Posted on 10/24/2011 7:59:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Evangelical football star Tim Tebow thanked Jesus Christ after leading the Denver Broncos to an 18–15 overtime win over the Miami Dolphins in Florida Sunday, not giving in to critics who are averse to his open display of his Christian faith.
“First off, I have to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and my teammates … they believed in me for more than 60 minutes,” Athlon Sports quoted Tebow as saying right after the surprise win.
It was a dramatic victory. During the first 54 minutes, Tebow’s play was far from impressive. But then it was as if Tebow had suddenly realized the expectations his fans have from the National Football League player who does not shy away from giving glory to God.
“You can’t lose confidence in yourself or you’ve lost already,” Tebow, son of missionaries to the Philippines, said. “When you get knocked down, you’ve got to keep getting back up.”
When less than six minutes were left and the Miami Dolphins were focusing on defense, Tebow rose to the challenge, rallying the Broncos to two touchdowns.
When Denver lined up for the 2-point attempt for overtime, the Dolphins spread their defense across the field. Tebow ran off between the players, untouched, for the conversion. In overtime, Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal, sealing the victory.
Two days before the game, Jeff Darlington, a reporter at nfl.com, said Tebow “has become one of sports’ most polarizing figures.” “Thousands love him to a degree rarely seen,” he wrote. “The same, though, can be said about the degree to which a massive group also hates him… There exists a website called ‘TebowHaters.com’ and a Facebook page dubbed ‘I hate Tim Tebow.’”
“It really blows my mind,” the reporter quoted Dolphins center Mike Pouncey, as saying. “You talk about a guy that’s in the church, doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t drink alcohol, lives right, won the Heisman, won the national championship in college,” said Pouncey, who spent three seasons as an offensive lineman for Tebow at the University of Florida.
Tebow’s acclaim includes being the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and the first college football player to both rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a season.
“Maybe people don’t like the fact that he has accomplished so much,” Dolphins running back Reggie Bush told Darlington. “And maybe some people just don’t think he’s a good quarterback. Everyone has an opinion … People look for a reason to hate you. With Tebow, though, it’s almost like they think it’s too good to be true.”
Tebow has cared little about his critics.
At college in Florida, Tebow frequently wore biblical verses on his eye black. In the 2009 Bowl Championship Series, he wore “John 3:16” on his eye paint, reportedly causing 92 million people to search the verse on Google. Later, Tebow switched to “Proverbs 3:5-6,” again causing 3.43 million searches of the verse together with “Tim Tebow.” The NFL, however, later banned writing on the eye black.
I’m not sure why this open display of faith is a problem now.
David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs used to be quite open about his faith and as far as I can remember, did not get any flak for it.
I don’t care about the Broncos, nor do I follow them - but when I heard he was playing, I wanted Tebow to win it, for this reason alone.
Tim, I like you. But I do not believe that God opposed the Dolphins, which is the back side of your claim.
He thanked God of the ability. Not for defeating the evil dolphins. Tebow would be the first one to tell you that God does not care who wins and loses games. He just gives thanks to God for the ability to play.
Hey all I can say is I prayed for Tim and his fellow team mates for health, mental clarity and drive. God gave them the ability to win and they did! If they had lost, so be it but they didn’t so Thank You Jesus!
Incorrect.
That said, I doubt that God plays favorites in multimillion dollar sporting events.
“Tim, I like you. But I do not believe that God opposed the Dolphins, which is the back side of your claim.”
You don’t understand, and rather than project the reason for your shortfall in understanding, I’ll explain.
When we pray in the context of athletics, it’s with the understanding that God doesn’t pick a side. So, we pray for God to keep everyone safe, and to allow us to play to the best of our ability. Nothing more, nothing less.
And if an opposing team member also prayed for a win what is he to say, something like”Oh so Jesus, you like Tebow more than me? See if I ever ask for your help again”!
Does this mean Jesus doesn’t like dolphins?
I am, go Cardinals!
And you know Tim asked Jesus for the win how? ... Is it possible Tim asked —like the association for Christian Atheletes is known to do— that the game be well played, injury free, and uplifting for both participants and fans? I’m wondering why you jump to such a negative position regarding prayer by Christian atheletes.
The article says he thanked Jesus and his team mates in the same sentence for believing in him.Thats prety much a personal thank you for the win.
Just like tuna boat captains.
No it’s not. You have a burr under your saddle toward God perhaps, to twist the facts to fit a mean-spirited perspective. When I go to bed at night, I open my prayers with ‘Thank you, Lord, for yet another day.’ That in no way affirms anything about your day or your blessings, your failures or your victories. When I won the club championship in Golf years ago, I thanked God for the victory because it was the abilities He blessed me with that allowed me to win, not anything He could be accused of ding to put me in the winner’s circle. Why are you so negative about thanking God for the talents He graces someone with? I would enjoy fishing for catfish with you, but if you catch more fish and bigger fish, do you really think I would be angry that God did not let me catch the bigger fish? THAT is what you imply with this silly negativism.
And thanking God for successes in life is wrong in what way??????
Athletes and musicians have been thanking Jesus or God forever in our society and nobody cares, beyond a few lunatic atheist fringers that are ignored by all.
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