Former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is among nine players the New York Mets have invited to spring training, the team announced on Friday.
Tebow, 30, will join the Mets spring training roster starting Feb. 23 when the team opens up its 31-game exhibition schedule in Florida. Tebow hit .226 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs in 126 games last season between Class A Columbia in the South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Port St. Lucie in the Florida State League.
Tebow also played for the Mets last year in spring training and finished 4-for-27 with a walk and eight strikeouts. Shortly after Tebow finished his first full season playing professional baseball, he announced that he planned on playing again this season and would continue training during the offseason.
Tebow flashed some signs that he could become a good baseball player as he homered in his first game, hit a walk-off home run in another game and at one point had a 12-game hitting streak before suffering a slump at the plate in August.