In fairness, he is converting many of the skeptics, even if they have to compliment him begrudgingly or in a back-handed manner. Even Merill Hoge is giving him a chance to be better than Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn now. The Broncos water-boy may still be better. But we're making progress.
Given the events of the last few weeks in sports -- notably the growing child-abuse scandals at Penn State, Syracuse and the newest AAU coach -- it is strange that it is Tebow who is referred to as the most "polarizing" figure in sports today.
Not the self-centered narcissists we usually hear way too much about and glorify way too much.
Even while many others have mocked and disparaged him, Tebow has remained confident, secure and humble. The kids a leader and a winner.
So Stephen Tulloch's mocking (who the hell is Stephen Tulloch anyway?)
turns into the newest craze "Tebowing"
What is Tebowing?
(vb) to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.
Talk radio chimed in with comments from that notable chuckle-head, Charles Barkley to the effect that he wished the Bears would stop the Tebow train this weekend, that he was tired of hearing about him. (Sorry Chuck) You would think that Tebow was all that was wrong with sports today.
After watching the scandalous behavior that manifested itself at the end of the Cincinnati - Xavier mens basketball game, perhaps the problem is not with the evangelical, Christian right but the uber-permissive, anything goes mantra that emanates from the loons on the liberal left.
Perhaps the comments from Jake Plummer and like comments from gifted author John Feinstein recently that maybe things would be better if Tebow would just stay silent about his faith and his views are representative of where the vitriol is coming from and why.
I'm going to go all JFK on those comments and say I see it it more as a problem -- in sports in particular and society at large -- that folks like Tim Tebow and their outlook and views have been silenced and marginalized for far too long. And maybe that needs to change.
Our society would be far better off in many, many ways. For far too long those who look, act and sound like Tebow have been silent and our society has not advanced, it has retarded.
TIME FOR CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.
I wonder why those who supposedly present themselves as bastions of tolerance -- while practicing the most pernicious form of intolerance -- do not follow the example of Joakim Noah posted below. Way to go Joakim.
Some of these folks need to start looking elsewhere if they want to identify and fix some of the things that are wrong in sports. Many could start by taking a good, long, hard look in the mirror.
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The Jake Plummer comments
From USA Today:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/11/tim-tebow-responds-to-jake-plummers-comments-on-his-faith/1
Asked about Plummer's remarks in an interview on ESPN's First Take, Tebow said:
"If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity?
"And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ is that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after I give him the honor and glory, I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory.
"And that's how it works because Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates. I respect Jake's opinion, and I really appreciate his compliment of calling me a winner. But I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise, he is due for it."
Plummer had this to say Monday on XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix:
"Tebow, regardless of whether I wish he'd just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates, I think he's a winner and I respect that about him. I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him a little better. I don't hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every single time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff.
"Like you know, I understand dude where you're coming from ... but he is a baller."
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Jaokim Noah chimes in via ESPN:
Noah supports fellow Gator Tim Tebow - Chicago Bulls Blog - ESPN Chicago:
"Noah admits that the two don't see eye-to-eye on certain issues, but the Bulls center appreciates that Tebow stays true to his values.
"Me personally, I have completely different beliefs than him," Noah said. "But at the same time I respect the fact that he speaks his truth. He speaks his truth and he's a warrior. He's a winner. At the end of the day, his teammates respect that.”
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From Culture Watch:
Why Tim Tebow Keeps Smiling
by Jennifer Marshall
When Pam Tebow was counseled to abort her baby to save her own life, the doctor referred to him as a "mass of fetal tissue."
"(M)aybe she just called me that to toughen us up for the names I would be called the first time I played at LSU," Tim Tebow, who became the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the University of Florida, writes in his 2011 book Through My Eyes.
Now that Tebow is a Denver Bronco and under intense scrutiny in the role of starting quarterback, his congenital instinct to push through adversity and ignore the naysayers is again at work.
"Polarizing" is the sports commentariat's typical term to describe national reaction to Tebow since he went pro. The negativity flows in part from his initially rocky performance. But much more seems to be reaction to Tebow's Christian faith. Critics want him to keep it to himself, a pattern that is increasingly common in American public life.
Of course, there's already plenty of God-talk in professional football. (Type "Green Bay Packers" into Twitter and see how many players give God a shout out in their profiles.)
Talking is one thing. Walking the talk is another. That's where Tim Tebow stands out. Born in the Philippines to missionary parents, he not only is outspoken about his faith, referencing it frequently in word and symbol - such as biblical citations in his eye black. He's also as intense about living out his faith as he is about playing football—and winning.
And he's done a good bit of winning. For a 24-year-old who's been, in his words, "the center of so much spilled ink" since his high school days (before graduating he was the subject of a documentary), it's amazing he's full of anything other than himself. Instead, he brims over about his faith, family, football and teammates.
While the attention hasn't gone to his head, it does seem to have gone to his heart.
Tebow takes seriously the burden of his "platform" - a word he uses frequently in his book to refer to his opportunity to influence others for good. Such disciplined, purposeful stewardship of a leadership role is rare in anyone, but particularly someone so young in a field rampant with narcissism and bad behavior.
Even for observers who consider the eye-black evangelism corny or juvenile, it's simply no comparison to the "youthful indiscretions" that haunt so many public figures for years.
And even through jaded eyes, the trademark Tebow kneel to give gratitude to God after a great play hardly can be as obnoxious as others' on-field (not to mention off-field) antics and outbursts.
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