Posted on 01/13/2012 8:53:19 AM PST by rhema
I have officially called off my boycott of the National Football League. I do not care how many felons or frotteurs play the game. Now there is Tim Tebow to redeem it. He can pass and run. He inspires his teammates. He inspires many returning fans like me. I shall follow him through the playoffs and maybe even next year as the season resumes anew. He is an American original -- and he is controversial. I am for him.
No, I shall not fall for the NFL's gimmicks. You will not see me wearing a jersey of the Denver Broncos, for whom Tebow plays. I shall not even buy a coffee mug. In fact, I think I shall add up how much money I could spend on Tebow paraphernalia and donate it to charity. Tebow inspires his teammates, and now he has inspired me.
I first noticed Tebow when he won a string of games in the last minutes. It was phenomenal, but then I seemed to have brought him bad luck, for he lost the next three games.
Then came the Denver Broncos' surprising upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. The Steelers played a great game behind the two-time Super Bowl winner, Ben Roethlisberger (himself an almost-convicted felon who has now confessed his errors and mended his ways), but Tebow outplayed him. Roethlisberger did lead his team to an overtime Sunday.
That worried me, for I had already sat through hours of play, and one of my complaints with the NFL is that the games are the closest thing we can experience on earth to eternity. Yet the Broncos won the flip of the coin. They elected to receive. And on the first play from scrimmage, Tebow threw a pass to Demaryius Thomas (note the noble Roman name), and Demaryius outran the desperate Steeler secondary for 80 yards and a touchdown. Good show, fellows! The whole play took 11 seconds -- the briefest overtime in NFL history.
Then came the grounds for controversy. After congratulating his Roman receiver, Tebow knelt on one knee and thanked God. His recollections convey the essential Tebow. "When I saw him scoring," recalled the victorious quarterback, "first of all, I just thought, 'Thank you, Lord.' Then, I was running pretty fast, chasing him -- like I can catch up to D.T.! Then I just jumped into the stands. First time I've done that. That was fun. Then, got on a knee and thanked the Lord again and tried to celebrate with my teammates and the fans."
Tebow is very pious, very humble ("like I can catch up to D.T.") and a lot of fun ("that was fun"). How can anyone dislike him? He runs charities in the offseason. He invites sick children to games. He does all manner of good deeds. He is the son of missionaries, and he takes his religion seriously.
This appears to be a problem for some players in the NFL and other concerned Americanos. Some have uttered insults at him over his religion and, in fact, over his general good-guy deportment. Why should this be? One can strut and perform the most lurid dances on the field. One can demonstrate on behalf of various controversial causes. Nary an eye is batted. Yet a show of piety to one's creator is deemed an offense.
By the way, Tebow was not the only person on the field expressing a prayer. I saw a fellow from the Steelers make the Sign of the Cross repeatedly, and after an exceptionally good pass, I dare say Roethlisberger raised his hands to the heavens. So what is so outrageous about a pause for a prayer of thanksgiving?
I predict that Tebow is in for some serious controversy in the weeks and years ahead. Some say he does not deserve his fame, that he is an unorthodox passer and a terrible ball-handler. I do not know what they think they know. He is as strong as a bull, and his running and passing win games.
Yet his real problem is the religious angle. Many Americans do not like it. They prefer their own gestures of false piety. They need our prayers.
Yes I have a TV. As with a lot of others, I too have been brought back to the TV for football after a 20 year break. I was a HUGE Redskins fan in the John Riggins, Joe Jacoby, Dave Butz, Jow Gibbs era. I was...a hogette.
The questions about whether he has the goods physically to be a starting pro quarterback, because of his loopy throwing motion or lack of experience in the pocket, are only a small part of the fuel that drives him.
His competitive nature is innate, formed at an age when most kids were happy to be bouncing on Hippity-Hops at preschool field days.
"I like working out not only regular times but other times, too, because I feel that edge of, 'I'm working right now and there's not a lot of guys working right now,'" said the second-year QB, making a statement that seems to carry even greater weight given the NFL's work stoppage and a lack of team organized training activities nationwide.
"The quote I've had on my door since I was a little boy is, 'Somewhere he is out there training and I'm not. And when we meet, he will win.' That's something that's always motivated me, because if I go to sleep early, is there someone else training? Is there somebody looking at their playbook? It doesn't have to always be physical either. Am I getting better?"
