Tim Tebow and reactions to his outward religious beliefs

While I am not offended or bothered by Tim Tebow's religious beliefs, I decided it would be a good idea to look at the response around sports to Tebow's "in-your-face" beliefs. Generally, the results were on the extremes: either people didn't mind and supported him, or they were vehemently against his religious expression. What I found that struck me most were two posts about Tim Tebow's request for prayer during the NFL scouting combine.

Tebow asked that the players in his test take a moment for prayer before taking the Wonderlic Test, virtually an NFL IQ test. In response to this request, another NFL prospect told Tebow to "shut the f*** up." Though Tebow denied the incident, it was later confirmed by NFL sources. Two things about this. Classy move by the NFL prospect who said that (hint my sarcasm). Really? That's what you want one of your first impressions in front of NFL executives to be? At the same time, I understand. So much has been made of Tebow's religion that I could understand the frustration if you had to deal with it before a test, especially if you are not religious or of a different religious belief.

I found an article from reporter in Portland named Michael Stone. A. It's pretty obvious Stone has been drinking the anti-establishment kool-aid with his rant. B. I would be interested to see his journalistic background because it seems to be lacking. C. His generalization about Tebow's effect on others is unsubstantiated. I did get a good laugh out of it however. Here's the link.

http://www.examiner.com/humanist-in-portland/religion-tim-tebow-angers-fellow-nfl-recruits-with-prayer-request

The second post was an article by Les Carpenter of Yahoo Sports. He provides both sides of the Tebow-religion debate and analyzes how fine a line there is in pro sports when religious beliefs are involved. I was surprised how open certain unnamed NFL executives were about Tebow's beliefs. My guess is that Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, was one of the more vocal people, given his disregard for humanity. Overall, however, I think it is fair that people are tired of hearing about Tebow and religion. Everyone just wants to play football. I think Tebow has received this message and is managing to stay out of the limelight so far this season (probably because he isn't playing). Also, I'm still waiting for those Focus on the Family Ads.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=lc-tebow042110