This Tebow story is a great one.....

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RickReillywritessomegoodones......

I have been a pretty big fan of Reilly's columns in SI over the years. This story is another reason why I enjoy his columns. And another reason why I just have to root for Tebow. Good guys like Tebow are hard to find in sports these days.

 

Meh.

Go Pats!

 

My Facebook page is full of stories about this Tebow guy. Is there nothing else to talk about in America this week? How is this material for such heated debates?

 

A healthy Big ben would not have lost the wildcard game. Brady will outscore Tebow.

 

Even though I'm rooting against him this week (as he plays my team) I do like the story. The issue is that he is a religious person who does a lot of praising and talking about God. He claims that he is still a vrigin and is saving himself for marriage and that he was almost an aborted baby. So basically everything he is and stands for drives the "liberal elite" crazy (remember it is cool to be an atheist), and since the vast majority of the media are liberals there are a lot of stories about him.

I believe right now he is probably the most admired and hated professional athlete in the country.

As to his athletic prowess he is playing quarterback which is the most important position, but he doesn't seem to be a very good one. He is more of a running back as his throwing ability isn't very good. He will make five straight throws that are so horrible you wonder if he is blind, then his next throw will be amazing and go for a long touchdown.

He also has a knack for winning games so his team is never out of it. Is team is in the playoffs and is now two wins away from the Superbowl.

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And now, hopefully Tebowmania will subside for a bit. Good job Pats.

 

And so Brady did. With the help of the pat's ofcourse.

They are the strongest in the AFC.

 

An 8 month reprieve from the "look at me I'm praying!" schtick.

(I typed the above while Tebowing.)

 

From a football perspective, I don't think he's very good. I don't think you can run an option offense in the NFL and win over a prolonged period of time.

As for religious zeal, sorry but I have a problem looking up to anyone who belongs to some splinter religious group. While the Tebow family are Evangelical Christians and born again, they are part of the Church of Bob Tebow (Bob is Tim's father) - no I'm not making that up.

Here's the other part that they have some splainin' to do. I read that they did their missionary work in the Philippines, and that's also where Tim Tebow was born. (The part about his mother considering abortion is true as far as I can tell. She become very ill while pregnant, and the drugs used to save her life usually result in a still born baby. She kept the baby, and obviously Tim was not a still born.)

Anyway, I thought about that for a while, and said, "Wait a second. Aren't most of the people of the Philippines already Christian?" So I looked it up, and it turns out that over 95% of Filipinos are Catholic. I assume most of the rest are Muslim, with the religious violence we have seen there over the years. Anyway, I seriously doubt that they are converting the Muslims. They are more likely converting Christians to another form of Christianity.

Which I kind of find a little strange. Specifically, I wonder about the thought process involved in such a decision. While I'm not a religious person, I think that if I were to convert to a religion, it wouldn't be changing to something else within the realm of Christianity. The core belief in all forms of Christianity, be they Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox - and yes, Mormonism - is belief in the divinity of Christ. That's why it's called Christianity. The differences in worship and practicing your faith are more subtle, but they all believe in Christ's divinity, and salvation through him.

So my thinking here is kind of simple perhaps, but it seems that if you didn't think that you were following the "one true path", then if you were to convert, it would be to something that wasn't Christianity. You'd convert to Judaism, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or whatever. And while I'm sure that in Bob Tebow's mind, any non-evangelical still needs to be saved, you'd think you'd start with a group of people that weren't running from essentially the same play book to begin with.

 

Aldeth, Splunge

Tim Tebow doesn't prostrate in front of a camera. The media is on him. I highly doubt he will stop doing what he is doing when the media coverage stops. Basically, he is a very good guy who helps people when he isn't playing football. Why all the negativity? I am sick of the media when they print "Is Tebow for real?" or "Tebow an All-Pro?" because that is obvious that he is not. But there are very few stories out there that tell about the man he is off the field. Hell, I am not even a believer in God and can still see the obvious good points this fella has. He cares about others, it's that plain and simple. Anyone who does that shouldn't be made a mockery of for it....

 

Blades, when you do something as obvious as kneeling and praying on a football field in a stadium packed with tens of thousands of spectators, you know full well that you're going to be the centre of attention. I look at it this way - the guy's a quarterback. You don't become a NFL quarterback if you want to avoid the spotlight. Is he doing it just to be front-and-centre? Probably not. But if he wants to simply give thanks, he can do it in ways that don't draw so much attention to himself.

