While Jets QB Mark Sanchez "remains the face" of the franchise, newly-acquired QB Tim Tebow "owns the early momentum as the franchise's new football and evangelical force of nature," according to Jim Corbett in a sports section cover story for USA TODAY. Cortland County (New York) Convention & Visitors Bureau Dir Jim Dempsey said that Tebow is “expected to draw 53,000 fans" and pump more than $5.8M into Cortland’s economy before the Jets break training camp. Corbett notes the team’s last trip to Cortland for training camp in ’10 “drew 41,000 fans” (USA TODAY, 7/27). ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reported from Jets training camp on the campus of SUNY-Cortland and said a storefront in downtown is "obviously ready for one of the biggest icons in professional sports, Tim Tebow.” The broadcast showed the storefront window display that featured Tebow-branded merchandise, including a T-shirt that read “This Is Tebow Town.” Paolantonio: “I’ve been told by a number of people in town here, people who are involved in the Chamber of Commerce and also the business community, that they hope that Tim Tebow’s arrival here will generate a lot of fans and a lot of cash registers ringing downtown” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 7/26).
