I consistently hear media professionals talk about Tim Tebow as a main topic in the daily news, and frankly I am tired of hearing these people try to negatively affect Tim’s reputation with every breath. We all know that many athletes are very different people behind closed doors. Tiger Woods, one of the most popular athletes in the world, was a sex addict and committed adultery with many, many women. Michael Vick was a part of a dog fighting network that included and affected many people in the state of Georgia. And these are just two examples, yet, both of these high profile figures, were accepted back to the sport, at least by the majority, because of what they could possibly offer to the sport. Tiger has not been the same since the events that came out in the news, and his debacle could have very well been the one event in Tiger’s life that he can’t come back from. Michael Vick served jail time for the illegal actions he took part in, and was given a second chance, which included a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles that exceeded 100 million dollars. That made him the first professional football player to sign two, 100+ million dollar contracts in his career. This was for an athlete who was literally hated a mere three years earlier, by just about everyone, for his disregard and cruelty to animals.
But, Tebow gets treated very harshly by the media and he has never done the “wrong” that many other high-profile athletes have. In my opinion, many of the media representatives never gave Tim a “first chance”, much less a second chance. The question begs…why not? Tebow’s personality and character appear to have him in a class all on his own in the world of the “role model professional athlete”. He had one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, college careers in the history of college football. It would appear, through interviews and reports that everyone who meets him gravitates towards him because of his positive energy, willingness to go out of his way to help others, and his enthusiasm for life. He is a phenomenal athlete, a tremendous leader, and has an unmatchable determination and passion for the sport. And, above all these qualities, one should stand out more than the rest…He is not afraid to “live”, and to “BE”, who he claims to be, both on and off the field, and his willingness to share his personal life with the outside world is, in my opinion, totally undervalued, courageous, and thoroughly impressive.
Yet the media consistently uses his faith, and his willingness to pull the veil back and let the world see who he is, as a negative. So why does he choose to do this?...Because he believes in the great news of salvation through Jesus Christ and he wants to share that news with everyone in hopes that they too can find God. Of course, he knows that this servitude does not come without ridicule and persecution, and he has had more than his fair share of that. Yet the most puzzling thing to me is why the media refuses to present him as what he is…a true role model and an exceptional football player. He exemplifies everything an athlete in his position should be. His place in the sports world, and the person he is, allows him remarkable opportunities to meet people and gain relationships, to make a positive impact on society, and all-the-while, he remains true to himself, his beliefs, and his character. But instead of boasting about what a remarkable person, leader, and influence he is, the media wants to tear him down piece by piece because he openly lives his beliefs, and because he doesn’t deliver his passes like Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees.
During the Superbowl last year, Tebow and his Mother aired a commercial against abortion, and the media went crazy. They said that Tebow is too “in your face” with his beliefs, that he shouldn’t have done the commercial. But I ask you, if you are pro life, why should you not use your position, whatever it is, to promote life to others? In the United States alone, there are 4,000 abortions every day! That is 1,460,000 aborted children per year, or 14,600,000 over the last ten years. I think Tim had an opportunity to make a serious statement about what he believes about abortion in this country, and he took advantage of the platform given to him by us and the media. And I am sure, because of that commercial, at least one child’s life was saved from abortion. If this is true, in my mind, as I am sure Tim would agree, the commercial was well worth it. The media never took the stance that the message was positive, the follow through was courageous, and the intentions were as noble as any. The media just insists that Tebow is too pushy because he “wears his religion on his sleeve”. Would the media call Joe Gibbs a pushy, religious, negative influence because he prays before every race with his team, and believes in God openly (he even wrote a book called “The Gameplan for Life” which was all about living with the Bible as your “playbook for life”).
Why does the mainstream media try so hard to paint Tebow in a negative light? The media doesn’t show how Tebow is the first one at work, or the last one to leave. It doesn’t focus on his outreach to people or how he is involved in the community. The media doesn’t focus on how selfless, humble, and real Tebow is, but instead, the media says he “pushes” his religious beliefs on people, but these media personnel are the very people who go out and follow Tim around, broadcasting everything, and this has created a love-hate image for Tebow across the nation…people either love him, or they hate him. In fact, this week, the Broncos will start Tebow in Miami against the 0-5 Dolphins, and when the announcement was made, the Dolphins sold 20,000 more tickets to the game. I have never, not one time, heard anyone say, “I didn’t like meeting Tim…He was just too pushy with the whole religion thing”. I have heard the media spin the Tebow discussion negatively into a racial topic, a religious topic, a film study of “bad mechanics”, and some have even called him fake or a phony. Listen, just because you might not have the guts to be who you want to be in front of people doesn’t mean that he should be ridiculed for his courage. And above all else, all the guy does is push his team to be the best they can be and give 130% every time his feet touch the field, he lives to serve others and God, and tries hard to be the very thing we all say we “want” our role models to be. If he were cursing and nasty, and treated people poorly, we would complain that he is a role model who should “act right”, yet he is doing this very thing and taking flack for it.
