{ the thing about tebow }

So here it is. I know some of you were hoping that you wouldn't read the T-word until Training Camp in the spring, but I've just got to get this out.

I've been struggling with my feelings towards a certain Tim Tebow (you may have heard of him) for about half the season. The Broncos are hardly a blip on my radar. For whatever reason, I just don't see them as an out-of-conference heavy hitter like the Ravens or Steelers or like the Colts (used to be). But the name of Tebow has been cluttering up my Facebook and Twitter feeds like nobody's business. 

Interestingly, a lot of that clutter comes from people who never expressed an interest in football in general or the Denver Broncos in particular. 

Of course, he's a former Gator, so that's an automatic strike against him. And I didn't want him to go to the Dolphins or the Jaguars when he was up for draft. I can't tell you why. Maybe because he's a crier. Maybe because of the Gator thing. I don't know. 

And let's just get this out of the way right this second. I don't think Tebow is a Great Quarterback. Gasp. Now, before you come at me with your arguments of how he's overcome and everyone said he wouldn't get this far... Hear me out. 

I think the Great Quarterback, in the tradition of Elway, Montana, Marino, Aikman, Unitas... I'll even toss in Peyton Manning and Brett Favre (if you forget the last few years), is a dying breed. There are really good quarterbacks surrounded by ridiculously good teams (like Tom Brady), but I personally don't feel that we've seen a trend of newly emerging Great Quarterbacks in quite some time. 

Did Tebow have a Good Year? Sure. But that doesn't make him a Great Quarterback. 

I guess, for those reasons, the hype grates on me. I've never been one for hype or bandwagons, and it automatically puts me on edge. Of course, that's not Tebow's fault, but that's the association.

So why do I feel like the Grinch and immediately go on the defensive when I say "I don't like him"? 

While it shouldn't matter at all, because it's football and I am fully entitled to like and dislike anyone I want for whatever reasons I want, it does matter.

Because of Turtle.

The thing is, I have this amazing little guy. And I want him to grow up into an amazing man. And, people, it is HARD. We live in a world where kids have to grow up faster than I care to think about. Where we have to teach them about drugs and sex and evil at an age where I was playing with My Little Ponies and the worst worry I had was whether or not we were having Brussels sprouts for dinner.

Positive male role models? Well, that's where we're starting to come up empty. There's MacGyver (my husband, not Richard Dean Anderson). And Papa Bear and Pop Pop and Popie. And he has some wonderful uncles and cousins who are all great people. We are so grateful for all of them.

But what about the icons with whom he will be confronted? Celebrities and athletes. The people we call superstars.

Jail time. DUIs. Drug abuse. Domestic abuse. Sexual abuse. Adultery. Failing to pay child support.

It's everywhere. On the news, in the tabloids, online. The people who get paid the big bucks for their talents, the people who are in the spotlight, the people we are supposed to revere? They're not really doing things I want my child to emulate. Not by a long shot.

When you think about it, it's quite embarrassing. Even some of the people I really supported and defended (cough cough Brett Favre cough cough) as a folks of strong character? They go off and do stupid things like text pictures of their genitals to women not their wives.

And then you have Tebow.

 

For all intents and purposes, he seems like a good guy. Goes to public events with his mom (aw). Doesn't apologize for his belief system. Doesn't talk smack. Seems to have stayed out of all kinds of trouble.

Oh, and let's not forget this little thing he does where he flies people suffering from illness and disease to his games with their families, puts them up in hotels, sets them up with meals, hosts them at the game, chats with them directly before and directly after said game and sends them home with souvenirs and memories that will last a lifetime. Swoon! Why aren't more players using their considerable resources to do things like this? To really make a difference to the people who love them so?

That's what I want for my son.

It's not Tebow's fault that the media has latched on to him as the feel-good sports story of the year. 

It's not his fault that he has rabid fans who idolize him and call anyone who doesn't bitter, jealous and a hater.

Tebow had a good season. He's done well. It's not the most amazing season a team has ever played and he'll never be my personal Rudy (that title is reserved for Wes Welker, who I have loved with the fire of a thousand suns since he first popped on to the field in Miami and refused to be held down). I give him credit that he's held it together in the face of the hype and the fame. It's a hard thing to do, especially for someone of his age.

I hope the best for him. I do. And I hope he doesn't let me down. 

Like Favre, who has gone down in flames in my book for what he did to his wife.

Like Cromartie, who can't even name all of his own children.

Like Big Ben, who seems to have developed quite the reputation for taking advantage of women in bathrooms.

Like every player who has gotten behind the wheel drunk (too many to name).

Like every player who has cheated, done drugs, abandoned his family or beat his partner.

It's sad to me that these players are so casual with their gifts and their talents. If they were accountants or bartenders instead of marquis names in the NFL, most of them would probably be behind bars. But the message is that if you have enough money and enough power, you can do whatever the hell you want and get away with it.

Nice. Really. 

My hope for Turtle is that Tebow is the real deal. And that he helps to inspire a new trend, where good behavior and personal accountability means something. Where athletes and celebrities treat their good fortune, not as something to be taken for granted, but as something precious for which they should be grateful and that they can use to make positive differences in the lives of those who adore them.

My hope is that Tebow isn't going to topple from his pedestal in flames, unable to handle the pressure of his position and unable to sustain his image.

I hope, for Turtle and for all his friends and for the children growing up today, that he's not too good to be true and that he is the start of a positive upswing in the role models in whom they will believe.