On Wednesday evening, former NFL quarterback turned minor league outfielder Tim Tebow announced his retirement from professional baseball.
While working as a football analyst, Tebow decided to pursue his dream of making it to the big leagues. In 2016, he signed a minor-league deal with the New York Mets. He has played with the organization ever since as a left fielder and designated hitter.
In 2019, Tebow worked his way up to AAA and earned a roster spot with the Syracuse Mets. The former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback made 287 appearances during his stint with the Mets farm system. Although his baseball career had mixed results, Tebow drew tons of fans to the ballpark. He smashed 18 home runs, scored 107 runs, hit 48 doubles and had three triples. Additionally, he earned 107 RBIs and had five stolen bases during his Mets career.
No one can deny the 33-year-old’s heart and passion for the game. In fact, he made it much closer to his MLB dream than many ever expected by reaching AAA, just one level below the big leagues.
“I want to thank the Mets, Mr. Alderson, the fans and all my teammates for the chance to be a part of such a great organization. I loved every minute of the journey, but at this time I feel called in other directions…,” Tebow wrote on Twitter announcing his retirement.
“I never want to be partially in on anything. I always want to be 100% in on whatever I choose. Thank you again for everyone’s support of this awesome journey in baseball, I’ll always cherish my time as a Met! #LGM,” he concluded.
Tim Tebow Rumored to Join Jacksonville Jaguars Coaching Staff
While announcing his retirement from baseball, Tim Tebow didn’t mention his next career move. However, he did mention that “I feel called in other directions.”
Although that’s a vague statement, there are at least a couple of possibilities that Tebow could be considering. He could be thinking about a return to football broadcasting. He spent multiple seasons with ESPN as a college football analyst. In addition, some have speculated that he may join his former head coach Urban Meyer as part of his new coaching staff.
Meyer coached Tebow at the University of Florida and together they led the school to two national championships. His former head coach recently made the leap to the NFL, and is putting together a coaching staff for his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Just last month, TMZ Sports talked to Tebow about his baseball career and asked him about joining Meyer. At the time, he said he was fully committed to his baseball career.
“For me, I’m super excited about spring training,” Tebow explained. “So, that’s where my focus kind of swirls right now.”
Yet Tebow’s recent retirement from professional baseball will surely have people questioning his recent comments on the matter. We may see the pair team up once again in the near future.
