All in the Family: Tim and Bob Tebow

This week, I decided I should look at the root of Tim Tebow's deep religious foundation: his parents. More specifically, the role his father plays in the church. Bob Tebow is an Evangelical missionary who has spent a large majority of his adult life traveling the world, preaching his faith. He runs the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association (BTEA), which has been serving the Philippines since 1985 (not surprisingly, Tim was conceived and born in the Philippines in 1987). The BTEA's mission is based on five areas: evangelism, church planting, pastor training, an orphanage, and the training of the next generation of evangelists.

While this foundation is continuing to expand in the Philippines (seemingly quite successfully), Bob Tebow has taken his preaching to the great state of Colorado, home of the Denver Broncos and now-third-string quarterback Tim Tebow. This past week while at my internship at CBS 4 in Denver, I came across an article on the station's website about Bob's visit. I found it interesting that Bob was quoted saying that while football is a huge part of Tim's life, his real focus in life is helping spread the word of God. Not that I should have been surprised, but when you are drafted into the NFL in the FIRST ROUND, you would think that football would take a bigger priority. Apparently not so for Tim, which is why he is such an enigma and "icon" for so many around the country. Bob and Pam Tebow are currently on a tour of 3,500 schools around the country preaching that students should gather around the school's flagpole and pray for 30 minutes before school starts. Uh....really? While their journey is admirable, I just don't see students doing this. Even further, what is the purpose of the flagpole? Seems like it's representing an icon.

On a side note. Looking back to one of my earlier posts, I have watched two of the Broncos' games (I was at the game yesterday) and have yet to see any of the ads Focus on the Family was supposed to be running. Am I wrong?

http://cbs4denver.com/news/bob.tebow.father.2.1922847.html
http://www.btea.org/

Tim Tebow and the First Amendment

Tim Tebow made his much-anticipated NFL debut today...and managed to gain two yards on two carries. Nothing to brag about, but he wasn't going to play much anyway. I was pretty shocked at the smattering of "boos" coming from Jacksonville fans. Sure the Broncos moved ahead of Jacksonville in the draft to select Tebow, but he's the hometown hero. Then again, the fans also booed the Jaguars going into halftime. I did some research and found two interesting Tebow-related tidbits. First, he now has a website: www.timtebow.com. On there, you can get a full bio, list of accomplishments, links to his Twitter and Facebook, pictures, and the Broncos complete schedule. The most interesting thing I found was Tebow's new favorite message: GB2. It stands for "God Bless + Go Broncos."

The other piece I found is about the so-called "Tim Tebow" rule, which the NCAA enacted for this season. It bans players from putting anything on their eye-black. Reggie Bush put "619" as a shout out to his hometown of San Diego. Tebow was famous for putting Bible verses on his eye-black. Todd Kaufmann, featured columnist for the Bleacher Report, made the argument that the NCAA is blatantly violating the First Amendment. As journalists, the First Amendment is our "bible." It lets us know what we can and cannot write about. So anytime the First Amendment and sports come into play, guaranteed sports columnists will have an opinion. I agree with Kaufmann's argument that the NCAA is violating the First Amendment. Never did Tebow say "look up this verse" or "you better believe what this verse says." It was simply his homage to his faith, a major part of his life. The NCAA does not have the authority to make such an overarching ban. Should certain schools decide to ban messages on eye-black, that is another story. But if the NCAA feels so inclined to control athletes' symbolic speech, why don't they also go after athletes' Twitter accounts or Facebook statuses? I'm baffled by the NCAA's actions.

Here is the link to Kaufmann's article.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/346014-tim-tebow-rule-the-ncaa-bans-eye-black-messages

Tim Tebow, Focus on the Family, and Advertising

The Denver Broncos begin the 2010-2011 football season this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it seems pretty obvious who the star of the game will be. Tim Tebow. The Jacksonville native and 1st-round draft pick, is not the starting quarterback. However, it has been years since an NFL rookie has received so much media attention. Tebow seems to be the perfect role model: charismatic, devout Christian, winner, etc. He has yet to prove anything in the NFL, yet his jersey has been the highest selling in the ENTIRE NFL! Furthermore, he has inked a deal with Hanes to be an underwear model and Reebok has created a "Tim Tebow" shoe.

But what interests me, is how his Christian background will be utilized throughout the season. Tebow already appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Focus on the Family with his mom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqReTDJSdhE

And now Focus on the Family purchased advertising airtime during all Bronco games. Whether you agree or disagree with the values Focus on the Family holds, it seems unnatural to have religious messages broadcast throughout the country during a football game. Sure there have been plenty of athletes who openly express their religious values, but never has there been such a bold move as to advertise during games of America's most watched sport. Outside of Colorado Springs, where Focus on the Family has its headquarters, Colorado is not outwardly religious. So is the goal to make people think they need to have religion? Seems like a Budweiser commercial followed by a commercial advocating pro-life doesn't quite fit together. I don't think there is a correct answer to my question, but it will be interesting to see what kind of response Focus on the Family and Tebow receive throughout the season.