February 23, 2012
Blog by John Steigerwald
Don’t take my word for it, take Rick Reilly’s.
When you hear the announcers slobbering all over Ray Lewis today, think of this. And think about how sick it is that there are people out there who hate Tim Tebow with a passion and were rooting for him to fail.
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Date: January 22, 2012
Categories: Sports
Tim Tebow took a 1-4 team and guided that team to a 1-4 finish. I’d say Timmy’s 15 minutes are just about up.
Thanks for missing the point.
Tebow is an exceptional, compassionate and caring human being. I get it.
But without a pro football career as a platform, no one, including Rick Reilly, would care how exceptional, compassionate and caring Tebow is. He inspires others because he’s a famous athlete … which he may no longer be a couple of years from now. Fame is fleeting, especially for a marginally-talented player.
ESPN, which includes Rick Reilly, has used Tebow and his unique attributes to garner huge ratings. Should Tebow’s star ever fade, all his good deeds will go unnoticed.
Who says they have to be noticed? The point is that, for some reason, lots of people really hate this guy. His personal life bothers people more than Santonio Holmes’ and Ray Lewis’ do.
I don’t particularly like, or care, for Tim Tebow.
BUT
He seems to back up what he talks.
I remember another young quarterback who used to write “Playing for Jesus” on his cleats and well, we know how that story went.
He blew off a Make-A-Wish kid.
I could have predicted that the first comment would be negative. Did you even read the story before your knee-jerk reaction?
Tebow’s 15 minutes of football fame may or may not be up, but his relevance as a human being, I suspect, will grow.
I wonder if the announcers today will mention Ray’s 6 illegitimate kids, multiple Baby Mama’s, and beating a sure-fire murder wrap by ratting out his friends? THIS is the NFL!
How can anybody honestly hate Tebow?? Everybody could learn something from him and help make this sick twisted world we live in a little bit better.
I dont think a lot of his football play, but there is no arguing that we need more players & people like him!
Tebow may never play another down of quarterback in the NFL,but he will have a productive life that positively influences others.He is mocked,maligned and ridiculed but remains undaunted.So what if he acknowledges his God—Ali used to do reference Allah after his fights.It didn’t bother me.They’re not pointing a gun to your head to convert you.
I saw this article a few days ago and immediately sent it to everyone I know. Tebow is a very special person. It is amazing how so many people have so much hate for him.
The announcers are going to talk about what a great citizen Ray ‘The Killer’ Lewis is all game. It’s going to make me sick. If I was the commissioner, he wouldn’t have played another game in the NFL until he testified against the person(s) that killed those two young guys in Atlanta, then jumped in a limo with Lewis and sped off.
If he is or isn’t the real deal is no matter to me. He seems like he’s truly a good person so win or lose he’s ok in my book.
Thanks for this.Tim certainly exemplifies the benefits of random acts of kindness, which is not material rewards but spiritual. The trick is, no one is supposed to know. Being a celebrity interferes with anonymity.We can each do a kindness to another today and every day.Like forgive Ray Lewis and the announcers for being idiots 
By the way, doesn’t anyone remember that Terry Bradshaw used to kneel with the team in prayer on the sidelines before the start of the game? That is when he was dating Miss Teenage America who was a born again Christian.I will never forget that sight. Mean Joe Green on his knees.
Hate Ray Lewis and I think Tebow is “probably” a good kid. But does anyone “really” know or is he a prop for religious nut bags to come out of the woodwork ? Many athletes like Polamalu, Bettis, Kordell, etc…, have visited the sick, etc….., with little or no fanfare.
John, I am emotional by nature, so it did not surprise me that this article brought tears to my eyes. God bless Tim. The fact of the matter is, in spote of what Bobzilla says above, Tebow inspires others and has been doing so even before he was a pro athlete. He goes on mission trips all over the world. Why can’t we just rejpoice in this instead of being negative?
His perspective on football is exactly right. It is only a game and in the big picture, it will not matter who won or lost. He gives his all to win; that is his job. But, whether he wins a game or not does not compare in importance with a boy who lost a leg. It just doesn’t! We need more pros just like him!
I see little kids wearing a Ray Lewis jersey and it gets me sick to my stomach. They idolize this hoodlum while a lot of t hese comedians and other hoodlums, I mean football players, make fun of him because he wears his religion on his sleeve. Guys like Lewis, Pacman Jones and the like should be behind bars as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks for a great link John. I agree with you so much. I have said it before on here and I will say it again. The majority of people would rather idolize criminals, theives, murders, rapist, and the rest of the lowlifes than look up to or say anything good about a good person. The point of it all is, with his status of being a starting quarterback that even helps him try to get the message out. And the message is that being a good person of good moral character is more important than anything else in his life. I have more respect for him as a person than I did before reading this. Its a sad state of affairs that this country is in poor shape when he is made out to be evil because of his religious beliefs. I am sure I will be adding more comments on here later also.
i disagree that people hate him. At least for me, I get annoyed with the media’s love of him. It’s worse than we had to deal with when Favre played. The Broncos would score 10 points and he was terrible all game, but all the media would talk about is how clutch he was. Nevermind that his defense kept them in the game. I think he’s a good guy and a role model off the field, but the media’s love of him on the field has turned me off.
Tebow isn’t as hated as people make it sound. He was recently voted most popular player in the NFL. Its not that he is not a nice guy he is, it’s that, in my opinion he’s not a very good NFL QB. NFL defenses are starting to figure this guy out and my guess is he will not make it through next season as the starter. There are many players in the league that do charity work. There are quite a few players who are hated and people root against. People hatred for Tebow is not a prevalent as you make it sound.
Yes it is.
I don’t know how anyone cannot root for him. A genuine good person not like a couple of phony Steelers of recent times whose uniform numbers end in six. I hope he develops into a solid NFL QB.
No its not he was voted most popular player, a segment of fans root hard against most quarterbacks.
I don’t know what the breakdown is but the level of hatred and large numbers of people —including many in the media –who are rooting for him to fail. Unlike any other QB of his stature.
The reaction to Tebow reminds me of why I told my wife what I want on my tombstone when I die: “You will be criticized more for doing the right things in life than the wrong things.”
Regardless of what one thinks of him as a football player, Tebow seems to be a first-rate human being. At least he’s trying his absolute best to live his faith. The NFL could use more Tebows and fewer tattooed thugs.
If he does stumble morally, there will be a huge chorus proclaiming him a hypocrite. These will most likely be the people who haven’t done nearly as much good as Tebow has.
A moral slipup will mean he’s fallible and human. If he shows a pattern of living against what he’s proclaiming, then he would be a hypocrite. We should remember that none of us are perfect, and we all need forgiveness for our sins.
Ayn Rand wrote of the “Age of Envy” that we live in, and “hatred of the good for being the good.” That pretty well sums up the Tebow haters.
Great link. What a nice guy.
Rand was an atheist.
So am I. What’s the relevance of that?
I don’t think that she would have said hateful things about Tim Tebow because he is religious. And whatever drives Tebow to do good things for people, whether it’s his faith or not, he’s still one of “the good.”
I don’t think people actually hate Tebow. They hate the kooks crawling out from under their rocks that “use” him to further their own agenda. He’s an ok QB at this point., nothing more, nothing less. If there’s a God., he doesn’t give a shit about football.
Oh yeah? Well, then explain Touchdown Jesus.
Give Tim Tebow a decent, full year of practice and we will see what he can do. Personally, i like the guy and hope he does well. If not, oh well…how much of your life is an NFL career anyway?