Tebow Tears.....

Did you see where during the last remaining seconds of the SEC Championship Game, presented by Dr. Pepper (I think everybody is legally obligated to say it this way), the camera caught Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow crying on the sidelines? Not sure if those tears were due to Tebow realizing his dreams of another National Championship were gone with the loss to Alabama, or because he was upset he didn’t play well enough to carry his teammates to the victory, but it was a scene showing a young man’s emotions and was captured for all to witness.

The scene was replayed on all the highlight shows, was the top Twitter trend, and seemed to be a topic on many of my friends’ Facebook pages. It was the topic of a “First & 10” segment on ESPN’s First Take, with Detroit writer Rob Parker pulling out tissues and faking tears in mocking Tebow. I think the only place it wasn’t shown or spoken about was on Saturday Night Live. (Thank you, White House Crashers and Tiger Woods.)

Oh, how sweet you say. Ah, no, it had nothing to do with sweet. Most of the chatter concerning those tears were cheap shots and rips into the young Tebow. There were a few “Tebow is my hero”, and “Look how much he cares” posts, but for the most part it was mostly pokes, prods and jabs at the quarterback’s expense.

If you are thinking there sure are many sport fans that must dislike the Florida Gators and were happy to see the Alabama Crimson Tide get the victory, you would again be off the mark. These remarks against Tebow have nothing to do with who he plays for or who Tebow was playing against, as this is completely personal against the college senior. Check the Nebraska sidelines Saturday night after the Texas placekicker, Hunter Lawrence’s kick sailed through the uprights and there were tears, but none got an ESPN highlight, tweets or Facebook time.

I like human emotion, and I like to see athletes show that emotion. When I see an eighteen year old freshman who just dropped the pass in the end zone to cost his team the game, or the bench warmer who never stepped foot on the field have tears, I feel for them. I also feel for those kids if they have tears of joy after a victory. Same goes for the professionals who show emotions and caring after their long season has ended, whether it be holding the trophy or saying “We’ll do it next year”. Why? Because it makes me care more about what I just witnessed knowing they put everything into what they were trying to accomplish. When it is the professionals showing that caring, it helps me forget about salaries and millions of dollars, and gets back to the heart of what I tuned in to see, playing to win and leaving it all out there on the field/court/rink with no regrets about effort.

Personally, any athlete, professional or college, who after a victory has a sour face, or after a loss has a smile and laughter, shows me they didn’t care enough for it to hurt. (It also means they probably play for themselves, and not the team, but that’s another column) Now don’t think I mean they can never smile or be upset, but immediately after the game has ended emotions should still be carrying them.

So, what are Tim Tebow’s crimes to illicit these different reactions? Well, Tebow is described by most as a good person, a great teammate and a winner. He is a good student, loves his parents, and doesn’t get into any trouble. I know what you are thinking, "Why are you telling me about such a terrible being?" Also, he is also a Christian who wears his faith on his sleeve for all to see. Because Tebow’s Gator teams have been a college football powerhouse for his four years in Gainesville, and because Tebow is the quarterback, he has been in the spotlight for all to view. With those views, we have seen Tebow’s eye-black tape with Bible verses written on them, have heard his “God Bless” after all interviews and have been told all the stories about his missionary work in the Philippines and how he ministers prisoners in his spare time.

Problem? Well for some it seems the above characteristics are the problem, especially the last part of the above paragraph describing his Christian faith, and how he lives his life. It is one of those “too good to be true” stories, that some feel has been exaggerated by those who cover and report on the quarterback. I don’t feel exaggeration was the problem as much as the number of Tebow stories that surfaced on the air last year.

Those feeling went over the top for many Tebow detractors when Thom Brennaman told the audience tuning into last year’s BCS title game against Oklahoma that “If you are fortunate enough to spend five minutes or twenty minutes around Tim Tebow, your life is better for it.” Over the top? Sure. Give you a “roll of the eyes” moment. Check to that also. What it also did was unleash a backlash against the kid that I have never seen in my time watching and loving sports. He was no longer the good guy Florida quarterback, who was also a Christian. Instead, for many, he turned into the Jesus freak, no way it’s too good to be true, hope he falls on his face, quarterback of the Gators.

Tebow didn’t ask Brennaman to say that about him, and I am sure he was embarrassed when told of the remarks, but it was too late as the floodgates were opened.

The 2009 college season started with Florida ranked at the top of the polls, poised for a repeat, and Tim Tebow the favorite to win the Heisman trophy for the second time of his college career, and right from the start there was an anti-Tebow mood with college football fans. Not just “against Florida, SEC fans”, but what seemed like all fans other then Gator fans. While I agree Tebow and Florida did seem to be crowned in the preseason, it was by no fault or ways of Tebow. He was responding to what was being presented, not initiating the crowning.

As the season progressed, Tebow did not have the kind of year that was expected of him, but the Gators kept winning, and that winning kept Florida on top of the poles, and kept Tebow in the spotlight, which seemed to make the divide wider. It all cumulated with the scene on Saturday night after Alabama crushed Florida in the SEC Championship game, and the cameras capturing Tebow crying as the clock wound down.

As I mentioned, I love true human emotion, and so does the nation of Tebow non-fans when it comes in the form of #15 tears because of a loss. As of this writing if you Google “Tim Tebow cries” it brings up 153,000 hits, and not all of them are glowing accounts of the moment.

For more fun, put in “Tim Tebow sucks” and get another 94,000 links presented for your viewing pleasure.

Is a good guy really that much of a problem for us? Do we really need to tear down and mock a 22 year old kid because he is nice, and does the right things? While other sport stars have fallen off the cliff of their own doing either though cheating, drugs, performance enhancing substances, domestic abuse, murder, robbery, or just plain being a terrible person, here we have a kid who is on the opposite side of that fence, and yet we are ready to push him off with the others. How about we see if he brings himself to the cliff’s edge before we toss him off it? You can even make the argument that some of those others receive forgiveness and a second chance (Michael Vick, anyone?) while this kid is being buried for just being “too good to be true” and too overexposed for some?

For full disclosure I am a Christian (baptized in the Pacific Ocean along with my wife in August 2008), but the religious angle of this is not a part of my thoughts. I don’t care that he is a Christian, or if he was Jewish, Muslim, or believed in little green aliens. Strip away all religious aspects, and this is still a good kid and someone that could and should be looked upon in a positive light. That is what I care about, him being a good person and someone I can tell my daughter she can look up to. Not how or who he says his prayers to at night.

In a time when we have the most famous current athlete paying off affairs and his wife to keep a false image clean, why must we dismiss someone who for now seems to be the opposite of what is wrong in sports and society. Are we afraid of getting hurt by him if he does falter like other have before him? Or is it that we like a little dirt in our lives, and that makes it easier for us when that fall from grace does arrive. That way we can say “I told you so”, and just move on.

To those of us that are parents, isn’t this “height” what we hope for our children to emulate and inspire to be like, or do we want them teasing the straight A student who doesn’t get in trouble at school. That way the student may come down a level and make it easier for our child to reach those lowered heights. Is that what we truly want?

Yes, he may be pushed by some others to be more then what he really is, but even when you take off the extra coats of sugar put on Tebow by some, what you get at the core is someone we should wish was more the norm, then pointed at and ridiculed like a freak show.