Tim Tebow has a must-see message for the world on Easter
On Easter Sunday six years ago, Tim Tebow was still an NFL quarterback, having just been traded to the New York Jets.
Just a couple of months earlier, he had led Denver to a stunning 29-23 victory over Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs. Tebow threw for a career-high 316 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers, including an 80-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime that won the game for Denver.
It was the pinnacle of Tebowmania.
The Broncos traded him to the Jets after they signed superstar Peyton Manning to be their quarterback, but that didn’t dim the national fervor over the outspoken Christian who knelt to pray on the football field.
On April 8, 2012, the 24-year-old Tebow decided to speak during an outdoor “Easter on the Hill” service at Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas — and an estimated 15,000 worshipers showed up to hear him.
In a 20-minute question-and-answer session with Pastor Joe Champion, he told the crowd about how rewarding it is to follow God’s path.
“Whatever happens in life — good or bad, whether you’re the hero or the goat, whether you like it or not — you know that someone has a plan for your life, and it’s a special plan,” Tebow told the crowd. “When you trust that and you have hope in that, then you have peace in all decisions and everything you do. And it brings a lot of joy to your life.”
He also talked about faith and football, and how they intersected in his life.
“I really don’t think I was the first athlete to get on a knee and pray, and it’s funny because I’ve actually had the same routine for the last seven years and just this year they started calling it Tebowing,” Tebow said. “I do think it’s pretty cool because at least prayer is being talked about.
“My biggest prayer is for a high school kid to get on a knee and pray and it’s not something that’s unique or different.”
He recalled a game in which Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch appeared to ridicule him after a sack.
“I remember one of the first games, we’re playing the Lions and I get sacked and the guy gets on a knee and is Tebowing on top of me, and I’m thinking, ‘That’s really supposed to be mocking me but it’s actually flattering because you’re praying.’ That’s a good thing,” Tebow said. “I don’t know if that’s a cut down; I’m not sure how to take it. Are you praying for me while you’re on top of me or what?”
He told Champion he was grateful his football success at the time allowed him to share the Gospel.
“I’m just so blessed to have a platform so when cameras are rolling, they can’t just turn it off,” Tebow said. “They have to hear me say, ‘I have to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.’
“That is why it’s the first thing that I say, because it is the most important thing.”
Champion asked him what he thought needed to change in America.
“First and foremost is what this country was based on: one nation under God,” Tebow said. “The more that we can get back to that.”
Six years later, his NFL career appears to be over, but his impact as a role model and Christian leader has just begun.
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