Antonio Cromartie backtracks on Tim Tebow comments: 'He's a winner'

Antonio Cromartie ripped Tim Tebow when the Jets traded for the quarterback, but is now backtracking on those comments, giving Tebow props for being a "winner."

At least Cro won't have to watch Tebow score game-winning touchdowns any more. (Getty Images)

When the Jets traded for Tim Tebow earlier in the week, plenty of people had ... interesting things to say. Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie's comments drew an especially large amount of attention, since the theme of those comments made on Twitter was "we don't need Tebow."

But, as you might expect, Cromartie's now backtracking on those comments, calling Tebow a "winner" and saying how great Tebow will be for the Jets.

“He’s going to bring another element to the Jets,” Cromartie said Friday, per Manish Mehta of the New York Post. “He’s a winner. He’s a guy that never quits. If you give him a chance to win a game, he’s going to go out and win it. I think that’s what [general manager] Mike Tannenbaum and Rex [Ryan] saw in him."

But what about his previous comments? Well Cro partially owned them, saying he didn't "have any regrets" about what he said. But then he tried to use the old "misinterpreted" excuse for his dogging of his new teammate.

"I think a lot of people took what I said the wrong way," Cromartie said. "People took it as me dissing Tebow. I never dissed Tebow. I just said we don’t need him on our team because Mark is our quarterback. I would never degrade an NFL player because he’s in the NFL for a reason.Tebow’s proven over the past couple years why he’s in the NFL. I would never take a shot at any NFL player. He’s been a winner all his life. He’s pulled his teams out of predicaments. I’m not the kind of person that would degrade or belittle someone in the NFL."

Unfortunately, that last statement isn't entirely accurate. Or, if you prefer, "patently false." Cromartie's called Tom Brady an "a--hole" before. He's challenged Matt Hasselbeck to a fight and threatened to "smash [his] face in." He's gone off on a tirade about union leadership. He even once got fined by the Chargers for complaining about the quality of food at training camp.

Cromartie is precisely the type of guy who takes shots at other NFL players, oftentimes in a degrading and belittling fashion.

And though Cromartie also praised the "different atmosphere" that Tebow "brings to the locker room and the huddle," it's his attitude towards Tebow prior to being traded that has everyone so concerned about how he'll fit into New York in the first place.