What Others Are Saying: Hannah Rose Eckles

It's always great to hear people write about Tim Tebow and the things that define his character, especially when that person is of today's young generation.  I came across this blog post by Hannah Rose Eckles, and I want to share it with you.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Hannah, and we hope you continue inspiring others with your blogs :)


Click to Read Her Blog: 

Faith on His Face: A Tim Tebow Tribute

I recently came across a Youtube video of a tribute song to Timmy by two young ladies named Holly Stewart and Kylie Marissa Orcutt .  I've seen and heard other songwriters performing their own Tebow-inspired songs, including the acoustic "All He Does is Win" that made it to ESPN's First Take morning show, but this one really caught my attention for several reasons.


First, it talks about Timmy's faith.  That's right, his faith, which is far more substantial than his football career.  In their own way, Holly and Marissa is actually exemplifying what Timmy is doing with his faith and platform.  This is much more than I could say for people who put up fan pages, sing songs, print shirts, kneel on their knees for the sake of making money.  Sure they will make money (I hope) from the sales of their song, as Tim will in his football career, but they are ministering to others through music.


Secondly, their writing is and singing is very good.  They sing on key and deserve to be heard.  Who know, maybe I'll hear it on KLOVE fm one of these days :)


The best part of their song is that their proceeds will be sent to the Tim Tebow Foundation.  By doing this, their music not only reaches the hearts and ears of those listening, but it reaches out to the lives of the countless number of young children in the Philippines and anywhere else Tim's foundation reaches out to.  


Anyway, here's the video.  Enjoy it and pass it on to your friends.  By the way Holly and Marissa, this is a free plug because you deserve it. Hope ya'll get discovered!

What Others Are Saying: Syler Thomas Comes Around to Support Tebow

Syler Thomas, a pastor and freelance writer, wrote an article on Chicago Tribune's Opinion column that caught my attention.  He begins his article by praising Tebow, but midway into the article, he expresses his disenchantment after hearing seeing and hearing about him all the time.  He even brings Kurt Warner's comments about Tebow needing to tone things down.  This is where I started to question the pastor's intent.

How could a pastor be against Tebow? I thought.  I almost didn't want to finish it because it was beginning to sound like another hate article, but I gave the pastor the benefit of the doubt.  I'm glad I did because he later reflects back to an incident when he was 19 years old where his Christianity rubbed people the wrong way in his small school.  His former college professor sent him a letter telling him that Tebow reminded the professor of him because of how he stood up for his faith.  

Bingo, then it hit Thomas - he was the 19 year old version of Tebow.  Then he realized that it isn't Tebow's fault that he rubs so many people the wrong way.  Tebow is just being himself and standing up for his faith.  Much like the last article I featured on my February 11, 2012 blog by Rexcrisanto, it's the media who is drumming up all this hate toward Tebow.  Nice article pastor Thomas!

Read Pastor Thomas' article in full: "I was a teenage Tebow"

Another Great Interview by Hannah Storm

Ever since Hannah Storm did the ESPN interview with Tim regarding his involvement with missionary work in the Philippines, I've kept my eyes and ears open so as not to miss another interview between her and Tim.  I am convinced she is one of the few media personalities who really appreciate him for the person he is inside.


On February 7, 2012, she did a thirty minute interview with Tim on ESPN's Face to Face.  In case you missed it, here's a nice video of it:

What Others Are Saying: Rexcrisanto on a "Bigger Picture" of Tebow

After blogging about Skip Bayless’ interview with Tim Tebow last week, a surprising Yahoo article relating to that interview caught my attention. The author, Rexcrisanto, connects the interview with an interesting perspective he has about Tim Tebow and the phenomenon surrounding him.

For many years, especially these past two, I’ve heard all the hype and hate directed at Tebow. This article puts things into a great perspective by taking neither side, though Rexcrisanto definitely comes across a big time supporter of Tebow. He talks about the media and how it “spins” anything they can to drive the hatred and fanaticism for Tim so they could make money. Bingo. It’s always about the money.

