NFL insiders say media hype saw Tim Tebow blackballed. But is the blackballing of Tim Tebow more directly related to Tebow’s very public stance on his Christian beliefs?
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Michael Silver says Tim Tebow was blackballed :
“Yet as Tim Tebow’s career wheezes to an underwhelming halt, with less apparent interest in his services than Massachusetts funeral parlors have in Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s remains, something strange is happening. Against all odds, I’m starting to wonder whether the man who helped the Denver Broncos become one of the league’s most stunning success stories in 2011 is getting unjustly blackballed.”
If Tim Tebow is being blackballed for media hype it seems obvious Tebow’s Christian beliefs is the 300 pound elephant in the room. While, yes, there are plenty of Christians in the NFL who’ve taken bold stances, Tim Tebow’s blackballing becomes more noticeable precisely because Tim Tebow’s walk as a Christian was so squeaky clean. Still, if Tim Tebow felt the sting of any personal bias I’m sure most of it was due to the media circus, not Tebow’s own actions off the field. The point is that the media circus occurred because of Tebow’s strong stance on Christianity, not in spite of it.
Tim Tebow became well known for humbly giving all praise to his team, wearing the Bible verse John 3:16 on his face, and for his “tebowing” to praise God for any victory, even if small. Tim Tebow has written books on the subject and loves to serve at churches. Funnily enough, when Tim Tebow faced the Steelers in 2011, the Nielsen rating of 31.6 and Tebow’s passing yards (316) and yards per completion (31.6) evoked the Bible’s John 3:16.
Some people like to say it’s not Tim Tebow’s Christian beliefs but his NFL stats as a quarterback. Well, Tim Tebow’s limitations as a quarterback were known before Tim Tebow earned a Heisman trophy, a BCS National Championship, three team MVP’s and dozens of records including the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week, and first round pick in the NFL draft. So there’s definitely more to Tim Tebow being blackballed than that.
While Tim Tebow’s NFL statistics show him to be an average-to-below-average NFL quarterback, he was supposedly a fantastic leader with the Broncos. Tim Tebow was even named Forbes’ most influential athlete for the year. In 2012, Tim Tebow was ranked number 95 by his peers in the NFL Top 100. Near the end of the 2011-2012 season, Tim Tebow was ranked number five out of the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks.
So, yeah, while Tim Tebow was obviously not a quarterback superstar with his throwing arm, Tim Tebow was never given a serious chance by the New York Jets. Other NFL quarterbacks who did worse overall than Tim Tebow in 2011-2012 are still in the NFL while Tebow was tossed to the wind as a free agent.
Do you think Tim Tebow was blackballed for his Christian beliefs?