My less than favorable opinion of Tebow stems from his religious beliefs. Not for what they are but for how he chooses to express them. I don't think anybody questions the sincerity and conviction of Tim's christian beliefs. From what we've learned about Tebow, he's devout in his faith and his charitable and missionary work is quite commendable.
In work and deed, I admire him. When it comes to his spoken word however, not so much. Anytime a camera or a microphone is upon Tebow for strictly football reasons, he will always use it as an opportunity to evangelize. A question about the game? Tebow will first respond by thanking his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Want to give God some free advertising? Paste eye-black stickers on your face with biblical scripture passage numbers written on them. Want millions to watch you repeatedly pray to the Almighty? Strike a genuflecting pose on the football field sideline. And even though there's nothing new or unique about said pose, trademark "Tebowing" as your own. God bless America and its copyright ownership laws.
To many evangelicals and non-evangelicals, Tebow is a role model for wearing his faith on his sleeve (or under his eyes). Myself? I've always preferred a more private and humble practice of faith, such as described in chapter six of the book of Matthew:
When you pray, go into your inner room.
Close your door and pray to your Father who is in private.
And your Father who sees what you do in private will reward you
Matthew 6:6
That Tebow has somehow all of a sudden become the christian-athlete poster boy, to me, undermines the thousands of athletes before him who have been just as devout and charitable without the recognition. Maybe it's because Tebow has marketable, white, choir boy looks. Or because he's a quarterback. Or an admitted virgin. Or maybe it's because he's a supporter of Republican politics. Whatever the reason, Tebowmania is a media and marketing dream, having little to do with the football player and all to do with personal publicity and self-promotion, neither of which I'm a big fan of. Guys like Aaron Rodgers, Derek Fisher, and Mike Piazza to name just a few, are upstanding, charitable christian athletes who embrace and promote their faith through example and charity, without using every microphone and television camera as a soapbox pulpit. Those are the type of guys I find myself drawn to. Guys who seemingly are more humble and less vocally intrusive about their faith.
But when a couple of Tebow's New York Jets teammates went vocal themselves this season with disparaging comments about their quarterback, I'll jump to Tebow's defense every time. It's one thing for a fan or a sportswriter to opine about why Tebow is not a good quarterback. But when a teammate or two call him "terrible" and belittles him publicly, that crosses the line--the sideline, the endline, the goal line, the baseline, and every other line in sports. To compound this unwritten rule of omerta within a sports team, add cowardice to the list of words describing what these players did, because they said these things anonymously. So not only did they call names on the playground, they then ran home and hid behind mommy's apron. Talk about a verbal hit and run.
There's an old saying that's been posted in many a locker room, including Vince Lombardi's and Bob Knight's. It reads:
Blame today's social media barrage of Twitter, Facebook, and 24-hour sports coverage all you want. Blame in part the sports reporters and their relentless onslaught of tabloidish questioning, motivated to incite controversy and division between opposing players and amongst teammates, simply for a sensational story. Blame the overall culture of sports today, where individualism, ego, and self-promotion get rewarded with attention and publicity (see: Terrell Owens), while privacy and humility is too mundane and unsexy to be recognized as what should be applauded: character, integrity, and unselfishness (see: Tim Duncan). Blame all these things if you want. But I'll keep it simple: I hold the player and the player only, accountable for his thoughts, words, and actions. Not much of a grand revelation there, right? But there's still no shortage of placing blame elsewhere, Manti T'eo, or offering false justification for your actions, Lance Armstrong.
Coach Knight said once that not everything that's said on the practice court or in the locker room would be appropriate during a PTA meeting or at a church social. That seems obvious enough given the vast differences between sweaty men diving on the court for loose balls and Sister Theresa handing out cake to senior citizens and calling out bingo numbers. However to some people who have little or no experience with competitive sports, hearing or seeing what goes on behind locker room doors may sometimes seem offensive and beyond reproach. And all it takes is one canary inside those walls to tell the wrong person outside and unnecessary and unwarranted scrutiny is suddenly thrust upon a team. You can bet that coaches like Lombardi, Knight, Bryant, Parcells, Krzyzewski, Hurley, and many other legends would have certainly not achieved their legendary status had players chirped publicly about certain happenings that go on within a team.
I'm sure Tebow is familiar with Jesus' words when He spoke of the importance of unity:
There's an old saying that's been posted in many a locker room, including Vince Lombardi's and Bob Knight's. It reads:
What you do in here
What you say in here
What you hear in here
Let it stay here
When you leave here
In this day and age, keeping things "in house" on a sports team has become less and less common. No longer is the (literal and figurative) locker room sacrosanct like it used to be. No longer are conflicts among team members and team members and coaches kept away from the media and the public. Omerta has been cast aside in favor of personal expression and unfiltered opinion. Granted, there's no risk of getting whacked for breaking the code of omerta as is the case with La Cosa Nostra, but the solidarity and unity of a sports team is still compromised when players flap their gums too much.
The New York Jets players making disparaging comments about Tebow chose to do so under their own volition. They may have felt justified in doing so. Or they may have regretted it later. They may have even blamed in part a badgering reporter. Regardless of the how and why, these players broke that important locker room rule of keeping opinions like that in house. What goes on in the locker room or on the field or court amongst team members should stay there. Disagreements, arguments, and fights are inevitable amongst teammates; often they're actually healthy. But nothing good comes from airing them publicly. All it does is throw red meat out to the media lion's den. Then it turns into a zoo and then the media circus comes to town and parks its tents outside MetLife Stadium.
I'm sure Tebow is familiar with Jesus' words when He spoke of the importance of unity:
"And if a house be divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand" (Mark 3:25)
Unfortunately a couple of Tebow's teammates had trouble understanding that lesson, be it a spiritual one or sports one.
The irony of all this is the response by Tebow himself about being dissed by his teammates. He stated afterward that he "felt some frustration and sadness" over the comments made about him.
Tim's public evangelizing, both verbal and physical, is welcomed by many, yes, but also disliked by many others. Both christians and non-christians aplenty, find what he does and says publicly frustrating and sad also, and, unnecessary. For me, I just hope Rodin's The Thinker, and my own personal icon version of it, isn't met with a lawsuit from Tebow's lawyer. I may be in violation of trademark infringement.
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