#Tim Tebow curiously absent from ‘First Take’ after Urban Meyer firing

If you tuned into “First Take” for Tim Tebow’s regular appearance on Friday hoping to see him discuss the firing of Urban Meyer, you wound up being disappointed.

Molly Qerim, host of the show, got in front of the story of Tebow’s conspicuous absence, saying, “He did not take today off. He was never scheduled to be on our show on Friday because of the college football schedule.”

This raises major eyebrows, considering on Thursday’s show, Qerim said, “Tim Tebow is with us here tomorrow on ‘First Take’, and [I’m] really looking forward to hearing his thoughts on his former coach as well. I know they have a really close relationship.”

Regardless of Meyer, who was Tebow’s college coach at Florida and tried to make Tebow work as a tight end in Jacksonville in training camp this past summer, it is bizarre that Tebow would not have been scheduled for Friday.

Bowl season, which ESPN dominates, kicked off at noon on Friday with the Bahamas Bowl between Middle Tennessee and Toledo. The ESPN family of networks is airing 15 bowl games between now and next Friday.

“Tim Tebow was not scheduled to be on First Take today and he currently does not have another scheduled appearance on the show until Monday, Jan. 10, ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship,” ESPN said in a statement. “As a result of miscommunication internally, we mistakenly said he was supposed to appear this Friday.”

Why would this be a spot where the biggest college football contributor to “First Take” is off? Tebow was on the show last Friday, when the only relevant college football game in the ensuing weekend was Army-Navy.

To be fair, Tebow has not shied away from previous controversies involving Meyer previously this season.

In October, the Jaguars were 0-4 and entering the bye week. Meyer skipped the team flight back from Ohio to Jacksonville, getting permission from the organization because he said he had a wedding to attend that weekend. Soon thereafter, video emerged of Meyer canoodling with a blonde woman, who was not his wife, at a bar in Columbus.

Tebow called the situation “heartbreaking”.

“This is a very disappointing, frustrating and honestly heartbreaking situation,” Tebow said. “When I first saw and heard what was happening, my heart was hurting for [Meyer’s wife] Miss Shelley… Coach shared with me that it was one of the hardest times of his life. And he apologized, but he didn’t need to apologize to me.

“I know this weighs so heavy on his heart and he is hurting. I do think for some of the guys he will have to earn back their trust and respect. I think he really wants to do that.”

It would have been very interesting for ESPN viewers to get Tebow’s latest perspective on Meyer, given that he did not ultimately succeed in winning back the respect and trust of the Jaguars players and organization.

In fact, things only snowballed for the team, which is 2-11. There were leaks about Meyer berating assistant coaches, calling them losers and threatening to fire them. Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him during practice in August. Meyer denied Lambo’s characterization of the events.

Tebow would have been between a rock and a hard place addressing the breadth of these stories, and it’s a solid bet the general public would not be very receptive to what he has to say. However, even if he wasn’t scheduled to appear on the show today, wouldn’t this have been a highly relevant circumstance to make time for it?