The bold headlines in the Denver Post, page one, today blazed out: "Changing Horses." And so, with hardly a second thought, it's in with Peyton Manning, and out with Tim Tebow. And that also means that Tebow Time in Denver, on and off the field, apparently is over.
However, in my own memory Tebow Time will not be over. Why's that, you ask? Because Tim has meant something important to me. Yes, I like Tim, really like and respect him. I applaud his work ethic, I like his positive "can and will do" attitude, his ability to avoid the Monday to Saturday drama that infects so many other players (nightclub fights, spousal abuse, drugs, DUI arrests, gambling losses, etc.), his absolute unwillingness to give up even when the circumstances seem most dire). I like and appreciate his prowess as an athlete who is a winner, on and off the field.
I also appreciate Tebow because he represents to me an example of what hard work and commitment to a worthy goal can achieve. He was at practice before and after his team mates each day, and his disciplined and exhausting work ethic continued off-season as well. He did not live an ostentatious lifestyle, parade around with beautiful models or high profile celebrities, or appear in photos on the front page of the Post's Sunday society section attending black tie charity balls or extravaganzas showcasing the rich and famous. Why? Because Tebow lives his beliefs to a degree that most of us cannot or will not.
During interviews, he repeatedly ducked efforts of the press to lionize him at the expense of the rest of the team. He understood his role in each contest and always went out of his way to make sure that other players and coaches got the praise they deserved. Unlike so many of Tim's colleagues, he kept the game of football in perspective, never for a moment hinting that playing or even winning was his life's summum bonum. Yes, he was a winner, but not at "any cost," and for him, football was only a part of his life, never the whole enchilada
He always had the needs of others in the front of his mind. I like the way that Tim, at the end of each game, whether he was judged to be as a hero or a chump, would choose to leave the spotlight and go immediately to share his personal aura and notoriety with a kid, or someone sick or injured, or, in short, with one of the "poor and downtrodden" of this world. The looks on their faces which told the whole story of the importance of Tebow's visit to them often moved me and choked me up.
I like the fact that Tebow used a chunk of his mega-bucks salary to set up a charitable foundation which has the following Biblical quote from St. Paul as its core belief: "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things... and the God of peace will be with you."
I think that Tebow is an unusually good human being, exemplary as a model for boys and men, girls and women, young and old, who follow his life and career. In his time in Denver, Tebow converted many people into "believers," and not primarily religious ones--both on and off the field. By being who he is, and doing what he did, Tebow brought hope to a city in football despair, and this hope rippled out across the city and into the lives of lots of our people. Incredibly, the Tebow phenomenon was not limited to Denver. All over the country, indeed all over the world, people of all ages and conditions were wearing NUMBER 15 on their jerseys and, apparently, many "Tebow Values" in their lives as well.
In your quiet moments, consider the impact that this one good man, a genuinely good man, had in a world so accustomed to, and sickened by, the tawdry, dirty, underhanded, selfish, greedy, dishonest, self-serving types who normally grace the headlines and blabber meaninglessly on talk shows. As St. Paul said, meditate on these things...
As you meditate, you'll see why Tebow Time will remain embedded in my personal memory even if Peyton Manning were to lead Denver and our Broncos to an undefeated season and a Super Bowl victory next year.
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