I would like to add my view on Tim Tebow to the atmosphere for a few minutes:
For starters, I grew up in a family divided. Half of them went to UF, the others FSU. And my brothers and I grew up going to VIP parties for the Hurricanes before games. As I got older, I never really needed to root for any one over the other, although I did mildly root for FSU whenever they played one of the other two, out of deference to my Seminole father. The happiest and most excited I’ve ever seen him has been when FSU was beating up on UM – the sight of him climbing the fence at the top of the Orange Bowl stadium, literally shaking the fence as hard as he could, while taunting the UM fans around us, was a sight to see. I don’t know if he even remembers that, but I remember it vividly – by far one of the most fun games I ever went to. It’s hard not to root for a team that your dad’s so invested in their success. And there was nothing truly more fun to watch than members of my family fighting amongst each other for school pride during the FSU-UF game. Mostly I rooted for all the Florida teams to do well unless they played each other. But I would have been equally happy for all of them to be at the top of the rankings every year, regardless of who was at the top. Mine was generally a “State” pride, as opposed to a “Team” pride. And I still feel that way today.
I always liked Steve Spurrier. He was a complete jerk, and had one of the worst attitudes of any coach out there for years. I liked him because I thought it was entertaining. But I also liked him because, despite his attitude, he had a knack for making college quarterbacks elite. So even after he left, I always watched the QBs coming up in the Florida system, because they just had a history of greatness.
I was never totally sold on Chris Leak in the UF system. He was a good QB, and had a very good reputation coming into college, but was kind of up and down (UM fans will disappointingly identify with this in recent years). But there was a fervor building in the UF student atmosphere, about a new kid to come into the program – Tim Tebow. His abilities had been the subject of much anticipation, and the rumors of his toughness were already sung far outside of Gainesville. But Leak was the QB, so everyone had to wait for intermittent insertions into games that were long since won. But fans at the games went nuts whenever he came in, and watching him throw touchdown after touchdown, and running over defensive players like they were right out of PeeWee league just made his growing legend that much more fun. It was enhanced even further in his junior year when, after losing a game they should have won, Tebow stood in front of the press crying - blaming himself for the loss (notice he always takes criticism on himself, while heaping the accolades onto his teammates...), and promising the entire country, not just Gator nation, that it would never happen again. He then led them to the national championship, and won it, fulfilling his promise.
It was here that the professions of his faith were first highlighted. As a junior and senior, he even started wearing Bible verses on his eye-black during games, causing the NCAA (though they deny Tebow was the catalyst for it) to ban writing of any kind on eye-black, now known throughout college sports as The Tebow Rule. He finished college with two national championships, one Heisman Trophy (a finalist in two others), awards for best QB in the nation, best football player in the nation, and best athlete in ANY sport. And while he racked up touchdowns every year, finishing with 88 TDs passing and 55 rushing, but only 15 interceptions, pro scouts had already started to question his NFL pedigree because of his QB mechanics. In a nutshell, for those who do not know (I would say only those in the Third World wouldn’t know him by now, but he spends his off seasons in the Third World – so much for that…), the complaints were about his footwork and holding the ball down near his hip on his drop-back, exposing him to the possibility of numerous sacks because of an inability to release the ball quickly. This criticism hampered his draft status in the eyes of most who mattered on the subject.
That is, except for Josh McDaniels, then head coach of the Denver Broncos. McDaniels said, after Tebow’s first round selection, that what he saw was a winner, nothing else – who’s flaws at passing were easily adjustable. They had Kyle Orton, so Tebow would have plenty of time to work on his mechanics. Which he did – he looked vastly improved just in his rookie preseason alone. And all the while, the same fervor that was ignited in Gainesville was beginning to ignite in Denver. But he was also being discussed for the notoriety in college for his outward expressions of faith. And the little playing time he saw during his rookie season was making the anticipation of him as the starter grow by the week. And every interview invariably asked him about his faith as much as the game – Tebow found himself having to defend his expression of faith, where he hadn’t had to do that in college much. And he always smiled, was always gracious, and never had an ill word, even for those who criticized him. When he finally took over permanently this season, his detractors went into full-on attack mode, while he began to win… and win… and win…
It's not because he's a Christian, or even an outspoken one. Ever seen Baltimore Raven (an former U alumnus) Ray Lewis after a game? He's practically giving sermons about "...giving it up to God..." And three quarters of the running backs and wide receivers (with the exception of the ones who feel like Riverdancing or putting on a sideshow) kneel or point to the sky after a touchdown - no different than Tebow. And one only has to turn on the AMAs, BMAs, CMAs, the ESPYs, etc to see artists and athletes alike thanking God - along with their agents, managers, stylists, chauffers, and Mom and Dad - for gracing the little people of this country with their greatness, often while wearing bling along the lines of neck-to-crotch-length diamond encrusted crucifixes ('cause if there's one thing Jesus loves, it's symbols of his death being used by rappers to signal to chicks that they're filthy rich).
The difference between him and the rest is that when he does it, you believe him, rather than roll your eyes at the postured grandstanding the others convey. And all it took was one person to write an article about his sincerity in his faith while he was in college, and the stigma around his faith has followed him ever since. And the real problem is that, no matter what they say about him, they can't get to him - and that drives them nuts. I think they beat him to death with it in the media HOPING that he'll get fed up with it and lose his cool, which will make everyone else feel better about themselves. But he doesn't. Even the people who bash him get his thanks for the criticism, because it makes him a better person. Do you know how infuriating that is? And even when they bash his supposed "lack" of skills (which there aren't much - the dude's a supremely talented athlete), he keeps on winning, in outright defiance of the critics. And they're darn losing their minds because of it. No, Tebow gets all this animosity because just being himself, as a person, disgusts people with themselves - thinking that no one can be that good of a person, that it must be an act of some kind.
He's not perfect - no one is. He even stole a book of quotes from a UF football coach one time (now, with Tebow, this probably just means he took it to find a quote and forgot to give it back - what he calls theft), but he even admits it to you. How many would own up to anything they had done? He's flawed, just like the rest of us. He simply makes a concerted effort to be the best person he can, living his beliefs. Something we all learn in church and temple every week, but fail to live up to. And when they realize it's no act, they don't know what to do with themselves - his attitude about life turns the mirror on the rest of us. And the ones who don't like what they see have nothing left but to pray for his ruination in the one place it could actually happen – the football field. So this entire week was about Tebow losing to the Patriots. The vastness of hope for him to lose has been staggering – I’ve never seen anything like it, save for Tiger Woods, post-scandal. Mass hysteria, hoping more for someone to lose than a team to win. And it’s not that they want the “Broncos” to lose – they want him to lose. This country is seen the world over as arrogant, self righteous, and hypocritical. And we go out of our way to crucify one person who is anything but – someone who represents what we all wish we were, if we were to be honest with ourselves - taking pleasure in the possibility of his failure. The Germans have a term for that, by the way, getting pleasure from others' pain, suffering, and failure: it's called Schadenfreude. And that says infinitely more about us than him, I’m afraid…
