Tim Tebow has barely registered on my celebrity meter for most of his career. Had you asked me a few months ago who Tim Tebow is I probably would have been able to tell you he’s a professional athlete. I may even have guessed the sport correctly. I never could have told you the team he plays for.
Now he’s probably the most mentioned celebrity in the social media circles I move in, perhaps even more than Lindsay Lohan. And it’s mostly negative, too, just like Lindsay Lohan. I’m not sure why.
As best I can figure, his problem is that he is openly Christian. This shows a clear lack of judgment on his part. He should have chosen something cooler to openly be, like openly gay or openly sleazy. In spite of our inclusive, divers, tolerant culture, being openly Christian manages to be in poor taste.
At least that’s what it sounds like. I hear much more negativity directed at Tebow than I’ve ever heard about Michael Vick or Tim Roethlisberger, so I can only assume that abusing animals and assaulting women are preferable to being openly Christian. Even people who I know couldn’t care less about professional football still have to weigh in against Tebow.
In fact, in all the criticism, I’ve only heard one complaint that seems fairly legitimate: He manages to pull off fantastic, come-from-behind wins at the last second, but if he’s so good, why can’t he be that good earlier in the game and actually win without all the suspense? That seems like a valid question.
Now I suppose some of the negativity is just the normal backlash that occurs when any celebrity is in the news too much, or when their fans get a bit too worshipful. But really, people take it way too far to try and compensate sometimes.
Frankly, I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. There are plenty of colorful sports figures out there, some more outspoken or demonstrative than Tebow, and on less savory topics. Okay, his reputation seems a bit overblown, but the Broncos lost now, which should put an end to that for awhile. Are we all going to turn on Tom Brady now? Or is Tim Tebow especially deserving of continued animosity?
I think it says more about us than it says about him. It also makes me question if I’m running in the right circles.
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A local writer has another take on it: Our love/hate relationship with Tim Tebow
And this from Robert Wright at The Atlantic: Why Liberals Shouldn’t Dis Tim Tebow (or Jesus)