TebowMania resurfacing in the NFL has apparently been inspiring to at least one former player who is now looking for a path back onto the field. On Thursday, former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs took to social media to announced that he is looking to make a comeback. However, Jacobs isn't looking to slot back into the backfield. This time, he wants to be on the other side of the ball as a defensive end.
"Well since [Tim] Tebow came back after being off a good bit, I am announcing today that I (too) will come back," Jacobs tweeted. "I will play defensive end for whatever team gives me a chance!!!"
I know what you're thinking: He has to be joking. He's just trolling Tebow here for a few retweets, right?
Wrong.
"I am really serious about coming back as a defensive end," Jacobs followed up. "I can still run, I am strong and there's no way Tim Tebow is a better athlete than I am. I just need a shot that's it!! If I can't cut it I'll take it like a man. Just give me one chance that's all!!"
Of course, this new mission by Jacobs stems from former quarterback Tim Tebow coming back into the league with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end. Tebow was last on an NFL roster in 2015 before leaving the sport to try his hand at baseball within the New York Mets organization. After spending the previous five years within the club's minor league system, he walked away from baseball and has since found his way back to the NFL as he's reunited with his former college coach in Urban Meyer, who is entering his first season as the Jaguars head coach.
Meanwhile, Jacobs -- who will turn 39 prior to the start of the 2021 season -- last played in the NFL in 2013. That season, the two-time Super Bowl champion appeared in seven games and totaled 238 yards on the ground on 4.1 yards per carry and four touchdowns. That following offseason, he announced his retirement from the league after a nine-year career that was largely spent with the New York Giants, who took him in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. For his career (eight years with New York, one year with San Francisco), he finished with 5,094 yards rushing and 60 touchdowns on the ground.
Will Jacobs actually get a call from a team willing to take on this summer science experiment? Stranger things have happened.