Maybe people don’t want to see Tim succeed because they are scared of what his success will mean to the sports world. Maybe they don’t like him because they have some spirituality issues of their own that need to be dealt with. Maybe they just don’t like to see running college quarterbacks succeed in the NFL because they don’t want it to become the standard, although, I would argue that Tebow is hardly comparable to any other running QB in college football history. There are plenty of other NFL athletes that live Christian lives, and share the Gospels of the New Testament openly, but they don’t present the hype that Tebow does, or get the attention that the media gives to Tebow, so they are not shown as being “religious” in the public forum. Rob Parker, who always seems to make every argument about race, said, on ESPN’s First Take, that it is not fair that Tebow “gets a shot”, when a lot of other black, running quarterbacks never got their shot. I ask this to Mr. Parker… did those guys win a National Championship, a Heisman Trophy, the hearts of the state they live in and millions of people around the world, and the respect of anyone who is honest with themselves? I sincerely doubt it. I say Tebow has earned the right to play on Sunday because he has accomplished the highest achievements at every stage so far, he has great leadership abilities, and his attitude and work ethic make everyone around him better.
Instead of putting Tim where he belongs, on a pedestal before the nation as an example of the type of role model our children should be looking up to, he is labeled as an over-the-top, pushy Christian who is “over rated” because his mechanics don’t follow suit. But, there have been many quarterbacks to play this game at a high level that didn’t have the “proto-typical form”… Phillip Rivers, Steve Young, and Rich Gannon are just a few that come to mind, yet for Tebow, it appears that it is impossible for a QB in the current NFL to have a non-traditional form, and still have a chance to win. And no one seems to emphasizes the fact that the “it factor” matters. This game is not about throwing the ball perfectly every time, or shaving .04 seconds off your delivery time. This league is about keeping the play alive, and getting first downs, and Tebow can definitely provide opportunities during the game to give his team a chance to move down the field and possibly score. The media argues that football is the ultimate team sport, yet Tebow gets all the pressures placed solely on his shoulders because some people just want him to fail. Denver even traded away their best wide receiver and are looking to trade their second receiver away, so what does Tim have to work with…it doesn’t really matter…he will do his best and probably succeed in the process regardless of who tries to put a roadblock in his path.
The bottom line is this – Tebow is a great human being who earned his way to a starting job in the NFL, who can play hard, get first downs, encourage and ignite his teammates (and every fan in the stadium, home or away), and who can win games if given the opportunity (and a few decent players around him). I say Tebow “wearing his beliefs on his sleeve” is a positive, not a negative. I say Tebow letting us see who he is off the field is a positive, not a negative. Personally, I pray for Tebow to succeed. I have the highest hopes for him and his NFL career, and I would like to see other NFL athletes, who believe in the Lord, step up and take a stand for Tim’s openness, and for God, and stop being so afraid of being judged by people whose opinions really don’t matter at the end of the day anyway.
Think about it this way…someone believed in Tebow so much, that that person went out of their way, through a series of negotiations, to make it possible to draft this guy before anyone else could get him in the FIRST round. Josh McDaniel, who is basically a quarterback coach and offense guru, saw something amazing in him, and he did what he had to do to make sure that Tim was a Bronco at the end of the day. This was not by chance, or luck, it was because Tebow had earned it. And I say that until Tebow fails consistently, even when talent does show up in Denver to help his cause, people will continue to negate the credit due to him, degrade him and persecute him with hopes of his failure, and then if he does fail, they will ultimately all say how bad they feel for him because he is such a great person. Maybe if the media would speak positively about him, help to build his image positively for all those children out there with Tebow posters on their wall and the number 15 on their jerseys, and focus on what he has done and is doing, then he might have a fair shot at an honest assessment by the people. He is not perfect by any means, as I am sure he would tell you, but his effort to live according to the Good Book, his willingness to help and love for others, his desire to be a positive force in a negative world, and his passion and dedication to the sport should be praised at the highest level.
My opinion…the world better get their forks ready…the crow is almost cooked and ready for eatin’