 

That is crap Splunge. He is far from the first player to kneel and pray on the football field. But for some reason, the media seems to feel the need to show and talk about it constantly. Hell, some teams use to have huddle prayers before the game, after the game and when they scored a TD. What the hell is the difference?..... I'll tell you the difference. The ugly thing we all know as the Media.... they'll do anything for a story these. They will villify anyone. It's fricking ridiclulous.... they should leave the guy alone. He is an average player on an average team, but still they try to make a big story out of him when there isn't one there.

 

Blades, neither you nor I know for sure what his motivation is, so disagree with my opinion if you want, but please don’t disrespect it by calling it crap. And yes, it is my opinion – I’m not just regurgitating what I’ve heard in the media. Believe it or not, the coverage I’ve seen up here in Canada regarding his praying is overall fairly positive, or at worse neutral (although I can’t say the same for the waves of copycats). As for team prayers, that’s different because it’s the whole team – it’s not just one guy standing out (or in this case, kneeling) in a crowd.

And I should make one thing clear – I in no way mean any of this to be a reflection of his work off-field. I think that is commendable, and I give him full credit for it.

 

Not true -- most converts from one Christian faith come from another. It's very difficult to get someone to "believe in Christ." The main target for most missionalry work is Catholics; both because of numbers and some of the "hard core" rules of Catholicism. You should realize that most splinter groups target the groups they seperated from....

 

Thanks T2B - I was unaware of that.

While I have seen many player pray on a football field, and thank god in an interview after the game, I rarely see them doing it before, many times during, and after the game. And it's usually something much more subtle, like a point to the sky, not dropping to one knee and bowing your head. Furthermore, while thanking God after a game in an interview is common, you rarely hear a player say multiple times during an interview "I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ".

Actually, just check out the SNL skit. I'm sure you've seen it by now, but it's a parody about what everyone says about Tebow.



and yeah, I do believe his belief and his humility are sincere, and that he represents himself as a paragon of virtue rarely seen in modern athletes. You don't have to worry about him showing up in police reports or having problems with him or his entourage. But he puts himself out there for this scrutiny, whether that is by design or not.

 

Sorry, crap was a strong term for me to use, my apologies Splunge. But I do disagree with the team prayer thing. Just becuase the whole team doesn't do it doesn't mean he does it to be on TV.

I think most atheletes are in it for the money and are all about themselves. I also think Tebow is one of the few who isn't. I do not think he is looking for attention. Being a QB has nothing to do with it. That was his position in college and he could easily be a RB instead. He would still do the praying. I would also bet he wousl still be himself if he was in the Arena League instead of the NFL. But I think he does take advantage of his monetary positon to help others, which I also think is commendable.

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I disagree. The "scrutiny" is only there because the media creates it. If they weren't airinig it, I think he would still be himself and say his prayers. I am one hundred persent positive that many others atheletes have said a prayer to god or thanked god and his pasture or whatever about god and when it happened, the media didn't spin it to make that athelete look bad, different, funny or however you want to term what they try to show us about Tebow...

 

No problem, Blades. I think your earlier comment caught me off guard because it was rather uncharacteristic of you.

Anyway, you give Tebow more credit than I do. I'm not saying he's insincere when he prays, but to me, there's an element of showmanship that I find irritating.

 

I do not doubt his sincerity, as said as much in my previous comment. I also do not doubt his devotion to his faith. While I have heard interviews of countless athletes give praise to God, I have never heard one do it in every interview, whether the team loses or wins (which is why I think it's sincere), and do so 4 or 5 times in a few minutes. Also, most athletes use the generic term "God". The reason I quoted Tebow before is that he never uses a generic God. It's always "My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". I don't think I've heard another athlete do that even once - never mind multiple times in an interview.

And it's the same thing during the game. Lots of athletes point up to heaven after scoring a TD, or hitting a home run. I haven't seen any of them drop to one knee on the sideline or in the dugout while the other team has the ball or they're waiting for their turn to bat.

Look, I said I believe the guy is sincere. I would even go so far as to say he does not do it because he's a "look at me" guy. Quite the opposite in fact. But when you play a position like quarterback - the most visible position on the field, and your actions and interviews are very obviously different from other athletes, "intent" is not really at issue. Scrutiny is going to come, whether you like it or not.

If when the scrutiny comes, you chose to continue doing it, especially when your team is winning "miraculously" especially when you team is in the midst of a playoff race - and keep in mind that is his decision to make: I don't expect him to change his connection to his faith to suit me or anyone else - then you are putting yourself out there, whether you like it or not.

 

Nice vid.

Those pesky patriots. Exhibition match.