Regardless of whether or not you consider yourself a sports fan, you have likely heard the name Tim Tebow in recent weeks. Sports Illustrated reported, citing multiple sources, that Tim Tebow is moving the needle of pop culture more than any other public figure at the moment.
It’s understandable that there is a lot of talk regarding Tebow. Even when he was a college student at the University of Florida he caused controversy by etching Bible scriptures into his eye black; a practice that was later disallowed by NCAA because of potential infringements of the separation of Church and State. He also took his spring break off to volunteer helping orphans in the Philippines, and has attributed much of his success to God instead of claiming it for himself. He refused to be considered for the All-American team because it was sponsored by Playboy, and went against his deeply held values. He is never too shy to kneel and say a quick prayer after a touchdown. But Tim Tebow is more than just a controversial Christian public figure; the man can play, and his ability to do so started showing long before he was drafted by the Broncos in 2010.
Playing With a Broken Leg
Tim Tebow began dominating long before he entered the professional game. During one of his final High School games he broke his leg, and then in what can only be described as incredible or insanity, he continued to play. If this fact alone isn’t testimony to the sheer tenacity of Tim Tebow, compound that with the fact that after having broken his leg he ran for a 20-yard touchdown.
The Promise
One of the defining moments of Tim Tebow’s college career came in 2008 after the Gators lost to Ole Miss. Tebow’s response? He said, “You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will for the rest of the season.” The God-fearing man held true to his promise, and Florida went undefeated the rest of the season, winning the national championship. The words of Tebow’s speech are now immortalized on a plaque that hangs outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Comeback King
The tweets continuously flow in after Tebow brings the Broncos back from being down – it has happened almost a half dozen times thus far in the 2011 season. After the Mexican soccer championship between Tigres and Santos, 9 of the 10 trending topics included that match, except one: #TebowTime. @YBatoba tweeted, “Tebow’s gonna force a fumble, recover it, throw it to himself, pick it off, return it for 6, and win the game.” Other tweeter users have implied that someone should tell Tebow that world peace is down by 11 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. The allusions to deity flow in, as other comparisons to what Tebow can make happen late in the fourth quarter seem to carry little weight when compared to what acutally happened. The fact of the matter is simple: Tim Tebow is a comeback king.
While some may point to the polarizing effects of Tim Tebow’s religion as a cause of his popularity, one needn’t look to far past the statistics and the historic wins that Tebow has been able to almost single-handedly cause. Tim Tebow can play ball.
Written by Austen Allred