Speaking of Sports
Yes, I swiped the column name from Howard Cosell, but he’s dead and fading from memory.
The athlete pictured above is Tim Tebow…a legendary college quarterback and a marginal backup at best in the NFL.
Tebow never made a dent in professional football because his skill set simply didn’t translate to the NFL.
He was given multiple opportunities to succeed despite this, because he was charismatic and his college days created hope that he would improve.
He didn’t.
Now, most people familiar with pro football scouting and coaching knew Tebow’s inaccuracy and inability to process what he saw quickly would prevent him from being a good pro.
However, many Christians thought that he was blackballed for his very public declarations of faith.
He was a victim of anti Christian persecution.
No, he really wasn’t.
He was a victim of his limited skill set.
The NFL wanted Tebow to succeed…because the NFL makes a fortune off jersey sales and Tebow was good at the box office.
Today, Tebow is a sought after speaker at Christian conferences and rallies…he’s the evangelical church’s (failed) quarterback.
Let me cut now to today’s topic.
I don’t give a hoot in hell what the athletes on my favorite teams believe or do as long as they are decent citizens and great players.
I really don’t care if you’re a devout Christian if you can’t rush the passer or throw a thirty yard out.
I, as they say, root for colors….I root for the team.
The Vikings have had born again players like Kirk Cousins and hell raisers like Randy Moss…I was a huge Moss fan, and never happier than to see Brother Kirk move on.
Does the faith of an athlete make you root for or against them?
No it doesn’t matter to me since I mostly stopped caring about sports twenty years ago or so when rt Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore and renamed them the Ravens (all in the name of luxury box seats). What a smack in the face that was to one of the most rabidly loyal fan bases in all of sports. I don’t follow the Cleveland baseball team either because of their stupid name change. However, in my earlier years as a believer it was a big deal because everyone one around me made it a big deal. I remember having some reservations but since I was a young believer I just thought that was how it worked. I have come to realize that most of the time Christian Stardom (Athletic or otherwise) just doesn’t work and often causes added reproach to Christ’s name.
Shawn,
I fixed it.
Living in Southern Oregon means that you don’t have a home team…so I’ve never had to deal with the pain of a team leaving home.
You nailed it…stardom doesn’t produce many faithful disciples…
I might not cheer against a player who’s a Christian, but I don’t automatically cheer for the same player’s team. I might hope he has a healthy and long career, but if he’s playing against Pittsburgh, I’m also hoping he loses.
Everstudy,
I feel the same way…different team, though.
Michael,
Tim Tebow is every GM’s dream: smart, talented, a leader, and a quality human. If he could’ve hit a bull in the backside with a handful of rice he would still be in the league.
Phil,
My Tebow comp is Bobby Douglass of the old Bears in the 70’s.
He usually missed the bulls backside as well…. 🙂
I get squeamish when athletes start into the faith bit. Don’t know why really, except that Christians feel the Christian should win, because Gott Mit Uns. Nonsense. Religion and politics should probably stay out of sports. IMHO.
I hated Tebow because he played for Florida. But liked him because he was from Nease High School. In 1990-1. I was briefly a chaplain for their football team. Tebow played there many years later. I teased about Tebow because he always said things were “special” ha! He sounded like a sissy to me so I called him “Special T”. Then one of my former parishioners told me on Facebook. “He could kick your ass!” She had a point.
I like Christian athletes. But they better be good or I’ll root for their opponents.
Michael,
If a Christian claims to be outstanding in any field (no pun intended!), I want them to be excellent with their skill set. There’s nothing worse to me than a person who claims to have superior skills, while acting like a Christian in a mediocre manner. I believe your moral credentials should also be impeccable if you want to be a public voice for Jesus. There is that old saying “to whom much has been given much will be required.”
I’ve heard that Tim Tebow is the poster child for discrimination against Christians in sports, but even with all his training, he was never able to achieve greatness. I’ve often wondered what other things he knows how to do, or if he plans to keep whining about not getting into national sports for the rest of his life.
Linn,
He’s cleaning up…he ain’t changing a thing…
Sometimes I’m a prophet…about five minutes ago I saw this on Reddit…
“Finally, a Xian driver in NASCAR….He Gets Us!”
This…is the single dumbest thing I’ve seen on Reddit.
The driver in question couldn’t win a race if you gave him a two lap head start and he’s mostly known for his mouth and massive ego.
NASCAR has more Christian content than some mega church sermons…it always begins the day with a rambling prayer by a local pastor, immediately following the national anthem. Look up and down driver row and heads really are bowed and eyes are really closed.
One of the sponsors of Joe Gibbs Racing is the “He Gets Us” campaign plastered on a car just like any other sponsor….and Joe Gibbs is slightly less overt about his faith than Billy Graham.
The desire to have “one of us” represented is insatiable…even when most of them are one of us…
I’m not a sports fan *ducks* but I thought TT was da bomb. Silly me. Maybe I’ll watch his roast on Netflix?
Borrowing Duane’s verse from the Israel thread:
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the household of faith…”
I am more inclined to cheer for an athlete if I know he/she is a Christian, however, far and away when it comes to the players on my teams, I’m far more concerned with whether or not they’re a good player than whatever their faith may or may not be.
