Tim Tebow Is Sadly Underappreciated
Here is something you don't see often: 10 reasons why you actually should be a Tebow fan. Let that man flourish.
Image via USA Today Sports/Jasen Vinlove
Tim Tebow is a man of many talents: athlete, broadcaster, author, public speaker, philanthropist, evangelist. All he wants to do is pursue his interests and bring glory to God.
Yet, y’all keep hating.
In an age where a person can be ostracized for being positive, allow us to enumerate why you need to let #15 live. For instance, your argument that "he wasn't that great" in the NFL falls flat when you consider all the mediocre backup QBs still collecting checks. (Did someone say Mark Sanchez?) And you're just going to ignore how he showed up Kyle Orton in his second year with the Broncos and took the starting job? We just gonna forget about his 80-yard touchdown pass in OT in the wild-card win over the defending AFC champion Steelers? No quarterback under 30 in NFL history has won a playoff game and then never started another NFL game. It just doesn’t make sense, man.
So here are 10 reasons to get that Tebow hate out your heart.
You have to understand that Tebow means a lot to a lot of people. In a region where football is king, Tebow took the throne from an early age. No, literally he was named Florida’s Mr. Football.
At Nease High School he led the Panthers to a state title, earned All-State and All-American, and was Florida's Player of the Year—twice. Everyone loves a winner, and Tebow established himself as one out the gate.
His Entire University of Florida Career
When young Timmy joined Urban Meyer's squad in 2006, Saturdays in the SEC belonged to him. You can accuse us of living in the past, but as they say, numbers don't lie. 2007 is the year Tebow won all three top college awards in America. It's when "Tebowmania" was birthed.
Throughout his collegiate career he set too many records to list, but please don't forget how he led the Gators to a BCS championship in 2008 and a 13–1 season in 2009. Also, because he's a great freaking leader, he is the only three-time MVP, an honor his teammates bestowed upon him for three straight seasons.
Tebow Has a Heisman Trophy
Do you?
Also, it's not just that in 2007 he became the first college sophomore to win the Heisman; it's that he was nominated for it again the next season, and the one after. *Drake voice* Back to back.
When y'all go low, Tebow always goes high. In one particularly dignified moment, after being released by the Patriots in 2013, Tebow got on Twitter and publicly thanked the team for allowing him to play in New England.
He's Incredibly Resilient
In his NFL career, Tebow was cut three times and traded once.
Did he give up? Nope. He wrote a #1 memoir, Through My Eyes, the best-selling book in the genres of sports and religion of 2011. He also became a college football analyst for ESPN, but never stopped training and believing in his ability to be a starting quarterback in the league.
A hater would call that delusional. We say his unfailing self-belief is inspirational. After all, if you don't love yourself, who will?
He Walks the Walk
Creepy circumcision-performing aside, Tim Tebow's ongoing philanthropic acts align with his message of Christianity. While you're sitting over there mad that he speaks about his faith, Tebow is out here building playrooms in Children's Hospitals, sponsoring proms for youngsters with special needs, and helping provide surgeries to children in the Philippines, where his parents have an orphanage.
You can read the details of the Tim Tebow Foundation here, but the point is you can't accuse Tebow of being a hypocrite, and you can't deny the good he's doing in the world. If you're upset at a dude who does community service, you must suck on lemons and kick puppies too.
He's Revitalizing Baseball
Team owners who aren't fond of making money say Tebow causes a "media circus." This, friends, is a load of bull. Team owners who like making money realize that people find Tebow intriguing, and for that reason, he gets butts in seats. You want to sell tickets or you want to let a few reporters get in the way of profits?
Take it straight from baseball great Dave Trembley, who managed the Orlando Cubs in the Southern League in 1994. In a Bleacher Report article that, yes, compares the baseball careers of Michael Jordan and Tebow, Trembley said:
"Every time we played Birmingham with Jordan, we saw more kids at the ballpark. I've heard it's like that with Tebow, too. They've really given baseball a shot in the arm as far as attracting people. That's what Jordan did, and that's what Tebow is doing. These guys do more for the game than you read in the box score. The game is indebted to them."
He Has More Home Runs Than Michael Jordan
Since we're comparing the two...
Jordan tallied three homers in his (infamous? illustrious?) baseball career. In Tebow's first season with the Mets, he now stands at five home runs, one of which came in his first at bat. Are we saying he's a better baseball player than MJ? That would be unfair. But he does lay claim to those bragging rights, and no one can take that away.
He Sticks to His Guns
Toward the twilight of his football career, teams said they'd give Tebow a shot if he switched positions.
Tim was like, nah.
The CFL offered him a job. USA Rugby asked him to change sports.
Tim was like, nah.
Tebow's dream was to be a QB in the NFL. Rather than compromise based on other people's expectations of who and what he could be, Tebow decided it was all or nothing. If you ain't chasing your goals with this much determination, the hell is you doin'?
One Word: Tebowing
In the early days of viral trends, Tebow's signature move of getting on one knee in a praying-like stance to celebrate a TD was copied around the world. Tebow has been a meme since before you even knew what to call it!
You can act like you didn't "Tebow," but we can find the receipts with a search through your first Instagrams or old Facebook pictures.