Take a knee in victory, and the masses cheer. Take a knee in prayer - as Tim Tebow often does on a football field - and it's another story.
If the Broncos quarterback could see into the future, he'd be wise to tone down the religious rhetoric just a notch. That was Kurt Warner's take. "You can't help but cheer for a guy like that," former NFL star Kurt Warner said. "But I'd tell him, 'Put down the boldness in regards to the words, and keep living the way you're living. Let your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your testimony.'
"I know what he's going through, and I know what he wants to accomplish, but I don't want anybody to become calloused toward Tim because they don't understand him, or are not fully aware of who he is. And you're starting to see that a little bit."
Tebow might be the most polarizing figure in football. He runs a gimmick offense that makes defensive players scoff. He has endured relentless waves of criticism from those who feel his rudimentary play besmirches the position.
He also could lead the Broncos to the playoffs, winning in ways that shatter convention.
The scene is equally surreal in Denver, a city that once held impossibly high standards at quarterback, where a chorus line of successors attempted to emerge from the ever-present shadow of John Elway. And now the city is going bonkers over a quarterback who struggles to complete a simple forward pass?
In Tebow's case, it's not the talent. It's the personality. It's the energy he creates and the truckload of willpower he brings to the field. It's the unflappable grace he shows outside the lines.
Already, he has been marginalized by his own coach, John Fox, who said Tebow would be "screwed" in a normal offense. He was subject to an inquisition on the set of the NFL Network after a victory, when Marshall Faulk demanded to know what Tebow told his receivers when he failed to deliver the football.
To date, Tebow has absorbed every barb without flinching. His strength clearly comes from his conviction, which is spawned by his religious beliefs, and this is where the story crosses some prickly boundaries.
Earlier in the season, an opponent mocked his prayer ritual after a sack. And during a radio visit last week, Jake Plummer set off a national firestorm with the following critique:
"I think he's a winner, and I respect that about him. I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him even better. I don't hate him because of that. I just would rather not have to hear that every single time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff. Like, you know, I understand, dude, where you're coming from. . . . But he is a baller."
Plummer's words cut deep in the NFL community, where many fans don't want religion served up with their football.
Source: Dan Bickley, The Arizona Republic
