Football's Leap of Faith

By Sean Gregory


Time

Go ahead and "Tebow." You know: crouch on one knee, put your fist to your forehead and close your eyes in prayer as Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow does during NFL games. If you're unfamiliar with Tebowing, the latest meme to mesmerize the nation, a quick search will reveal people Tebowing at the Eiffel Tower, on a wedding dance floor, on the curling ice. Not a fan of praying, or of Jesus, or of getting your pant knee dusty? It doesn't matter. Because if you appreciate football, you need to Tebow just a little. You need to give thanks to Tebow, for he has given NFL fans one of the most captivating tales in years.

"I think it's cool," Tebow tells TIME when asked about the Tebowing craze, unruffled by the notion that some people are mocking his display of faith. "You don't know the heart of people. But I tend to think the best of people and believe they are doing it for the best reasons."

Tebow understands clearly that, for better and for worse, he is known for his strong faith as much as his football skills. Even before going 6-1 as the Broncos' starter after replacing Kyle Orton in October and leading the 7-5 Broncos to a first-place tie atop the AFC West division, Tebow was a symbol of America's intense division over public displays of piety. His constant annunciations of his Evangelical faith, dating to his days as a Heisman Trophy--winning quarterback at the University of Florida--and even to high school, when this son of a pastor was the subject of an ESPN documentary segment called "The Chosen One"--make fellow Christians ecstatic. "Tim Tebow is the figurehead for Christianity in sports ... I believe he is fighting against the devil himself," declares the creator of one of several "Pray for Tim Tebow" Facebook pages. But there are hate pages too, and legions of detractors who see no position for God in the huddle and groan at the notion of an NFL star who's a virgin and never curses. Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer recently said he wished Tebow would "just shut up" about religion.

For most of his 2010 rookie year, Tebow waited silently on the sideline, holding a clipboard, not the hopes of Christians, in his hands. Since becoming Denver's starter, however, he has won in ways that even an agnostic might call downright divine. He's engineered four fourth-quarter comebacks in seven games, driving the cult of Tebow to epic heights. Searches on Yahoo! for Tebowing skyrocketed in early December, and NM Incite, a social-media-consulting company, says Tebow has generated far more online buzz over the past month than any other NFL quarterback.

Tebow is a chiseled 6-ft. 3-in. (190.5 cm)quarterback who is built--and sometimes throws--like a linebacker. His off-balance, windup delivery is like the golf swing of a weekend hacker somehow playing on the PGA Tour. The Broncos quickly realized he would not succeed in the typical drop-back scheme. "If we were trying to run a regular offense, he'd be screwed," Denver coach John Fox noted last month. So the Broncos pass with prudence. Tebow is averaging 15 tosses per game over his past four starts--Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers, in contrast, has averaged 36 throws a game over that span--and is running an old-fashioned option-style offense, which favors his mobility. Tebow's 20-yard scoring dash against the New York Jets was the NFL's longest last-minute game-winning touchdown run by a QB.

On Dec. 4 he completed 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-32 win over Minnesota. Still, says former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, "he's just not a great passer right now." Warner, another man of deep faith, labels Tebow's success "a modern-day miracle."

But miracles are by definition rare. According to some stats geeks, Tebow is just lucky. Denver's defense has played better in Tebow's starts. A recent post to a Harvard sports-analytics blog, titled "A Statistical Analysis of the Miracles of Tim Tebow," argues that his raw stats have yielded an unexpected number of wins and notes that young NFL quarterbacks who get off to fast starts tend to regress to the mean as opposing teams decipher their weaknesses. "If Tim Tebow continues to play how he's been playing," says co-author Chris Bruce, an MIT grad and Harvard MBA student, "he's not likely to win as he's been winning."

So the debate rages on. NFL.com linked to Bruce's piece; so did SpiritDaily.com a Catholic news site. Even political pundits are weighing in. "Critics have a problem with who Tebow is as a man," conservative commentator Bill Bennett recently wrote on CNN.com "They are bothered by his faith, character and conviction."

Those hoping Tebow will hush up about Jesus should prepare for a letdown. "People say, 'Why isn't it enough to do it one time?'" says Tebow, who addresses interviewers as "Mr." and "Ms.," stays out of trouble and is raising money to build a hospital in the Philippines, where his family has long done missionary work. "But say I'm getting married. Is it enough for me to tell my wife on the day of our wedding that I love her? Or do I tell her at every opportunity?"

Tebow calls his faith a tonic for Tebowmania itself. "I know who holds tomorrow," he says. "That's what gives me comfort in all situations, from the praise to the haters. Because thank goodness I don't have to live the roller coaster that everybody else lives about my life."