Tim Tebow Has Been Training Like A Mad Man To Resurrect His NFL Career

Tim Tebow is no longer a thing.

He is not a huge phenomenon nor is he a controversial topic that could drive ratings for any radio host. "Tebow time" is no longer relevant, but Tebow, the man, remains very real.

That man has done many different things since he last saw any semblance of NFL playing time during the 2013 preseason.

Despite taking on multiple, high-profile jobs in the "real world," Tebow has still dedicated himself to making a professional comeback in the NFL.

And while that proposition may seem unlikely to the critics who remember just how inept Tebow looked at the time, Tebow's improvement has been vouched by pros, teammates and coaches.

Most importantly, though, he has made the decision to work like crazy to get to this point.

It seems like forever since we've seen Tim Tebow in the NFL

During his last stint in the big leagues, he went from becoming a playoff hero in Denver...

To being publicly ridiculed by teammates in New York after being traded by the Denver Broncos, following their acquisition of Peyton Manning.

Since his one-year stint with the Jets in 2012, Tebow hasn't made a single regular season appearance in the NFL, having only managed a preseason trial with the Patriots in the summer of 2013.

At that point, Tebow's NFL career looked as if it was long gone, and it wasn't long until he took a gig as a college football analyst at ESPN, a place that is usually a safe haven for retired athletes to get a new lease on life as commentators.

He became so popular that he was able to become a contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America."

Between his blossoming media career and his philanthropic work...

And just living like a regular dude...

It seemed like he put his NFL career fully behind him... until he got a chance with the Philadelphia Eagles this year.

But the truth is, Tebow's been training like a mad man all along so he could have the chance at an NFL comeback.

.@TimTebow finishing the summer strong @pep_az. Great work! #relentless pic.twitter.com/80DJ2x0z5e — PEP (@pep_az) July 27, 2015

So during 2014, Tebow was splitting time between Los Angeles, where he trained with the quarterback experts at 3DQB, and Arizona, where he worked with Performance Enhancement Professionals, a favorite facility of some NFL stars.

Even though Tebow was already known to be a tremendously hard worker when it comes to fitness...

For this particular comeback mission, Tebow needed a special type of workout to add to his routine so he could improve the way he plays the game of football from a mechanical perspective.

That means he had to totally relearn the way he throws, which was a sore deficiency for him during his days in the NFL.

In January 2014, when ESPN's Trent Dilfer went to visit Tebow at the 3DQB facilities in Cali, he was told by the 3DQB trainers that Tebow had such a long way to go when it comes to revamping his mechanic skills.

After working with him, though, Dilfer came back to ESPN insisting Tebow had changed himself so much that he would be deserving of an NFL roster spot.

And while that level of confidence shown in Tebow may sound strange for those who remember his old ways, his new teammates in Philadelphia have been just as confident.

Linebacker Brandon Graham says he's sure Tebow will make the opening day roster,

Tim Tebow is going to shock a lot of people, because he is going to make the team and I think he will play a lot.

While head coach Chip Kelly has said the quarterback gets better every day,

I have seen improvement from Tim from the day we got him in terms of his knowledge of what we're doing, getting used to the way we do things. What we do is different from anything he's done in the past. But each week you've seen an incremental bump and then some. I'm excited to see where that takes him as we move forward.

So, Tim Tebow may be a far cry from where he was at Florida (on top of the football world)...

But he's making a pretty commendable comeback so far, especially considering he could probably do whatever else he wanted.

While other players might have quit, especially when given the option to have successful media careers, Tebow offered a simple reason for putting up with 10-12 hour workout days rather than giving up on football: