Many now want Tebow on their side
It should come as absolutely no surprise that Tim Tebow is now America’s favorite active pro athlete, as announced Wednesday by the ESPN Sports Poll. He hasn’t been arrested, suspended or found to be on steroids. He doesn’t swear or taunt his opponents. He smiles infectiously and wins improbably. In a world that is coarsening by the day, he portrays an image of kindness. Apparently, that still means something to people.
Tebow’s emergence at the top of the poll was hardly a landslide, however. He was picked by 3% of those surveyed as their favorite active pro athlete. Kobe Bryant was second with 2%. Numbers like these wouldn’t get you very far in the New Hampshire primary, although Rick Perry would be envious.
Speaking of politics, it’s polling such as this that has a few Republican presidential candidates taking note of Tebow’s rising popularity. The day after he threw the touchdown pass to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, Tebow was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that more than one candidate had asked him for an endorsement.
To date, he has declined. “I think you have to have so much trust in who you support,” he said, “just from product endorsements to endorsing a candidate, because if that person or company does something, it reflects on you.”
It’s obviously not just Tebow’s good behavior off the field and surprising performance on it that is enticing to candidates in the GOP race. It’s his religion, of course, and how he wears it on his sleeve, not to mention his knee.
This isn’t the first time Tebow has been asked to lend his name to someone or something. He has clearly embraced the idea of endorsing products and is now appearing shirtless in a new Jockey commercial.
Just last month, the It Gets Better Project, which is trying to stop suicides among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens, petitioned the Denver Broncos, with Tebow in mind, to join its campaign as teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers have. “It’s the good Christian thing to do,” organizer Andy Szekeres said.
The Broncos declined. They did issue a statement, however, saying they are “committed to tolerance, acceptance and respect for all in the community.”
The request from the It Gets Better campaign made perfect sense: Who better to ask for help for an anti-bullying campaign than the nicest guy in town? Tebow certainly can’t be for bullying gay kids. And he has shown a willingness to weigh in on social issues before — just on the other side.
Two years ago, he and his mother appeared in a Super Bowl ad for Focus On The Family, an advocacy group that opposes gay rights as well as choice on the issue of abortion.
It’s absolutely appropriate that groups such as these would seek Tebow’s support and endorsement, even if one would have much more of a chance than the other to receive it. When you step off the sidewalk and join the parade, as he has on religious and social issues, you open yourself to the scrutiny of the world in ways most athletes steadfastly avoid.
Nearly 16 years ago, Tiger Woods found himself in a similar place. In a Nike ad, he said, “There are still golf courses in the United States that I cannot play because of the color of my skin.” Because he was so willing in those early days to take on an issue with social ramifications, he received questions that other golfers never would, ranging from the discrimination against women at Augusta National to the use of the Confederate flag in South Carolina.
So, now, Tebow. Last year, a publicist wouldn’t allow him to answer a question about same-sex marriage in a Washington Post interview. That’s not the last time he’ll be asked that question, nor should it be. Tebow, in his affable way, chose this path. He surely knows what’s coming.