Guest Blogger on... Penn State Supporters v. Tim Tebow Haters



Zac with his idol, our Grandpa...
Coach Paul Walters

I could not be more pleased to announce my first ever guest blogger!!! My brother, Zac, shot me a facebook message after my post about Joe Paterno (The fact that Zac read my blog was a complete surprise to me!!) and told me that if I was going to rant occasionally, would I please rant on a few things that have been bothering him lately? The main topic of his frustration is the fact that people support Penn State coaches but hate Tim Tebow. I had never considered this comparison, but it was a REALLY good point. So, instead of hearing my feelings on this, I thought you'd enjoy hearing Zac's... (Not going to lie, I would have bet my life savings Zac wouldn't have been down with writing for my blog... the title is "Frilly Little Details" afterall... but he said he would! I was/am so excited!!).  Hope you enjoy this read as much as I did! Mom stop reading here please. Seriously... Stop and just skip down to what Zac wrote. (I'm pretty sure the email Zac sent with this article said "Now I should probably write my paper that is gonna get me a grade." Oops didn't know he had a real paper due!) So without further ado...

Penn State Supporters vs. Tim Tebow Haters

Sorry that you all got tricked into reading something that you thought would be written by Raegan but really isn’t.  Jokes on you, but you’re here anyways so might as well read it.  Especially considering you’re probably bored at work or just sittin’ on facebook.  It’s okay to admit - I don’t have a life either.  Anyways, one thing that’s been bothering me lately is the overwhelming support for the Penn State coaches...  Not only that but the hatred for Tim Tebow that I see every single day. 

I’m gonna start with Penn State coaching staff.  This is something that Raegan wrote about a couple days ago (Check it out here.) and actually took me off the fence.  I did, and still do, feel bad that Joe Paterno had to go out like this.  The winningest coach in the history of college football, led a program without ever having committed a NCAA violation, then the obvious 3 Walter Camp awards, most bowl victories and two national championships.  Dude knows how to coach.  That was never in question.  The thing for me is - this coach (and the rest of the PSU coaching staff) that is so well respected for not only being a unbelievable football coach, but also for being a great person can let something like this go on.  Obviously, what Sandusky did was wrong and I seriously could barely make it through the Grand Jury report - but multiple coaches knew about this.  Look, I’m just a 21 year old basketball player but I can tell you one thing - if I saw one of my assistant coaches doing that in our locker room - I would do more than just tell my head coach.  Especially if I told him and nothing ever came about it.  The graduate assistant that saw Sandusky was a grown man...  He wasn’t 20-21 like most G.A.’s - he was 28 years old.  All he did was tell Paterno.  All Paterno did was tell Tim Curley (the PSU athletic director) and then apparently they both considered it off their shoulders.  Now that everyone is caught up - (speechless pause...) people are still supporting them.  When Joe Pa was fired students rioted and even flipped a news van.  But it’s not just the students.  The only way I can explain these people’s reaction is that they must be in denial.  Denial that such a great man could have knowledge of this terrible stuff and still let it happen.  But it did, it happened.  Paterno did not do everything he could to help the kids.  In the Grand Jury report there are EIGHT victims.  Plus, the Penn State Board of Trusties voted unanimously to terminate Paterno immediately.  This leads me to believe there is even more to the story than the public knows.  You can’t tell me that after 46 seasons, possibly the most loved coach of all time can’t get one single vote to keep him until the end of the season. Unbelievable that people still stand behind anyone in the athletic department at Penn State, but they do. 

Now to Tim Tebow.  The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, 2008 National Champion, only player ever to pass AND rush for 20+ touchdowns (yeah - that category didn’t even exist before Tebow), the only 3 year “Team MVP” in Florida’s history, gave one of the most inspiring halftime speeches of all time (a youtube video of it has over 886,000 views)... unfortunately the speech came at halftime of the National Championship game against OU... and a ton of other records that I don’t have time to type (but you can see ‘em here).   Fact of the matter is Tebow is a winner.  As a starter at Florida he went 24-6, an 85% winning percentage.  This year he has started 5 games for the Denver Bronchos and he is currently 4-1, without him as the starting quarterback the Bronchos were 1-4.  These are some numbers that are going to turn any athlete into a cocky jerk who is only concerned with himself.  But not Tebow.  This is the most humble guy I’ve ever seen.  The last two post-game interviews I’ve seen he has impressed me even more than ever.  The first interview he said,

“I’ve just been blessed to be surrounded with players that make me look a lot better than I actually am.”  

That’s a big statement considering how bad the rest of the Bronchos roster actually is.  In the second interview when asked why so many journalists still don’t like him, Tebow replied,

“Well… I’m not sure.  But one thing I learned early in college was to not worry about something that I can’t control and that is something that I can’t control.  What I can control is my attitude, my effort and my focus every single day.  And that’s what I’m trying to worry about.” 

The entire interview he never game himself credit - every time he says “we”.  He credits the wide receivers, offensive line, and defense for the win on Thursday - a game that on the final drive of the game, Tebow credited for 92 of the 95 yards and the touchdown that put the Bronchos ahead.  One of my favorite things about Tebow is his outlook on life and how he words it.  The guy knows what’s important and is one of the most competitive players in the world (you can read some of Tebow's quotes here ). 

The biggest thing though, one of the reasons he’s most loved, and most hated, is Tim Tebow is an outspoken Christian.  In the one interview after the Jets victory he said “blessed” 4 times, thanked “my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” before he said anything else and just simply said some inspiring things throughout the interview.  Now, a lot of people might not notice, but saying “we were very blessed,” instead of “we were very lucky” is just giving God glory with one simple word.  But even through all of this, just... unbelievably good things about Tim Tebow - he is still probably the most hated football player in the NFL.  Three days ago, I had a facebook status that said “How can anyone not love Tim Tebow?” But within two hours I had deleted it because of people saying he’s a fake or a terrible quarterback.  Even at 4-1, ESPN analysts still harass Tebow’s throwing mechanics. Get this - last week, Tebow’s head coach, John Fox, said that if Tebow was in a normal NFL offense he would be “screwed”.  Even if a coach lacks complete faith in his quarterback, he doesn’t say something like that to the national media.  He was even voted the most overrated player in the NFL.  But people hate him for more than his play. Here’s some things I googled:

Tebow is a fake - 1,410,000 results

Tebow sucks - 793,000 results

Tebow haters - 330,000 results (including tebowhaters.com)

Tebow anti-christ - 168,000 results

So the question is - why do people stand by Joe Paterno, yet hate Tim Tebow?  Why do people love and respect a man that allowed a coach to rape children in the athletic facilities, but hate a player that is humble, admits to not being anywhere close to a perfect player or person, and spends his free time speaking in prisons and doing work in the Philippines?  I don’t think that it is coincidence that all of this is happening to a terrible person while a Godly, humble man is being successful at the same time.  I don’t think that it’s coincidence that the top 3 vote-getters in the 2008 Heisman race (Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tebow) were all outspoken Christians.  Tebow is being put in a position where he can make a difference and have a positive influence on the world and he is taking full advantage of that.  Even the non-believers have to admit that Tebow is a positive influence for everyone.  Even past his Christian beliefs, this man is a great leader and a great hero for kids everywhere... A humble, positive, great leader that has given us no reason to look down on him as a person.  America needs to put some things in perspective.