It has been three months, and Tim Tebow still hasn’t taken a single (real) snap under center for the Denver Broncos, yet he’s leading the league in jersey sales.
A list of the best-selling player jerseys on NFLShop.com, from April 1 through June 30, has the former Heisman Trophy winner and 25th overall pick in this year’s draft at the top, ahead of Donovan McNabb, who changed teams from the Eagles to the Redskins, and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees.
Three other quarterbacks — Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Brett Favre — round out the top six in offseason sales.
Four other rookies are in the top 20, including Ndamukong Suh (No. 8), Sam Bradford (No. 9), Dez Bryant (No. 15) and Eric Berry (No. 18).
New England quarterback Tom Brady is at No. 14 at the list, his lowest place since at least the 2006 season.
Michael Vick’s Eagles jersey, once a hot buy, has fallen out of the top 25, but the team’s fans have seemed to adopt McNabb’s more realistic replacement, Kevin Kolb, who comes in on the list at No. 24.
NFLShop.com currently sells Tebow jerseys in white, orange and blue, in all sizes, including youth. The league also is offering a wide array of Tebow women’s jerseys including “Zebra Field Flirt”and “Pink Sweetheart”varieties.
It’s not only Tebow’s jerseys that are selling. So too are his autographs. This past weekend, hundreds of people lined up in Fort Pierce, Fla., and paid $75 for a picture and $160 for an autograph. Twenty people paid $1,000 each to have a private meet and greet with the former Gators star. Tebow donated all of his proceeds to his Tim Tebow Foundation.
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