RyanKantor.com

Sitting at 1-3 and trailing AFC West rival San Diego, the Broncos made the move to put Tim Tebow behind center for the second half. Tebow ran for a TD and threw for another after replacing Kyle Orton, nearly overcoming a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to lead the Broncos to a come from behind victory.

Since that point Tim Tebow has assumed the starting QB position and the Broncos are on a 7-1 hot streak, but some people are bent out of shape over the recent turn of events. I’m a Raiders fan, and have a rooting interest in seeing the Broncos lose some games so the Raiders can make the playoffs, but the hate and vitriol directed towards Tim Tebow during his run has nauseated me.

ESPN pundits have been criticizing Tebow’s mechanics and talent since his graduation from Florida (where he won two National Championships and a Heisman Trophy). They said he wouldn’t be a first round draft pick, and he wouldn’t be successful in the NFL. They were wrong about the first and they’re starting look wrong about the second, so it makes sense that they would downplay his success to make themselves look less blatantly incorrect.

The media’s negativity towards Tebow isn’t that surprising. He’s a conservative Christian who uses his platform as a professional athlete to “spread faith, hope, and love to those in need.” How could they not loathe him?

Even the Broncos’ Team President, John Elway, was critical of his QB, lending him no support during the first half of the team’s surge. Tebow took it in stride and with class, never commenting or referencing Elway’s perplexing lack of support for his own QB. It took Tebow’s seventh win behind the helm to finally win over Mr. Elway. Still though, what’s really scary is that a decent portion of the American public seems to hate the guy.

I’m not sure if you heard Jake Plummer’s comments about Tebow (video embedded below) but I think they’re at the core of why some people don’t like him.

You can watch the full interview here.

To briefly comment on that video, Plummer basically said he’d like Tebow more if he would stop telling the world he loves Jesus so often. Skip Bayless asked Tebow what he would tell Plummer if they were alone in a room and this was Tebow’s response.

“If you’re married and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife ‘I love her,’ on the day you get married, or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity, and that’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing in my life, so anytime I get an opportunity to tell him I love him or give him an opportunity to shout him out on national television, I’m going to give him that opportunity…I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity, then right after I give him the honor and glory, I’ll always try to give my teammates the honor and glory, and that’s how it works. Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates.”

He continued

“…at the end of the day, if all we’re doing is winning or losing football games and scoring touchdowns, then we really haven’t really done a lot with our life, but if we’re in the business of trying to encourage people, bring faith, hope, and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need, which my mission statement reads, then we’re really doing something successful with our life. So I want to take the platform that football has given me and try to give back and try to make a difference and try to make this world a better place.”

Tebow escorted his "date," Kelly Faughnan, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor a year ago and -- after having it removed -- whose biggest wish was to see Tim Tebow at the awards show this year. He did more for her than that.

I don’t think it’s really necessary to convince you that Tim Tebow is a good person. If the humanitarian trips across the world (which he never boasts of), constant help to sick children, and preaching in prisons didn’t convince you, I won’t.

With Jake Plummer’s comments, the cat is out of the bag. It appears that much of society is offended by outward displays of faith and love for God. They say “he shoves it in our face” when he thanks God for his blessings and gives him the glory. Muhammad Ali is a devout Muslim, and credited Allah for his championship victory. I wasn’t around back then, but I wonder how people felt about his public displays of faith all those years ago.

This article from the USA today sums it up very well. It essentially argues we like our sports stars to make some mistakes so we can feel better about ourselves, but I’ll venture to say that maybe a public figure that can get us thinking about how we can better ourselves is more valuable than one who can make us feel better about ourselves.

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