Tebow stays true to beliefs

The annoying thing is not that Tim Tebow has chosen now to restate his Christian values before the world but rather that anyone would question the timing.

It’s like most things involving Tebow. He isn’t the problem.

It’s the rest of us.

Tebow makes us nervous, makes us question our value system, makes us search for fallacy in him so that perhaps our transgressions won’t seem so dishonorable.

He is not perfect, and yet how he acts and what he says and the manner in which he approaches life seems to put others on the defensive.

Tim Tebow is an easy target to hate because, for most, he’s just so damn difficult to accept.

The 30-second Super Bowl commercial that promotes the theme “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” is what it is. You will find one side of the population that supports the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Florida and his mother for shooting a spot that chronicles Pam Tebow ignoring the suggestion of doctors to abort her fifth child in 1987 after becoming ill during a mission trip to the Philippines, later giving birth to the future football star.

You will find another side outraged at the pro-life tone to the commercial and the fact CBS would show what pro-choice advocates surmise a clear advertisement against abortion.

One side will champion the ad produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, a spot that will cost from $2.5 million to $2.8 million, a price tag reportedly collected through donations.

Others will condemn it.

The war rages on, and even though the words “abortion” and “pro-life” aren’t mentioned in the commercial, those against it have spent the past week or so insisting that what the Tebows have done is offer a message that the only acceptable option is not to terminate pregnancies.

Just wondering: What happened to the days when the only controversial thing about Super Bowl commercials was how much skin the Victoria Secret model showed?

Forget sides. One thing that shouldn’t be questioned is why Tebow would choose to be featured in such a commercial around the exact time his NFL future is being dissected more than any specimen in biology class.

When was the last time this much news about a player in the Senior Bowl, which is today in Mobile, Ala., was reported as it has been on Tebow? We are hearing scouts don’t think he is accurate enough. That his delivery will lead to interceptions. That he will struggle lining up under center. That he isn’t their kind of quarterback. What, a winning one?

You can bet he’s their kind of person.

Tebow isn’t worried about how a Christianity-based Super Bowl commercial will affect his draft status any more than he was the reaction many would have when he admitted to saving himself for marriage, any more than he cared what anyone thought about his mission to Third World countries, where he helped circumcise babies.

That’s the part most can’t understand about him. He doesn’t think as we assume an athlete of his standing would.

This was Tebow addressing reporters at last season’s Southeastern Conference media day:

“You know, everybody, they can look and say how easy it is. But it’s definitely not that easy. The difference is ’cause not many people want to wake up at 5, go through workouts, go speak to young kids, go back, eat lunch, go to class, go to tutoring, go speak at a prison at night, come back.

“You know, there are a lot of leaders out there. But, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of good ones. So that’s always been my dream and my goal, to be someone that a parent can say, ‘Hey, this kid did it the right way.’ That’s always been my dream and my goal more so than winning a trophy or winning a championship.

“So if it’s cynical or whatnot, that’s fine. If people don’t believe it, that’s fine. There’s always going to be naysayers, people that are going to say it’s fake. But that’s fine because you can’t control everybody. But I can control what I do, my attitude, how I approach the situation.

“So how I approach the situation is I want to do everything in my power that football gives me to influence as many people as I can for the good because that’s gonna mean so much more when it’s all said and done than just playing football and winning championships.”

How’s that for a commercial?

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. On “The Sports Scribes” on KDWN-AM (720) and www.kdwn.com.