Tim Tebow

There is some nasty stuff out there about Tim Tebow, and it’s a sad example of religious scapegoating. This all began when he played in the BCS championship and opposed abortion with his pro-life stance, didn’t it?

Why do people hate Tim Tebow?

“It really blows my mind,” said Dolphins center Mike Pouncey, who spent three seasons as an offensive lineman for Tebow at the University of Florida. “You talk about a guy that’s in the church, doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t drink alcohol, lives right, won the Heisman, won the national championship in college.

“Why do you criticize a guy like that?”…

“Like me, Tim wears his faith on his sleeve,” said former NFL quarterback and NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner, also a devout and open Christian. “I felt like there were always people who said football should be over here and faith should be over there. But that drove me. And I think it drives him.”

But it couldn’t just be his Christian faith that fuels the hate within his detractors, can it? Plenty of players fall to a knee or point to the sky after touchdowns. Plenty of athletes thank God at the opening of their news conferences.

It must be something more.

“Maybe people don’t like the fact that he has accomplished so much,” said Dolphins running backReggie Bush, a player who has dealt with his share of detractors both on and off the field. “And maybe some people just don’t think he’s a good quarterback. Everyone has an opinion — that’s just the way it is. I dealt with it, especially after what happened at USC. People look for a reason to hate you. With Tebow, though, it’s almost like they think it’s too good to be true.”

That’s among the more fascinating aspects of the vitriol aimed at Tebow: He has lived a life that meets to a surreal degree the moral standards generally taught to this country’s society at an early age.