Tebow Time! In NJ? One Bar Owner Tells of Spreading Fandom
In Clifton, New Jersey, a few minutes by car west of Manhattan, one bar co-owner testified to something unique about the crowd gathering for the last game of the afternoon last Sunday.
“I’ve been tending bar forever and in my 30-plus years of tending bar, I’d never seen anything like it for a non-local team in the regular season,” Tommy Bouchoux of Yesterday's Bar and Grill told the New York Daily News.
The game between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers was on all of the bar’s 13 TV’s, according to the report, soon after defeats by the local teams, the Giants and Jets. Tim Tebow was put into the game in the second half, replacing the struggling starter, with the Broncos behind in the score box.
Tebow, a popular and top ranked college player, is one also one of the most popular players in the NFL among fans, despite analysts' and experts' doubts about his ability to play on the professional level.
“Everyone was down and then they got up again. People were going crazy. People in Jets jerseys, giants jerseys and women who weren’t even hard-core football fans. Everyone was a Broncos fan. That part of the game wasn’t on long but Tim Tebow helped our business that night.”
The Broncos didn't win the game, but got close with Tebow's help. A few days later he was awarded the starting quarterback job. More business could be headed Tommy Bouchoux' way.