Try to guess whom I’m talking about: Player A is a much talked about quarterback and a bit of a polarizing figure in the NFL. Player B is also a high profile quarterback who hasn’t quite found sustained post-season success. Player A goes to church every week. Player B waited until marriage to have sex.
Player A once said, “It’s a calming feeling when the Lord runs your life.” Player B goes around preaching abstinence and discouraging premarital sex.
Can you figure out which mystery player is Tim Tebow? That’s actually a trick question, because neither one of them is. Player A is Ben Roethlisberger, the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Pittsburg Steelers. Player B is Philip Rivers, the quarterback for the San Diego Chargers.
Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh’s All-Pro safety, converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and has made pilgrimages to various religious sites in Europe and the Middle East. He makes the Sign of the Cross after every play.
Most players routinely point to the sky after scoring a touchdown and form prayer circles after games. Thanking God is a common thing to hear after a victory. Oh, and there’s that Touchdown Jesus nearby Notre Dame’s football stadium.
The point I’m trying to make is that Tebow’s openness about his faith isn’t something new. In fact, it’s more likely the norm for most athletes. And yet Tebow’s openness about his faith is always played up as if it’s some sort of controversial stance. It’s not.
If being a devout Christian in the NFL were really as controversial as it’s being portrayed with Tebow, then why do Roethlisberger and Rivers get free passes? Where’s the uproar aimed towards former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who was never shy about expressing the role he felt faith has both in and outside of football?
The reason Tebow is always making headlines isn’t due to being an evangelical Christian, it’s the misguided perception that people actually care about him wearing his religion on his sleeve. The media’s made a big deal about the Bible verses that he paints on his eye black, and about how he’s a virgin, and about how often he visibly prays during games.
Well guess what, NFL fans don’t care about that. We just want to watch football. Maybe some of us hate Tebow and the Broncos because we live in Oakland, or Kansas City, or San Diego. Maybe some of us hate the media hype around Tebow rather than Tebow himself. Maybe we’re tired of hearing about how those of us who don’t root for Tebow supposedly root against him solely due to his faith.
It’s possible Tebow rubbed people the wrong way at one point, but that ship has sailed. His faith has actually become more of a gimmick than anything. Instead of ragging on how he used to put Biblical verses on his eye black, people crack messiah jokes, lightheartedly cite divine intervention for his unlikely success, and laugh about the 316 yards Tebow threw in his first playoff game alludes to John 3:16.
And then there’s the whole Tebowing phenomenon. When the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Bronces a few weeks ago, Pittsburgh’s mayor lost a bet that required him to be photographed Tebowing in a Broncos jersey. Tell me where the hatred’s coming from.
So here’s what we should do: Recognize that Tebow isn’t a controversial figure for being open about his faith, stop framing everything Tebow does with the whole Good versus Evil angle, and stop posing dumb questions like “What if Tim Tebow were Muslim?”
And if you want to spend your time rooting against something that actually is evil, join me in rooting against the Green Bay Packers.
Matt Cowan is a third-year student at IU studying Journalism. He is transitioning to becoming the Treasurer of the Secular Alliance. He hopes to become a sports columnist or beat reporter for a major newspaper or media organization.
