Whereas Tebow inspires belief, something about Sanchez inspires skepticism, even though (and this is the key thing, or at least you’d think it would be) the actual results are almost always better with Sanchez.Īnd yet here is Sanchez exiting stage right so that Tebow can have the floor. At times, Sanchez can seem riven by self-doubt. Yet all the intangibles that Tebow is said to possess in spades-confidence, the capacity to lead and motivate-Sanchez is said to lack. In just three seasons as a pro, Sanchez has twice led the Jets to the AFC title game, and unlike Tebow, he has never been blown out in the postseason. This is all deeply unfair to Sanchez, and even though it’s not Tebow’s fault, it represents a major obstacle in my quest to like him. (And there is no question that’s what would’ve happened.) Less kind, but probably no less true, is that they do it to protect Sanchez from the humiliation of having to watch a far bigger crowd gather around his backup. The charitable interpretation here is that the Jets are simply being helpful, sparing reporters from having to make a Sophie’s Choice about which guy to get quotes from. Moments after Sanchez heads out, Tebow waltzes in. The Jets PR staff handles today’s Sanchez-Tebow locker-room theatrics with perfect synchronicity. I just want to see if I can like him-if I can make myself like him. This isn’t about trying to see into his soul, like Bush sizing up Putin. I am here to see if I can change my own mind. See, the events of this off-season have put me in a bind. I am here for a slightly different reason. Today is day two of the Jets three-day mini-camp, the 2012 season’s first ocial stretch of practices, and this is the only day during which Mark Sanchez, the Jets first-string quarterback, and Tebow, his newly acquired (from the Denver Broncos) and considerably more famous, polarizing, and cultural-phenomenon-y backup, will be made available to the media, which is why there are so many of us here. A few reporters loiter in front of Tebow’s locker until a Jets staffer comes in to announce that Tim’s going to be a while, so they slouch away. Most of these players will be asked about Tim Tebow today, and the next day, and on and on, and it’s hard not to wonder if they’re already sick of it. The Jets locker room at the team’s suburban New Jersey training facility is shaped like a giant oval, with broad stalls ringing the walls and immaculately chiseled men lounging naked in front of them, oblivious to the crowd of reporters, male and female, who vibrate around like jittery molecules in search of someone undistracted enough to submit to an interview.