Then he goes on to discuss the whole “Tebowing” phenomenon. He writes,

“Just so you know, Tim Tebow isn’t the first football player to kneel and pray in public or on a football field. During his February 01, 2012 appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show, he made this same statement to everyone watching. Interestingly enough, NFL.com also released a recent video called The Book of Tebow, which clearly points this out.”

It gets much better when he brings the Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach (Cowboys quarterback during the 1970s), into the discussion. Wow, the similarities he describes about both their “characters” on and “off” the field are remarkable. It’s as if Tebow is the new Staubach (except for the experience and Superbowl rings - - yet).

Roger Staubach & Tim Tebow with Heisman Trophies

The article left thinking about my outlook of Tebow. I’ve always considered myself a “true” Tim Tebow fan by loving both his on-and-off the field character and work, but now I realize that I may have been on the fanatic side too often, which I’ve come to learn isn’t what makes a true Tebow fan. The article reminded me (because I’ve heard it before) that true fans do not have hatred or fanaticism within them. The article has definitely added fuel to my intentions of helping Tebow spread his intentions of goodwill toward others.

This is why I will not monetize this blog or seek financial gain, like most of the other so-called Tebow fan pages/sites on Facebook and the Web. Just the other day, I received a message from someone who likes my Facebook fan page complaining that they were kicked out of one of the biggest Facebook Tim Tebow fanpages because that person posted complaints about how the admin uses the page to promote other sites for monetary gain. After checking out the page owner's personal Facebook profile, I discovered that person had very little to say about Tebow and that same person loved dropping the "F"bomb and seemed to love talking about drinking and partying - something I seriously doubt Timmy endorses.  Again, the article nailed it on the head when it talks about people spinning Tebow just to gain customers (followers), which ultimately leads to dollars.

No, that won’t be me. I don’t care about gaining 100,000+ likes on my Facebook page so that I can make money or gain popularity. Like Tebow, my Facebook page and this blog are simply a platform that’s sole purpose is to encourage more platforms for the better good. On a similar note, today I happened to discover, such a platform on Facebook while checking out other Tebow fan pages. It is called “More Than Champions Sports (MTC), which exists within the basketball realm to help others in need. It’s all about using our gifts and talents to help others.

I will leave you with my favorite part of the article, which happens to be its last paragraph:

“In the end, everyone has their own platform; there are those who have much smaller and simpler platforms and there are those with bigger platforms than Tebow’s. The most important thing about Tebow is that he is helping people discover their platform and then encourages them to use it to help others by living an exemplary life.”

To read the Yahoo article in it's entirety: click here

Skip Bayless Interview with Tim Tebow

This was a great interview by ESPN's Skip Bayless. I especially like how Stephen A. Smith (one of Tebow's biggest critics) finally comes around to appreciating the person Tebow is, but he still has a long way to go to before really giving Tebow the respect he deserves.

Remembering "The Promise"

On September 27, 2008, the Florida Gators incurred one of Tebow’s most devastating losses in his football career when Ole Miss defeated Florida by one point.  After the 31 -30 loss, Tebow addressed the media with the kind of passion and words that will never be forgotten.  It was an emotional off-the-cuff speech that came straight from the heart that came to be known as his “The Promise” speech.  I have no doubt that it will ultimately go down in history as one of the most inspirational speeches given by an athlete and will join the ranks of inspirational quotes such as those by the great Vince Lombardi.

The Promise engraved in steel at the University of Florida

On the surface, most people see it as a motivational speech about determination and work ethics, which it partly is, but there’s much more to it than meets the eye.  Character is an internal quality, and this speech definitely exemplifies character and has an internal message worth looking into. 

I will attempt to break the speech down into segments and delve into each segment in search of deeper meanings and lessons that can inspire people in more ways outside the realm of athletics.

THE PROMISE:

“To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry.”

First and foremost, he is addressing the “fans” and “everybody in Gator Nation.”  It is a testament to his unselfishness as a player and clearly tells people that he is playing for others, the key word being “others.”  We can all use a little more emphasis on "others" throughout the daily course of our lives.  Mainstream society wants us to focus on ourselves, our success and our own happiness.  When we chose to do something for others, the world becomes a better place.

