America via YouTube (Getty Images)

The problem is that the Eagles have not one, not two, but five quarterbacks on their roster – three of them already NFL starters. Right now, Tebow would appear to be, at best, third in the pecking order.

His motto is “tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience and experience, hope”. But as columnist Sally Jenkins put it yesterday in The Washington Post, only time will tell whether Tebow is “either dauntless or a deluded lunk”.

But the fans, if not the pundits, are rooting for him. And so may be the NFL.

After its own tribulations of late – the concussions crisis, the domestic abuse cases and now the conviction of Aaron Hernandez, not long ago one of its emerging stars, for first-degree murder – the revival of an old-fashioned human soap opera, with the possibility of a happy ending, may be just what the League needs.

But there won’t be much “Tebowing” unless he actually gets to play.