Tim Tebow took the hits — now Christianity is winning big

In 2011, a Detroit Lions linebacker sacked Tim Tebow and chose to celebrate by mocking Tebow’s famed kneeling prayer pose. Later in the game, another Lions player did the same, using his touchdown celebration to make fun of Tebow’s prayer pose.

At the time, the media didn’t scold the Lions. Instead, they chided Christians for being “too easily offended.” The Lions players pretended that they weren’t making fun of God, despite the fact that they were making jokes intended to humiliate Christians.

Sports have always been about excellence and virtue, values that don’t align with DEI and leftist ideologies.

That season was a difficult year for Tebow.

While he scored the coveted role of starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, he also became one of the most ridiculed professional athletes. Jake Plummer, a former Broncos quarterback, said that he would “rather not have to hear” about Tebow’s faith. Broncos chief of football operations John Elway was also icy and unwelcoming toward the young, new quarterback.

At the time, many sports commentators and football fans went out of their way to make fun of Tebow’s faith. It was constantly used against him through memes and disingenuous critiques of his athletic abilities. Even “Saturday Night Live” aired a skit in which Jesus appeared in the Broncos’ locker room, making fun of the saying that “Jesus was helping Tebow win games.”

Major media outlets were silent, and any defense of Tebow typically was met with an eye-rolling allegation of “not being able to take a joke.”

Tebow effect

In the years after Tebow, there was a quiet uncertainty as to how Christian athletes would be received for openly expressing their faith.

But nearly 15 years after he became ESPN’s favorite joke, it’s now clear that Tebow blazed a trail for a new generation of expressive Christian athletes.

Earlier this month, for example, Justin Fields, the new quarterback for the New York Jets, said that he is “low-key addicted to getting into [his] Bible.” New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson said that “God calls me to work as heartily as for Him, not to please men.” And several players for the Arizona State Sun Devils football team were recently baptized and started attending a team Bible study together, openly expressing their faith in interviews.

These are just a few of the countless examples of football players following in Tebow’s footsteps, publicly embracing their Christian faith. Call it the “Tebow effect.”

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This “Tebow effect” comes despite the NFL’s decision to embrace wokeism.

The NFL has heavily promoted LGBTQ Pride nights, celebrated transgender cheerleaders, and, infamously, painted “End Racism” in field end zones when the BLM movement swept the nation.

The NFL’s woke agenda felt particularly suspicious in the years following the Tebow controversy. In fact, it felt as if Christian fans were intentionally being alienated from the sport. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the NFL experienced significant ratings hits when players kneeled during the national anthem and when the league virtue-signaled during the pandemic and at the height of the BLM mania.

Woke reversal

But seeing professional athletes openly express their Christian faith helps mend the wounds of wokeism. It allows viewers to build relationships with players through the joy of shared faith. Even better, to see athletes profess their Christian faith makes them feel more authentic, proving they’re not just cogs in a corporate conglomerate.

Fortunately, football players aren’t the only athletes to publicly embrace their Christian faith.

Sports are a reflection of God’s gifts, built through the dedication and reverence encouraged through the Bible.

The Savannah Bananas, an exhibition baseball team, have become a cultural phenomenon as they continuously sell out MLB ballparks across the country. And as the team’s popularity rapidly expands, players have never shied away from their Christian faith.

Players paint crosses on their cheeks and write Bible verses on their bats and helmets, and many members are actively involved in a team-wide Bible study. Their Christian faith has encouraged them to create a family-friendly experience, where children aren’t exposed to unsavory content for mature audiences.

This year, the Texas Rangers stood up to MLB when they decided to be the only team not hosting a Pride night. Although they are only one team among dozens, this bold act represents a shift away from liberal, anti-Christian messaging.

Christian vindication

Sports have always been about excellence and virtue, values that don’t align with DEI and leftist ideologies. Sports are a reflection of God’s gifts, built through the dedication and reverence encouraged through the Bible.

It makes sense, then, that many athletes have turned to a life of Christ instead of a life of “co-exist” and “tolerance” bumper stickers.

Tebow helped blaze the trail that made this possible, and fortunately, he has found quiet vindication.

After he and his wife welcomed their first daughter, he posted a video of her lying across his chest while he worked on his laptop. It was a humbling moment, one familiar to new dads. It also showed that, despite having endured so much ridicule for his faith, Tebow gets to rejoice in the joys of family and grace.

As it turns out, the joke wasn’t on Tebow — it was on those who thought Christian faith could be mocked into silence.