Tebow Brings Christmas Cheer to Christians and Football Fans

Having grown up in Denver and also being a huge Denver Broncos fan all my life, I have to admit that I am thoroughly enjoying what is going on with our beloved Broncos.  To put this in perspective I would like to share a little bit of history on this subject.

My younger brother was born when I was about 12 years old, during a Denver Broncos game against the Kansas City Chiefs.  The Broncos Orange Crush defense was famous at this time and they had an eight play goal line stand where they kept the Chiefs out of the end zone for eight straight plays and went on to win that game.  I was not just a fair weather fan but enjoyed Broncos football through all the years of my youth. 

In 1983, Denver drafted a Quarterback by the name of John Elway and during his first season I started attending the ntcc.  For the first time in my life football was placed on a back burner and was one of the things in my personal life that I allowed the ntcc to take away from me.  I was told that football was full of a bunch of proud overpaid arrogant people and was led to believe that watching football was a sin.  For quite a few years, I deprived myself of the joy I once had in many areas of my life and from my personal favorite pastime which was football.  After being deprived of even more important things than football, I began to break the sports rule in the ntcc and started paying attention to football once again. I would read the newspapers and follow the Broncos and John Elway who was considered to be the king of 4th quarter come backs.  The Denver Broncos started to win consistently and made 3 trips to the Superbowl during my ntcc, years, losing all three games.  

As my cult experience began to wear me down spiritually, I paid closer attention to the Broncos, watching John Elway engineer some of the greatest come from behind victories in NFL history.  On Sundays, I'd go to the Recreation Center on Post and watch games on TV instead of soul snatching and at times I'd go to Department stores and watch games there.  We all know how much of a sin it is to watch a football game on TV when souls are dying and going to hell.  After 13 years of missing out on football, I finally left the ntcc and was able to watch football again.  Thankfully, Elway had a 16 year career and I was able to enjoy some of the greatest moments in football history from the comfort of my own living room.  

In the late 90's Elway and the Broncos, after losing 3 Super Bowls, finally started playing the best football ever.  In Elway's 15th season, he led the Broncos on an unforgettable run to the Superbowl, beating many teams in the final minutes of the game.  Superbowl 32 was played at Qualcom Stadium in San Diego, on my Birthday in 1998.  Denver was a huge underdog to the Greenbay Packers and they beat the Packers 31 to 24 in what many consider one of the greatest Superbowls of all time.  It came down to the last seconds of the game and was one of the greatest times of my life.  Elway had one more season after this in which he led the Broncos to another victory in Superbowl 33 and won Most Valuable player that year retiring at the top of his game in a city where football was everything; and Broncos fans were on top of the world.

Since the retirement of Elway and the decline of the Broncos, many quarterbacks have come and gone; but none could live up to the expectations that we had from the Elway years.  Denver's best coach ever, Mike Shanahan, was let go and Denver has struggled with very few playoff appearances and the Mile High magic seemed to be a distant memory.

 Tim Tebow - well - Tebowing 

Along comes Tim Tebow.  Drafted in 2010 as a Florida Gator, Tim Tebow was considered to be one of the best college players of all time and he was the only Sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and he led his team to two national titles.  Many of the experts and football analysts have written Tebow off because his mechanics are considered to be flawed; and he does not have the attributes that many experts look for in a quarterback.  Last year Tebow started 3 games toward the end of a dismal season and brought hope back to Denver.  At the end of the season last year Denver's coach got fired; and John Elway became Vice President of Football operations and hired a new coach by the name of John Fox.

Denver chose to start Kyle Orton at the QB position because he was an experienced veteran and had a very good completion percentage.  However Orton had a history of losing the biggest games and never could seem to win meaningful games.  After Orton's dismal 4 loss and 1 win start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow was given another chance.  Down 15 to 0 in his first start of the 2011 season, Tebow led the Broncos to an 18 to 15 victory over Miami, becoming the only QB in the history of the NFL to be down by 15 points with only 2 minutes left to come from behind and win in this fashion.  Tebow has won 6 straight games all very close and many coming from behind in the last seconds of the game to win in spectacular fashion.  Last week Denver was losing 10 to nothing with just over 2 minutes to go; and it seemed completely impossible to even think about a 4th quarter comeback, but through strong will Denver came back and won.

Tebow Glorifying God

Tebow - Commitment

But what makes all of this so great is not just Tebow's ability to win a game but it's what this guy stands for and the testimony he has outside of football that makes him a polarizing individual that many either love or hate.  As a Christian, I have a really hard time understanding why there is so much hate surrounding this guy.  On his spare time he spends his days hanging out with kids that have disabilities and debilitating diseases. He spends much of his NFL fortune building hospitals in the Philippines.   Video Link

What seems to make Tebow so popular is his ability to generate belief and winning attitude among his teammates.  Everyone around him believes in him and thinks very highly of him.  He always gives credit to God first and then his teammates for all of Denver's victories. In spite of all the good we are seeing there are many people that hate Tebow.  How dare he play football and live a Christian life at the same time.  Does God really care about football?  The only thing that I can contribute is my opinion.  I believe that God blesses those that trust in Him.  I believe that some spectacular things have been happening in Denver.  I like everything I see in Tim Tebow and am enjoying this season immensely.  I am glad to be in a free country and to allow myself the simple pleasures in life of being able to enjoy a game on Sunday.  I know that it might seem like sensationalism to some and it might seem a little overboard to others to believe that God has his hand in the game of football, but it is a liberty that I enjoy and choose to believe.  There are many more harmful things that people do with their spare time and this guilty pleasure seems to fit well within the realm of Christianity so I will continue to believe and root for the Broncos this weekend as they take on the Patriots at Mile High.  Here's to the Broncos and Tim Tebow!!!