Jalen Hurts is a Christian, Joel Embiid has some manner of Catholic faith, Bryce Harper is a Mormon. I would trade these guys for very few other players and the faith of the returning players would not matter. Character would matter, as I believe it’s harder to win with a bunch of bad character people, but faith, in and of itself wouldn’t.
I appreciate the Christian athlete who consistently lives out their faith, and that even includes making public professions of faith and thanking God for success. What I can’t stand is the Christian athlete who talks as if God is on their side after every victory or the Christian athlete who tries to bring up God in every interview but then acts like a jerk in so many other ways and/or has twelve children with eight different women.
I prefer politics in the sports I watch. Kneeling and whatnot.
I also liked the cardboard cutouts of people in the stands during the pandemic.
Ridiculous comment alert:
Speaking of sports, does anyone know these names? Danny Reilly, Ronnie Rains, Honey Sanchez, Ralphie Valaderez, Shirley Hardman, John Hall.
DH,
If you let politics ruin the joy of sports, that’s on you.
I don’t give a damn about anything but the game…
CK,
Never heard of them…
DH,
I was enjoying it when the Peanuts gang would show up at ballgames
CK…have not heard of them….what sport?
CK, lol… roller derby
Everstudy got it!! Specifically, roller games, which was a different league from roller derby, kind of like NFL and AFL.
And yes, I know it was not a legit sport. It was part of my childhood in the late 60’s to mid 70’s.
Tebow is a classic example of the Heisman Curse. That being said, Tebow (and coach Urban Meyer) were never able to beat Auburn. Just like annoying pretty boy Peyton Manning was never able to beat UF (coached by Fun and Gun Steve Spurrier) nor win the SEC while he was at Tennessee.
And Meyer like Tebow cratered in the NFL. I suspect a lot of the UF success was due to good coaching and good offensive players (besides Tebow). Considering how many UF football players got into both criminal and other misconduct (31 of them) during Meyer’s tenure, I am amazed he pulled off 2 BCS Championships there.
As for Christians in NASCAR, I am immediately reminded of the Baby Jesus prayer by Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiWydDyMIE
For starters, perhaps we should look to people like Eric Liddell and Louis Zamporini as examples of Christian Athletes.
CK,
There was roller derby on tv here back in the 60’s…but it was women’s roller derby.
My grandma didn’t let me watch it…didn’t like the women thumping each other… 🙂
I vaguely remember roller derby on local TV in the 1970s. I suspect most of it went the way of roller skating rinks, disco, and wide ties, wide lapels, leisure suits.
Michael,
I watch sports to forget about politics, It’s sad that it is brought in.
btw Tebow did throw the game-winning touchdown in overtime in the playoffs for the Denver Broncos.
DH,
I knew someone would bring up that pass…Tebow , like most back ups has a moment.
I get that some people didn’t like black players kneeling…as long as they didn’t do it on third down it mattered not to me.
Michael, interesting that it was just women. All the teams I watched alternated periods between women and men. I know there are now some women only teams, but I don’t pay attention to them.
R’as al Ghul, that’s pretty much what happened, besides some greedy people who ran it into the ground.
DH, thanks for the reminder.
Michael,
I’m just wondering how many backup quarterbacks threw game-winning touchdowns in overtime in an NFL playoff game. Must be a lot.
It’s like frosting on a cupcake if I find a favorite athlete is a believer. And then I hold my breath and hope he/she doesn’t publicly blunder and embarrass the tribe…
Here is an old but good article on Tim Tebow and why he should have stopped what he was doing in the NFL:
https://redeeminggod.com/tim-tebow-stop-praying/
Here is the money quote:
The real reason that the Eagles cut Tim Tebow is because Tim Tebow believes that his purpose on a football team is to evangelize his teammates and the coaching staff. Every time he gets a camera in his face, he starts talking about Jesus and giving glory to God for letting him play football.
But NFL Coaches don’t put people on their team to give them a platform to share their religious ideas. Nor do they put people on their team to share their political ideas. Or to sell their branded merchandise.
Imagine what would happen if an NFL football player, every time he got a camera in his face, said, “I’m just glad I get to play this game because it gives me the opportunity to tell you about my line of t-shirts and hats. Go to my store today to buy one!” No NFL coach in the league wants someone like that on their team.
NFL COACHES PUT PLAYERS ON THEIR TEAM TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES.
This: “It’s like frosting on a cupcake if I find a favorite athlete is a believer. And then I hold my breath and hope he/she doesn’t publicly blunder and embarrass the tribe…”
And this: “NFL COACHES PUT PLAYERS ON THEIR TEAM TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES.”
CK @ your 10:39 AM,
The problem is that Tebow thought that his job in the NFL was to be an evangelist or missionary, and to use his platform accordingly. No, he was hired to play football.
From the link I referenced previously:
“If God truly raised up Tim Tebow to be an NFL quarterback (which is debatable), then it was not so that Tim could announce his Christian faith by praying in the End Zone and praising Jesus at press conferences. No, God raised up Tim Tebow to be a quarterback so that he can be the best quarterback Tim Tebow can be. Period.
Look, we Christians are not good Christian witnesses when we stop doing the things we should be doing because we want to “be a witness.” No, we are good Christian witnesses when we work hard at being the best we can be in whatever job or position we find ourselves.””
Something a Rabbi from Tarsus said about doing everything for the Glory of God and various theologians have said regarding the notion of being a witness through one’s vocation comes to mind.