FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Tim Tebow never will forget his first meeting with Mike Westhoff, the New York Jets' special-teams coordinator. He shook Westhoff's hand and, quicker than a punter's hang time, Tebow was on the dry-erase board in the coach's office, diagramming plays.

Specifically, gadget plays they could run with Tebow as the personal protector on the punt team.

"We threw around a bunch of ideas," Tebow said. "It was a lot of fun."

When Tim Tebow gets the snap on fourth down, he could be tough to stop. MSA/Icon SMI

Tebow hadn't played a down of special teams in his life, but he was able to speak the language, taking concepts he knew as a shotgun quarterback and applying them to the up-back position. They took turns at the board, the young star and the old coach, jamming like two gifted guitarists from different generations.

Finally, Ben Kotwica, Westhoff's assistant, spoke up, tactfully raising a delicate issue.

You do realize, Kotwica said to Tebow, that if we punt it here, you have to run down, get involved in the coverage and tackle.

There was a moment of awkward silence, followed by The Look. Tebow answered with his eyes, no words necessary.

"It was the greatest," said Westhoff, recalling the moment with a laugh. "He looked at Ben like, 'I can play this game. I can block, I can run, I can catch, I've run people over, I've run around people and I can throw. I'm a football player and I'll do whatever it takes.'"

The two coaches got all that from one glance.

"He answered our question," Westhoff said matter-of-factly.

So here we go.

While Tebow's projected role on offense has generated most of the headlines -- read: Wildcat -- his job on special teams also has people talking. It's not often that a former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with an NFL playoff victory on his résumé lines up on the punt team.