By Jordan Johnson,

On Thursday, 9/8, the New York Mets announced that they will sign former Heisman winner and NFL QB Tim Tebow to a minor league deal as an outfielder.  They said that Tebow will begin his career at their instructional league in Port St. Lucie Florida. Tebow was a fan favorite during his college football career at Florida but he had a short 5-year NFL career that featured stints with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

At the end of August, Tebow held an open baseball workout at the campus of USC in Los Angeles and it was reported by ESPN that 46 scouts from 28 major league teams showed up. Tebow played baseball all the way up until his junior year of high school, where he hit .494.  Tebow showed his good athleticism during his college and NFL career being a threat as both a passer and a runner.  It is unknown how much Tebow will progress in baseball being that Tebow is in his late 20’s and the usual downfall for an athlete in his career is in their 30’s. It is also in question how committed Tebow is to baseball as he will not be at instructional league everyday while doing his broadcasting job with ESPN.   With this signing, the Mets will get a good look at Tebow, at least until October when instructional league ends.

Here is a link to a video of Tebow at his baseball workout courtesy of nydailynews.com:

http://video.nydailynews.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=90051&ndn.siteSection=nydailynews-sports&ndn.videoId=31333549&freewheel=90051&sitesection=nydailynews-sports&vid=31333549

Above is Tebow playing baseball in High School. Photo courtesy of foxsports.com