Crocodile Tears and Alligator Roots
Tim Tebow’s legacy of faith and perseverance

Whether it’s because of his football career, his bold profession of faith, or his newfound sports affiliation with baseball, everyone has heard of the name Tim Tebow. His many athletic achievements speak for themselves, making it almost unnecessary to state that he lived a life full of Passion; Passion towards God, Passion towards athletics, and Passion towards others. All of these things drove Tebow towards the success he has today and has helped shape his reputation to being one of good character and a strong work ethic.
Tebow has shown a strong passion through his Christian views ever since the start of his football career at The University of Florida. He was known for wearing his faith on his sleeve because he would religiously kneel in prayer before games and wore bible verses on his eye black during playing time. It was with The University of Florida football team that Tebow helped earn National Championship Titles for the 2006 and 2008 football seasons, and a Heisman Trophy for himself in 2007.

2009 was the year in which Tebow caught major heat for crying on camera over Florida’s major loss against Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Although this publicity was not exactly something for Tebow to be proud of, because he was wearing the Biblical reference “John 3:16” on his eye black that night, many viewers developed curiosity towards what the reference meant. The morning after the game, “John 3:16” was the top search on Google, which was a direct result of Tebow’s obedience to God’s command of sharing His Word. As a rewarding ending to his successful collegiate athletic experience at Florida, Tebow was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
It was also in 2010 that Tebow founded the Tim Tebow Foundation, an outreach foundation created in attempt to show God’s love to kids around the world. This foundation now holds six different programs; The W15H, Timmy’s Playroom, Tebow Cure Hospital, Orphan Care, Team Tebow, and Night to Shine. The foundation was created based on Tebow’s understanding that as a Christian, he had a responsibility to give back to others and to spread God’s love with the world. With his new God given platform, Tebow found it necessary to use his publicity to serve the Lord.
Later on during his professional football career, Tebow’s spiritual profession had a major influence on society during a specific game in 2012. The NFL team Tebow was playing for during that time, The Denver Broncos, hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first round of the NFL playoffs on January 8th. This game is now known as the “3:16 Game” for many reasons, starting with the coincidence that the SEC Championship Tebow had worn the words “John 3:16” on his eye black for, was played exactly 3 years prior to this one. After Denver beat the Steelers, Tebow’s press released that he had 316 passing yards, 31.6 yards per completion, and 3.16 yards per carry for that game. Tebow told an interviewer, “Many people say it was a coincidence, I say it was a Big God.”

Tebow faced a huge let down in April of 2013 when he was released from the New York Jets after just one season of terrible performance and little playing time. He then signed with the New England Patriots but was again released within the same year due to his inability to preform on a professional level. In December of 2013, he began broadcasting on SEC Network but did not give up on his NFL dream. After signing with yet another NFL Team, Tebow experienced his final release from The Philadelphia Eagles in September of 2015. These couple of years were extremely challenging for Tebow, but he put his thoughts and feelings towards building his testimony. Tebow turned this time period of tribulations into a book that was published in 2015. Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life’s Storm by Tim Tebow, discusses Tebow’s belief that although he was known for his athletic accomplishments, his identity was in ultimately found in God, not football. After every setback, Tebow built courage through his faith to pubically announce that he would be alright, that his happiness comes from serving the Lord, not his athletic achievements. Tebow dug deep to find the Passion that kept him moving forward.
In 2016, Tebow expressed interest in pursuing baseball after a an 11 year break from the sport since 2005, his junior year in highschool. During this year, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets and has done exceptional despite the intitial criticism he recieved from sports fans. With a promotion to Class A and 4 home runs, Tebow is truly making a name for himself in the baseball world.
Tebow’s life is obviously lived in passionate reflection of what the Lord wants for him. Through his publications, donations, and activism in the lives of those who need love, Tim Tebow’s wide spread passion is evident and admired by all sports fans, even the Georgia Bulldog writing this column. Tebow’s legacy lives on past sports, though, as his uplifting spirit and spiritual attitude creates a reputation for himself that everyone is familiar with.


