Denver quarterback hurled into national spotlight
-Tebow hit more than 1 million mentions on Twitter. Sunday night, the rate of tweets announcing the victory hit 9,420 per second. The all-time record was set last month when a TV screening of Japanese movie drew 25,088 tweets-per-second. But Tebow still beats the 8,868 tweets-per-second rate reached when Beyoncé announced her pregnancy during the 2011 MTV Music Awards.
-Both Tebow and his favorite Bible verse, John 3:16 (proclaiming Jesus’ promise of salvation), were in the top three Google Trends throughout most of Monday. Many people noted he threw for exactly 316 yards, an unintentional allusion to the Bible verse he etched into his eye black while winning national championships at the University of Florida.
-NFL sales of Tebow’s No. 15 Broncos jersey are second only to those for Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who won the Super Bowl last year.
But the Tebow wave was rolling well before Sunday. Devoted fans — and a few detractors
He was a Heisman Trophy winner with two national championships to his credit and a firstround NFL draft pick. But it was an act of faith, not football, that launched him from the sports pages to the front pages two years ago.
He starred with his mother, Pam, in a controversial Super Bowl ad sponsored by Focus on the Family. In the spot, Mom cheerfully recounts how she defied doctors to continue a risky pregnancy and gave birth to her “miracle” baby — then goofy Tebow pounced on her in a fake tackle and the ad closed by pointing 92 million TV viewers to the group’s anti-abortion website.
“The impact of the ad campaign was $31.7 million worth of media attention,” Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger says. Tebow did it for free.
Tebow is not the first athlete to be known for faith and football. He has faced plenty of equally sincere Christians such as Troy Polamalu of the Steelers. Players have been pointing to heaven when they score and joining in post-game prayer circles for more than a decade. And every time the limelight lands on a prayer moment, evangelicals are delighted, Krattenmaker says.
“When someone like Tebow emerges — charismatic, impressive and pure on and off the field — you feel proud,” he says. “You just don’t want to take it too far and get silly. God doesn’t wax and wane like a football player’s success.”
Not everyone is thrilled. Recently, former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer told a Phoenix radio show that Tebow should chill out the God talk and just go hug his teammates after a victory.
“I don’t hate him,” Plummer said. “I just would rather not have to hear (about Jesus) every single time he takes a good snap or makes a good hand-off.”
Tebow, the son of a missionary and a homeschooling mom, replied to Plummer’s criticism with more praise for Jesus. ‘He’s no milquetoast Christian’
Tebow’s popularity has risen to such heights that he may be second only to crusader Billy Graham in his evangelical commitment, says Mark Coppenger, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and director of the seminar’s Nashville campus.
“He’s no milquetoast Christian. He’s not a flashin-the-pan famous fellow who might embarrass believers,” Coppenger says.
Tebow was No. 11 on the annual USA TODAY/ Gallup list of most admired men in the nation, topping the Dalai Lama. The votes were cast back when the Broncos were still on the playoff bubble.
“Tebowing” — dropping to one knee in prayer anytime anyplace — is a national phenomenon. When Saturday Night Live wanted to spoof his non-stop-thank-the-lord evangelical eagerness, the show had a Jesus figure visit the Bronco’s fictitious locker room.
“Who would think the one thing people are talking about more than sex is a guy who doesn’t have sex?” jokes Seattle-based megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll, who has a book out talking frankly about marital sex.
Tebow’s autobiography, audaciously written when he was a 23-year-old second-string QB most critics called a miscast running back, came out in June. Through My Eyes was the best-selling religion book of 2011 for publisher Harperone.
If his success continues, he could become God’s gift to marketing. His current corporate partners include Jockey, Nike and FRS Energy drinks. Jockey has launched a $1 million “Super” challenge, offering $1 million worth of Jockey products to 40,000 fans if Tebow leads the Broncos to a Super Bowl XLVI victory.
Christian voices bless his commitment to missionary and charity works.
Mark Demoss, head of the evangelical public relations firm, says Tebow managed to “capture the love and hate of most of America even though no one has actually heard him give a sermon. We just see him kneel and pray and put Scripture passages in the public eye.”
There was certainly nothing predestined about Tebow’s journey to the peak of the nation’s consciousness.
Amid public doubts from Broncos management that he could be the team’s long-term answer at quarterback, Tebow took the starting job from Kyle Orton entering Week 7 as Denver foundered with a 1-4 record. He immediately led the team to an overtime victory over Miami.
“Tebow Time” was born, and after a 45-10 walloping at the hands of the Detroit Lions, Denver won six in a row, including overtime thrillers against the San Diego Chargers and the Chicago Bears.
During the stretch, Tebow had one of the NFL’S worst passer ratings among starters in the first three quarters of a game, and the league’s third best in the fourth quarter and overtime. Against Chicago, he earned his sixth game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first 11 starts, a Super Bowl-era record for a quarterback.
Blowout losses to the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills followed, and the Broncos fell 7-3 to division-rival Kansas City in a game that would have clinched the AFC West division and a playoff berth. But the Oakland Raiders dropped the ball that same Sunday, and Denver (8-8) became the 13th team since 1970 to make the postseason with an even or losing record.
Even some non-believers are on board now. Rusty Steil, 48, of Denver, who says he’s an atheist, says he ignores the prayers and just watches the play. “The most important thing is that he’s winning,” he says.
Regardless of whether Tebow the football player triumphs, Tebow the evangelical has already won.
Brad Pappas, 28, of Denver, a first-year seasonticket holder, longtime Tebow fan and a Christian but not a churchgoer, said Monday that he opened a Bible to check out John 3:16. “If that’s where Tebow gets his inspiration, nothing wrong with trying that.”