Major League Baseball scouts from all over traveled to Dedeaux Field, the baseball stadium at USC, to watch a prospective player work out. That prospective player is former NFL quarterback and the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow.
Tebow rose to fame playing quarterback for the University of Florida, where he led them to two BCS National Championships in 2006 and 2008. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the NFL Draft and played with them for two seasons.
He played in six games his first season and began the 2011 season with the team as back-up quarterback, behind Kyle Orten. After a rough 1-4 start, the Broncos benched Orton at halftime and Tebow led them back from a 16-point deficit. They ended up losing by 5 points, but Tebow continued to start and lead his team to victory game after game and even took them to the playoffs.
After the Broncos acquired superstar Peyton Manning, Tebow was traded to the New York Jets, then the New England Patriots, who ultimately cut him in 2013. He began a career in broadcasting, but wanted to make his way back to the NFL. In 2015, he was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles, but was released after the 4th preseason game.
Since a future career in football wasn’t looking promising, Tebow decided to try another sport he played in high school – baseball. On Tuesday (Aug. 30), Tebow confirmed he will be focusing on baseball from now on.
At the MLB workout, he performed a few different fielding drills and ran a 60-yard dash in 6.65 seconds, which is pretty impressive for an athlete his size. He also had two MLB pitchers throw him batting practice and he pleasantly surprised the scouts.
Tebow proved he is not scared to try new things and isn’t afraid to fail, either.
“When you don’t have that [fear] it lets you be able to be free to pursue life and what you’re passionate about, not what other people think you should do,’’ he told reporters.
According to a MLB reporter, Tebow’s rep revealed five to six MLB teams are interested in signing him.
Tim Tebow's representative says there's 5-6 MLB teams that have expressed some sort of interest in signing him
— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) August 30, 2016
If he is signed, he will likely play in the “instructional league, which is usually in mid-October”. If signed, he will be the eighth athlete to play in both the MLB and NFL.
“The goal would be to have a career in the big leagues,’’ he said. “I mean, that’s the goal, right?’’
Watch the highlights from his MLB workout below.