Oh, that guy.This guy is everywhere: on the TV...um...on more TV...
Whether you know him from his time at Florida State, his time so far with the Denver Broncos, or if you had no idea who he played for, but know that he talks about God whenever he opens his mouth, there's something to watch in this guy.
He's proved himself as a quarterback, beating Pittsburgh in OT in the playoffs on Sunday and earned a nice $250,000 bonus in the process--a bonus which he will get again with a win over New England. (I would like to suggest a large donation of that bonus to me.)
But it's because of his religion that people are turning to him as a role model for younger kids. People enjoy seeing someone with Tebow's strong values in prominent positions in the media. He's not the first one, either: Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams to their Super Bowl win and the Arizona Cardinals to their first ever Super Bowl all on news conferences about his faith.
Which is why I was intrigued when Kurt Warner suggested Tim Tebow should tone down the religious rhetoric.
Wait, what? Aren't Christians supposed to be telling other Christians to keep talking about God?
But Warner wasn't being embarrassed about it like some Christians get when people talk about God on TV (look what all these televangelists have done to us). Instead, he was making a greater point:
"You can't help but cheer for a guy like that," former NFL star Kurt Warner said. "But I'd tell him, 'Put down the boldness in regards to the words, and keep living the way you're living. Let your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your testimony.'
"I know what he's going through, and I know what he wants to accomplish, but I don't want anybody to become calloused toward Tim because they don't understand him, or are not fully aware of who he is. And you're starting to see that a little bit."
This is the mission of letting our actions speak louder than words. But as a professional athlete, most of the actions we see from Tebow involve either hitting, getting hit, or deflecting hits. And there's the occasional completed pass. But Warner is right--let the teammates do the talking.
Which would be a better testimony, Tim Tebow talking about God whenever there's a mic on, or his teammates talking about how different the guy is, how much he genuinely loves his God and prays for his team.
I don't know if Tim Tebow will still be QB-ing when Jack is old enough to understand football. Right now, he's not too interested in watching games, just playing them. There may be several good moral role models in the NFL, MLB, or the NBA (that one's a little harder to believe). But all boys looking for a role model should add that criteria to the list: Not just what a person says or does, but how people closest to him talk about him when he's not around. And that's a little more of what I'd like to see from Tebow.
Bible verses on your face will only go so far.
I understand what Kurt saying. On the other side of the coin, we have so many stars that are "in your face" with negative character traits, its refreshing to see someone with positive traits adobt a similiar approach.
ReplyDeleteI havent felt (from the interviews I have seen) that Tebow is in anyway promoting himself through religion, but alas, I do not know the man and could be wrong. He has put hiself in a position where his every move will be viewed through a microscope. As non believers have a very different view of sin and forgiveness, I hope that Tim is always able to remain above reproach, as the fallout from even a small mistake off the field will give the Tim Tebow haters what they have been dreaming of.