He did it again. After the Broncos’ (by now customary) bleak first three quarters, in which they managed to score a grand goose egg against the Bears, it was Tebow Time. He led a comeback which set up Matt Prater for a fine field goal to send it into overtime, then set him up for the final winning goal. Served the Bears right too. Apparently they were under the impression that this would be an easy win, trash-talking all week and saying they’d be “pi***d” if they lost. Poetic justice, anyone?
People have been scratching their heads over Denver’s sudden winning streak since Tebow joined. After all, the Broncos aren’t the most gifted team out there—witness the first three quarters of their last few games. And while Tebow is undeniably a gritty, gifted quarterback, there are doubtless others with more talent.
So what’s the secret factor? Well, I know this is pretty unoriginal, but I think it’s all about morale. I don’t know football, but I can tell when a group of players is inspired. Everybody loves Tebow. Just listen to the sportscasters gleefully chanting for him in this review of the game. He’s inspiring. And that kind of shot in the arm, largely psychological though it may be, can turn a team around. You don’t win football games without the will to win. Obviously Tebow wouldn’t be much help to them if he brought all inspiration and no talent, but a fair bit of talent and a lot of inspiration will go a long, long way.
What really saddens me is the Christians who seem bent on being snarky about Tebow. I even saw somebody right here in southern gospel (I won’t say who, though I will say it was a young musician, not a singer), using him as an example of the supposed fact that Christians by and large can’t recognize talent and will accept mediocrity in any field if it’s dressed up in Christianese. Don’t get “them” started on Tebow, he said. “Sweet Lord.”
To which I reply, “Nice attitude. La-de-da to you too.” Heaven forbid we should actually appreciate the fact that a celebrity is vocal about his faith and happen to think he’s also a good football player, or a good singer, or a good writer. We’re uncultured evangelical Christians, remember? (As opposed to cultured, new evangelical Christians of course.) We don’t know quality from a hole in the ground. Don’t break the stereotype.
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