Tim Tebow has been the talk of the NFL since week 5 of this season. First it was the dramatic comebacks he has been able to help lead the Broncos on. Then it was the constant justified comments on how he is not the tradition NFL style quarterback, yet he was still able to help get his team in the endzone when it counted. Now the critics are taking aim at Tim Tebow for his celebrations in which he expresses his love and appreciation of God. Many opposing players, coaches, sportscasters, and even retired players, are calling him out and saying he should keep his expressions of his love for God to himself and not display them publicly. Many players pay homage to God when they score touchdowns, but Tebow is not allowed to I guess. “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,” said Plummer. “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” Jake Plummer (former Broncos QB)
Fans and observers of sports, find many favorite athletes to cheer for, for a variety of reasons. Not always just for their performance on the field, but sometimes for the character and charisma they show on and off the field. Many of those same athletes that they are exalting are the very ones that hanging in the night clubs, getting involved in altercation and going to jail, having lots of children by many different women. They are selfish, and self-centered, and have no concept of the word team. But yet these are many times the athletes that we celebrate.
Along comes Tim Tebow, whom I was not a fan of from his college days at Florida, (Mainly because of my loyalty to Mississippi State) who chooses to live a life that celebrates his love for God. Who is humble even when others attempt to exalt him above his teammates, who constantly defers the praise that others try to push on him to God and others around him. Tebow never takes the credit for team wins and success. I disliked him because I thought he was over hyped and made out to be the savior of college football for what he did playing the game. I never thought he was as good a player as what he was heralded to be. But I have come to realize now that it was the doing of the media and not his doing. The media builds people up to eventually tear them down, or allow them to be torn down. Many of the people that dislike Tim Tebow, simply dislike him because the media hypes him. They really know nothing about him. I was one of those people. Do I think he is a below average NFL quarterback? Yes. But I like and respect Tim Tebow for what he stands for and how he wears it. He loves God, is strong about his Christian beliefs (until proven otherwise) and is not afraid to show it! While many Christians have gone into the closet because of the pressures they receive for what they believe, Tim Tebow kicks the closet door wide open! If that is all you can find on the guy to hate him, you need to take a long, long look at yourself and your heart. The tearing down of Tebow because of his beliefs shows what is truly wrong with our country and where our hearts are. Don’t blame Tim Tebow for being who he is. And you certainly shouldn’t hate him for it!