I Want Tim Tebow To Fail! (Part deux)

(If you haven't read yesterday's post, I suggest you start there in order to make full sense of this three part article).

Pearlman is a respected sports writer who has contributed articles to Sports Illustrated. Would it be fair for me to say that, because I completely disagree with his world view and disavow his skewered article on Tim Tebow and Christianity, I want him to fail? If I did I would be quickly branded an intolerant Christian bigot. But Pearlman didn’t even miss a day of work or get reprimanded for his insensitive and baseless comments.

Or how about Pete Prisco’s armchair quarterbacking? He surmises that he is much smarter than the entire front office of the Denver Broncos since he has determined that they made a gross miscalculation by drafting Tebow in the first round of the NFL draft. We forget that Tebow won two National Championships and is the most successful, and arguably the best quarterback in college football history with more rushing touch downs scored in the vaunted SEC than the great Hershel Walker. How does Prisco figure that he lacks talent? Yet Prisco equates picking Tebow to being no different than taking the altar boy from the parish down the street because he’s a good kid. How asinine is that line of reasoning? Prisco’s true concerns about Tebow are revealed not in his contention that Tebow is a lesser quarterback than Cutler, but in his provocative statement, “Now they have Saint Timmy to fix things.”

Besides, is every successful Pro-Bowler in the NFL a first round pick? Was every single player who is heralded as a star today, a star from their high school and college days? Football isn’t arithmetic. As much as we pretend that we have analysts who are experts at what they’re talking about, there’s no accounting for human effort, will, commitment, and plain old hard work. How many people thought that the Oakland Raiders had made a mistake when they drafted Jamarcus Russell in 2007? Wasn’t he widely considered the most talented player in the draft that year and so was picked number one? If talent really does trump character, what happened to him? Or to Ben Roethlisberger? Or to Plaxico Burress? Or to Michael Vick? Or to Brandon Marshall? And the list is endless.

Prisco conveniently forgets that Plaxico is currently in prison…for issues of character. Michael Vick is on the long road back from prison…for issues of character. Marshall has been in trouble with the law numerous times for assaulting his girlfriend amongst various other misdemeanors, but, gosh he’s got talent so he should be allowed to stay in Denver regardless of how it negatively impacts the team or the locker room. Prisco’s selective amnesia conveniently forgets that though Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowl rings, he will still miss the first six games of the 2010 season and has lost the respect of his locker room…for issues of character (in ten months there have been two allegations of rape against him, and his idea of fun is allegedly hanging around night clubs with body guards).

We celebrate the Ray Lewises, the Steve McNairs, the Marvin Harrisons who all have murder charges or moral issues that have plagued them (and in McNair’s case led to his untimely and unfortunate death) simply because they are athletes, but we vilify the Tim Tebows simply because they are Christians? Go figure!

While we’re at it let’s not forget about Fred Toettcher! Fred likens Tebow’s family gathering as they watched the draft together to a "Nazi rally"!!! Seriously?! Simply because his all-white family gathered together in their home to enjoy the NFL draft? Pray tell, what would Fred call a gathering of all the black athletes with their all-black families (many of whom were shown on national TV)? Oh, I’m sorry, the token white guy who just happens to be their agent, making millions of dollars off them, makes their gatherings okay or somehow different from Tebow’s?

This Neanderthal way of thinking hardly hides the true intentions of men like Toettcher, Pearlman, and Prisco. These people are unabashedly bigots who despise what Tim Tebow represents and confidently professes. Imus (another radio show host) lost his job for stereotyping a team of female athletes. Toettcher has not even received a single negative comment regarding his incendiary and thoughtless statements. The tables have been turned when no one was looking, and now talent trumps character so that our entitled culture can be duly entertained on Saturday and Sunday.