“...really not a very good...”
A 1st year newbie QB on a team with a losing record wins the starter slot and changes that team’s fortune and gets them to the playoffs and then beats the Steelers in the first round of the post season and yet you say he isn’t very good.
You must really hate Southpaws.
Amen!! Great, perceptive comments.
New England's offense is just too good. You guys can recover from a 21 point deficit if necessary as if it were no effort at all. Yes, your D is a problem, but NE's absurdly high powered offense can make up for it. My prediction for this game is New England winning in a walk with a score of around 44-10. I will be rooting for Denver just because I do like Tebow and it is fun pulling for the underdog, but I am under no illusion of what is likely to happen.
One of the interesting things about the NFL to me is the breadth and narrowness of the press coverage. The NFL generates a huge amount of press, more than any other of the major sports by a large margin. Yet that press coverage tends to focus very narrowly, half a dozen out of the 1700 players and maybe 2 coaches of each of the “major” labels (head, OC, DC) wind up being the focus of 90% of the coverage. And usually 1 player is eating up 20 to 25% of the coverage. For a few years there it was Favre, but now that he’s finally stayed retired that focus had to land on somebody else. They’ve chosen the “controversial” (really almost everybody in the press likes him so there really isn’t much controversy, but it’s a handy story line) Tebow. Yeah it gets boring. But that’s the nature of the beast.
Actually Manning never generated that much press. He’s kind of boring, no starlets, no off the field drama. Lots of sexy stats which keep him as one of the players that get coverage, but no drama to elevate him to top coverage. Tebow is the most covered guy in the sport right now, in that place Favre was for a few years and then Brady before him. Poor guy can’t pass wind without 4 “reporters” writing stories about him. But this too shall pass.
Must just be where I live then, about 90 miles from Indianapolis. He was on the news multiple times per week last season and prior.
Tebow is NOT a 1st year quarterback. This is his second season. Last season Tebow played a backup role in around 6 games and started the last 3. His performance earned him a backup role this year. After Orton/Denver got off to a poor start, Denver gave Tebow another shot and he took the team to 8-8.
“I gotta say....I’ve reached the point of overexposure with Tebow.”
Bread and circuses aren’t for everyone.
Yeah the big star of the local team gets a lot of local press. I’m lucky, the nearest team is the Cardinals, they don’t have a big star. I’m generally talking about national coverage, national coverage tends to obsess on one guy, and it’s Tebow’s turn.
HUH! Overexposure is theO and his angry spouse, or the murdress who got off Casey Anthony. Give me a good man, make him a hero and I am IN!
/sigh
Tim Tebow is not a rookie quarterback. Young quarterback, yes, but not a rookie quarterback. He played in several games last year and started in 3.
Sorry but now I got it: A 2nd year player. Thanks.
I might just enjoy the superbowl game this year, depending.
Our culture shuns Tim Tebrow ??? Finally, a hero we can support and cheer. Now everyone wants to take it away from us. Why? I am just getting involved.
Almost certainly, the interviewer did not expect such high praise for "Tim Tebow, the man," from a British songwriter of such note. Her questioning elicited from him the story of his own song from an earlier decade.
Then, he told her about living in the U. S. for 7 months last year, of his not having been a football fan, but that he became a "Tim Tebow fan."
Perhaps she was surprised when he went on to talk about how he came to revise his own music to honor a man who deeply believes in something in a day when so many have lost belief in anything (paraphrased).
Can anyone capture a recording of this interview and post on FR?
Coming from a British songwriter in an interview on "All Things Considered," this interview is a spectacular rebuttal to the foolishness of remarks by such assorted "small minds" as those interviewed on other networks last night, consisting of former basketball players, sportscasters, and the like.
Hail to the Redskins !
Hail to victory !
Braves on the war path !
Fight for old D.C !
Run or pass and score,
We want a lot more !
Beat em, Swamp em, Touchdown,
Let the points soar !
Fight on... Fight On...
Til you have won,
Sons of Washington !
P.S. I always thought the last line said "loyal sons of Washington"
What do you know about all the natural born citizen / birth certificate keywords on the Tebow threads?
Do you think it is a form of spam?
Do you think fogbow members do stuff like that?
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