Secondly, he says “sorry.”  It’s an apology.  He doesn’t hold anyone else responsible for their loss.  He holds himself accountable.  Apologizing is one of the most difficult things to do.  Some people go through their entire lives knowing they should have apologized for something they did, but never had the strength to swallow their ego and pride to do it.  There is a strong lesson in accountability and humility here.

“We were hoping for an undefeated season.  That was my goal, something Florida has never done here.”

We all have hopes in life that for whatever reason doesn’t materialize, but his doesn’t mean we should stop hoping.  Instead, we should take a closer look at the things we hope for because with every door that is closed in our lives, another one is opened.  In this case, the door of an undefeated season was shut and a door that turned out to have more impact on the team and others was opened.

Tim made it a personal goal of his to do something that was never done at the University of Florida.  Does this mean that everyone should strive to make such high goals in their lives?  Certainly not, but I’m sure he would agree that we should strive to be the person God intends us to be.  This should be the case especially if your life is plagued with misfortune, violence, abuse and vices.  Be the first in your family, school, company or whatnot to do something special with your life that will help others become better people. 

“I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this.”

Aha. Here it is. The operative word being “promise.”   All too often promises are made and promises are broken.  Promise is what grows for the seed of integrity.  A promise is only as good as the integrity is germinates from.  If this word was uttered out from the mouth of anyone else of questionable integrity, the promise would hold little value.  But when it comes out of the mouth of someone who lives a life and basis their life on integrity and character, then its value is priceless.  How are we doing with our promises in life?  How do we teach our children about promises?  Yes, a promise is a promise and it’s up to us to give its value.

The great inspirational guru, Stephen Covey, once said “It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurt us.”  In essence, our responses to what happens to us determine whether we are hurt from it or benefit from it.  Bad things happen to everyone.  We can react to these things by furthering ourselves from the good we are intended to become or commit ourselves in ways that will grow and develop ourselves to become a better person.

“You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season.  You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season”

Here Tim puts everything on himself because he understands that the only thing he can control is his actions.  This is a lesson every child and adult needs to remember when they are surrounded with uncontrollable negative things in their lives.

“You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.”

This is where his speech really gets interesting.  It’s one thing to promise things that you can do on your own behalf, but it’s much different when you promise something on the behalf of others such as an entire team.  I could only imagine what his teammates and coaches were thinking when he said this on national television.

I’ve heard the word “covenant” used on several occasions to describe this speech.  When I think about this part of the speech, I get a sense that it truly is more of a covenant than a promise.  Generally speaking, a promise is unilateral and involves one party promising something to another, whose role is usually passive.  The covenant, however, is bilateral involving two (or more) active parties who have obligations and responsibilities toward each other.

In a biblical context, God promised to do things like never unleashing the kind of flood that Noah experienced, but when he decided to enter into relationships with mankind – he made covenants.

Please, before any of you get the wrong idea – I am in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM trying to equate Tebow to God or raise him to some deity status.  That would be ridiculous.  I only use the biblical examples to demonstrate that a covenant much more special than a promise.  When Tim mentions his teammates here, he more or less includes them into some sort of man-made covenant, that by the way, was eventually fulfilled.

“God Bless.”

These are the words he ends every interview with.  Nowadays he uses GB² (God Bless-Go Broncos) in his written communications.  What can I say?  He saves the best for last.  God is what makes him who he is, and he’s not afraid to proclaim it.  For those of you, who regularly pray before meals at home, think about this next time you feel too embarrassed to pray before a meal at a restaurant.

The outcome of this speech resulted with the Gators defeating every team in their path that year as well as winning the National Championship.  That was the immediate outcome.  The historical outcome is still unfolding before our eyes, and in ways not limited to football.  It helped solidify the platform he stands on, and someday history will speak of the many people who were inspired to do great things for others after being inspired by The Promise.