During "Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN broke from previewing the NFL playoffs to air a 5-minute segment on Tim Tebow's quest to get back to the NFL as a quarterback (see video below).
For the segment, ESPN's Trent Dilfer traveled to the University of Southern California where Tebow is working with quarterback guru Tom House. Dilfer's "job" was to evaluate Tebow's recent efforts to become a better quarterback and get back into the NFL.
The segment was odd on several levels. First of all, Tebow has nothing to do with the playoff games that were set to kick off an hour later. But more strangely, the entire segment was aired as a promotional video extolling Tebow's vastly improved abilities and comes a week after ESPN signed Tebow to be a college football analyst for the upcoming SEC Network.
Was this clearly pro-Tebow segment part of Tebow's demands to sign with the Worldwide Leader? Tebow does have a provision in his contract with ESPN that allows him to leave if he signs with an NFL team.
Also, is Dilfer shilling for Tebow at least partly influenced by Tebow's faith? Like Tebow, Dilfer is a former quarterback that is very open about his strong Christian beliefs.
The segment even ends with Dilfer sounding like Tebow's agent by saying "every GM, every scout, and every personnel person out there should at least go watch Tim Tebow, because he's a different guy."
Here is how the segment opened and closed.