Bumper stickers, radio ads*, t-shirts, even websites dedicated to the cause. Is it the Tea Parties? No. Another club that's destined to fail downtown? No. This is the lengths that some people are going towards to get the Jacksonville Jaguars to draft Florida QB Tim Tebow.
It started innocently, and annoyingly, enough. Those with two inch thick Orange and Blue glasses figured Tim Tebow would be just the thing to cure the Jaguars ticket woes. Then Wayne Weaver made his fateful comments and the proverbial gas was thrown onto the fire.
Then Florida governor Charlie Crist got in the mix by stating he had spoken with Wayne Weaver about drafting the Florida QB.
As the draft approaches, it has grown to a fever pitch in the River City. I swear I've seen a half dozen people walking around town in custom Jaguar jerseys sporting #15 and Tebow on the back. Even more common are the "Bring Him Home Wayne" shirts. Never mind all of the bumper stickers, pins, and car magnets slapped on half the cars in this town.
With the town in such a frenzy, is it such a wonder why the national media still drinks the Tebow to Jacksonville Kool-Aid as much as they do? An entire city seems infatuated with one player to the point it could cause the death of it's biggest asset.
What happens when the Jaguars don't take him with the tenth pick the draft? Or more likely doesn't take him at all? Will some people actually make good on their threats to not renew their season tickets? I doubt it. However, it may end up feeding into the apathy this town seemingly has with the team. I hope not. I hope most of the guys doing this are simply Gator fans who can't afford to make it to Gainesville. I hope actual Jaguar fans will be rational when draft weekend leaves and Timmy is in a far off land as a 3rd team TE.
Either way, the obsession Jacksonville has formed around Tim Tebow would be classified as psychotic in any other situation. I just hope therapy consists of having to wait until Training Camp.
*I wish I was kidding on the radio ads part, but go listen in to 1010xl when you get the chance. You'll hear one eventually.