So I had to write a paper for my Sport Ethics class about religions place in sports and more specifically Tebow. Now I know this will stir a lot of debate, but that is what an internet message board is for. And I know I will probably receive a lot of criticism but I'm ok with that, I'm an adult and I can take it. But I am proud of this paper and wanted to share it with others.
I am not very religious, and I guess you could even call me a bit of a cynic when it comes to the topic of religion and faith. So when athletes say things like “We prayed to God at halftime and he had our backs” or “We wouldn’t have won today without the help of God” I always laugh. I laugh because I find it absolutely ridiculous that God (if you believe in him) would be sitting up in heaven affecting the outcome of a game. Why would he care about team x over team y? Although it is commonly joked among Dolphins fans that God must be a Boston fan. How else do you explain 3 Super Bowls, 2 World Series and 1 NBA title all in the last 10 years? All kidding aside my thoughts on sports and religion typically followed the words shouted by a religious nut outside of the 2008 World Series. As we exited Tropicana Field after game 1 of the World Series the nut shouted that “If God cared about baseball the Angels would win every year”. Aside from that being incredibly clever and funny and if you subtract all the hatred and bigotry the guy was spewing he did have a point. Why would God care about sports?
If you’ve been following my line of thought for the last paragraph then you probably imagine that I had a field day when Tim Tebow stepped onto the UF campus, and that I absolutely loathed his continuous talk about his faith and his lord and savior Jesus Christ. But in truth I felt the opposite.
Tim Tebow is truly a unique person not only because of his amazing talent on the football field, but also because of his immense amount of faith, his character and moral values. In short Tim Tebow is a perfect role model. Sure I laughed like the others when he thanked his lord and savior Jesus Christ about 30 times during his Heisman acceptance speech, but I never laughed at him for being a faithful guy. Tim is a person that does everything he does with the passion in his heart, and a part of that passion derives from his faith in God.
Fans of other teams dislike Tebow for numerous reasons, but one common theme typically appears. He’s too good, nobody can be that perfect. All the media does is talk about how great of an athlete he is and how nice he is and these people can’t stand it. To me this is absurd. We have been waiting for a great role model to come along for awhile now. Someone who amid the steroids, dog fighting, recruiting violations, gun misuse, and general degenerateness will arise and be a Sports Messiah (pardon my blasphemy). Finally when that person comes all we can do is tear him down. It makes no sense to me.
Tim is who is he because of his faith, and he wants you to know that. He’s not trying to convert you, and he’s not shouting slurs about Jews or Muslims. He is just being who he is, and that’s a remarkable person. If you don’t want to hear the message, hit the mute button.
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Ohiophinphan, Themole, Fin-Omenal and 4 others like this.
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It's due tomorrow. Sport ethics is a great class. 90% of it is debate about current issues. And the teacher isn't a prof but a UF athletics staffer who also worked for the NCAA. He was the person who received the final complaint that led to the final investigation of SMU that led to their death penalty. Interesting story really. Also he was dealing with agents after the juniors and seniors declared for the draft, and had Mat Elam in his office the day he early enrolled.
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Excellent post man. I feel the same way about religion and sports, they're not connected. It's Tebow's devout faith that gives him a major part of the confidence to do as well as he does. It works for him, so he should go with it.
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Priceless, You have to respect a man who "LIVES" his belief!:up:Themole and dolphindebby like this.
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I think Tebow's done a pretty good job of not trying to throw it in our faces. From what I've heard, not one time has he gotten "preachy" to his college teammates.
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Well, over time of watching sports I've seen all sorts of things from athletes who bring their religion to the table at their job.
Reggie White was called the "Minister of Defense" because he actually was a Pentacostal Minister, he credited Faith for healing him of a supposedly career ending back injury.
As for Tim Tebow, imho what people really want/expect from athletes who share their Faith in the manner he does is Authenticity, Tebow spends his spring break vacation traveling to third and fourth world countries performing circumscisons, which is about as Authentic as one can manage.
My fret with Tebow is I've seen people who have tasted success and have been really Christian, but they eventually stumble, there is a huge amount of pressure and, to be honest, the World throwing itself at folks such as him, there are alot of temptations and it is my hope that he can avoid the fall.Ohiophinphan and dolphindebby like this. -
IMHO Tebow is different BECAUSE he does not care what we think about his faith it is important to him and he never has exploited or "drummed up" the attention he has gotten. Personally I usually hate when guys expose their view on religion, and morality when trying to entertain myself with sports, but Tebow never seems to be as someone said "preachy"...he is all class IMHO and personally I do not seem to mind Tebows comments so much....too bad he hooked up with that creep Urban Denier.
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Agreed, Padre.
If he does happen to stumble, it's still up to him whether he fails his life's mission. Which is to be in service to his God.
I believe that when you are in service to your fellow man, You are in service to God. TT, has to much family support to rebel against that, imo.
To non believers, it should make no difference. It's all folly to them.
Religious or not we all fail everyday. I know at least I do. You are correct. TT has a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to the expectations the media has heaped upon him. He's done an admirable job doing just that in the pressure cooker that is being a star in big time college football.
I'm bettin on TT, to be true to himself and his faith.Silverphin, Ohiophinphan and gafinfan like this. -
Ohiophinphan Chaplain Staff Member Luxury Box
Tebow is unashamed of his faith. In that way he is similar to Reggie White who has been mentioned and Kurt Warner who has not.
I very much like what you have written and the way you did it. As a person of faith I try and let my life be a part of my witness. I don't "smack people in the face with it" (I hope) but I am not going to apologize for my faith or check it at the door just because I am involved in other ares of life!
Thanks again.Themole likes this.