Father Raymond J. De Souza: Tim Tebow, Superman's hero

National Post ^ | January 08, 2009 | Father Raymond J. De Souza

[nickcarraway]

Tonight in Miami, the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida Gators will play for the American college football championship. If Florida wins, it will be due to the play of quarterback Tim Tebow. He is arguably the best player in college football, and, more than that, an important cultural phenomenon.

In 2007, Tebow was the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the most valuable collegiate football player in the nation. He was a runner-up this year for the Heisman; the winner was Sam Bradford, the Oklahoma quarterback who will face Tebow tonight.

In only three years of college ball, Tebow has already won a national championship and just about every individual award he has been eligible for. Yet it his character, rather than his athletic accomplishments, that have earned him a wide following.

The joke in Gainesville, home of the Florida Gators, is that Superman wears Tim Tebow pyjamas. That's not just a reference to the fact that Tebow, big and muscular enough to be a running back, has the quickness, throwing ability and smarts to play quarterback in the NFL. It's a reference to the fact that he seems to have no flaws. A good student, Tebow spends his free time volunteering with the poor, preaching in prisons and working with his parents' missionary programs in the Philippines.

Those familiar with the university scene have noticed a new creature on campus in this generation -- the culturally conservative, clean-living, academically successful, well-rounded, socially savvy, religiously observant student. He has not displaced his debauched classmates as the new big man on campus, but he is a leader and accepted part of the campus scene -- a definite change in the 20 years since I started university. The clean-living

Christian is the true rebel on campus

[yarddog]

I like Tebow, like him a lot and just for the reasons they say but it is getting a little ridiculous. No one is that good.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

This may rank as one of great games in college history. So far its been a great defensive struggle. A few seconds to go in the half and it’s seven to seven.
Tebow is the real deal. A nice family. Good solid Christian values and a guy who will make millions a year and probably do all kinds of wonderful things for others because of his giving attitude.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

It is half time and the number one undefeated team UTAH would beat both teams in the BS C bowl.

[FoxInSocks]

Tebow 2032. LOL

[yarddog]

I don’t understand it as the media usually hates Christians especially evangelicals but they love Tebow. Maybe sportcasters aren’t the same as other media.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Tibo Schmibo. Sounds like people fawning over obama.

[Jemian]

Tebow spends his free time volunteering with the poor, preaching in prisons and working with his parents' missionary programs in the Philippines.

Tebow is a Missionary Kid. I always cheer for MKs.

[STARWISE]

God bless Tim Tebow's parents. They raised one inspiring and awesome athlete and human being!

Heisman hopeful Tim Tebow's family ties are strong

As a top contender for the Heisman Trophy, Tim Tebow will have the eyes of the sports world fixed on him.

But while the Gator Nation anxiously waits to hear if he will make history as the first-ever sophomore to receive the coveted award, the tight-knit family who knows him best says instead of focusing on a win, they are focusing on supporting the baby of their family, who they affectionately call Timmy.

For Tim's mom, Pam Tebow, that means ensuring that her youngest son will be suitably dressed during the Heisman Trophy Ceremony at 8 p.m. Saturday in New York City.

"I'm so busy making sure Timmy has a black belt and socks to wear with his shoes ... all those details that a mother has to remember," she said.

But, Pam says the real preparation for a Heisman win — or loss — has nothing to do with socks and shoes. Instead, it has to do with his upbringing. "You have to start young; you can't start when they're 20" she said, recalling that Tim "hated" to lose, even as a skinny kid playing T-ball.

During those seemingly insignificant losses, she and her husband, Bob, taught Tim valuable lessons, including how to deal with disappointments.

"We taught our children from a young age that in everything, you give thanks to the Lord," she said. "There's something supernatural that takes place when you trade your anxieties for God's peace."

Pam says most of Tim's life lessons began at home, on the family's 44-acre farm on the outskirts of Jacksonville, where all of the Tebow children were home-schooled.

She credits her husband with using the farm to teach the five children a strong work ethic, which she says has allowed Tim to excel on and off the football field. For Pam, though, Tim's story begins years before life on the farm in Jacksonville.

In 1985, she and her husband moved to the Philippines, where they served as Christian missionaries.

Hoping to expand their family, they prayed for "Timmy" by name.

Just before she became pregnant, Pam fell into a coma after contracting amoebic dysentery, which is transmitted through contaminated drinking water. Her treatment required a series of strong medications.

As a result of those medications, doctors told Pam the fetus had been irreversibly damaged, and they strongly advised her to have an bortion. She refused because of her faith, she said. Pam spent the last two months of her pregnancy on bed rest, and on her due date — Aug. 14, 1987 — she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who she described as "skinny, but rather long."

Three years later, the family moved back to the U.S., while continuing to run their family ministry, the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association (www.btea.org), in the Philippines. Every year, the family returns with volunteers to work with the ministry, which now employs 50 people and includes an orphanage.

On Saturday, the Tebows will be worlds away from the Philippines and their family farm.

But one thing remains the same: the tight-knit family will be together, and they will be by Tim's side.

Tim's oldest sister, Christy Tebow-Allen works as a missionary in Asia. And though she is the only sibling who will not be by her baby brother's side during the ceremony, she will be waiting by her phone to hear the results.

"I am not surprised that Timmy is a finalist for the Heisman," she wrote in an e-mail. "The combination of Timmy's God-given talent, hard work, character and leadership have made a mark on and off the football field."

Tim's brother, UF senior engineering student Peter Tebow, who will be at the ceremony, says that even without a win, he is impressed by what Tim has already accomplished, as a football player and as a person. "It's so exciting to see the accomplishments that he has had, but more importantly, it's exciting to see the kind of person he is."

Following the ceremony, the family has planned a party for Tim and the people closest to him.

"It's more of a support group because we're all going to be together, and that's the fun of it," Pam said. "You don't have to win to have a party."

"Our job is to convey to Timmy that, win or lose, we love him the same," she added. "We're not focused on winning. We're really just focused on him."

[Eagle Eye]

Tibo felatio? Obama?

I guess you haven’t seen him play.

Or maybe you don’t know that he finished up a game in highschool with a broken leg and still hobbled for a long touchdown run.

Or maybe you guys can’t appreciate the quality of player and young man he is.

[lonestar]

Or maybe you guys can’t appreciate the quality of player and young man he is.

BINGO!

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

he poop ice cream too?

[hellbender]

Texas QB Colt McCoy, who should be in this game because UT thrashed Oklahoma, is also a Christian who practices charity.

[Comparative Advantage]

Tebow should have won the Heisman this year, though Bradford is no slouch either. But tonight confirmed it.

[dfwgator]

I’m glad Tebow didn’t get the Heisman. The only year the Gators didn’t win the Title with Tebow was the year he won the Heisman. And if you base it purely on stats, Bradford deserved it hands down. But Tebow brings the intangibles that no other quarterback can.

How many quarterbacks have won three championships? And if Tebow, Harvin and Spikes stay next year, I think the Gators have a great shot at going unbeaten.

[Eagle Eye]

LOL....maybe but I’ll let you check.

[Hot Tabasco]

he poop ice cream too?

Nope, just Okies and Sooners.........check the scats. LOL!

[dfwgator]

It’s Tim Tebow’s world, we just get to live in it.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Only after he swollows Superman.