Is there a Tebow double standard, and if so what is it?

[PosImpos]

One double standard is pretty obvious.

If Muhammed came down from Heaven and told Muhammed Ali "Oh wait. You think YOU beat Joe Frazier? Ha. That's funny"

or if Moses or Abraham came down and told Rex Grossman "You think YOU led this team to the Super Bowl? Yeah right."

We know exactly how people would react.

But if Jesus tells Tebow and the Broncos they suck the next morning at the water cooler you hear "Hey guys. DId you see that SNL Tebow sketch. Oh man. It was so funny!"

SNL sucks and they have for years. And that's the Tebow double standard. Telling you right now. If Larry Bird had thanked Jesus after all his wins we'd still be hearing about how his lack of athleticism makes it impossible for him to win long term. 

This is a terrible analogy.  Boxing is unequivocably an individual sport, whereas in football your quarterback can play terrible and your team can still win.  Likewise, your quarterback can play great and your team can still lose.  That's why it's ridiculous to pin the credit for a win or a loss entirely on one person.

That said, Tebow played very well on Sunday and he deserves credit for his performance.

The SNL skit was just a jab at Tebow's very public religious fervor (and his attribution of his success to God), as well a joke about how the Broncos had won so many close games.  The skit also rightfully pointed to the fact that the Broncos' kicker didn't get nearly enough credit, since he was the one who was hitting so many difficult and high-pressure field goals.

[Eja117]

One double standard is pretty obvious.

If Muhammed came down from Heaven and told Muhammed Ali "Oh wait. You think YOU beat Joe Frazier? Ha. That's funny"

or if Moses or Abraham came down and told Rex Grossman "You think YOU led this team to the Super Bowl? Yeah right."

We know exactly how people would react.

But if Jesus tells Tebow and the Broncos they suck the next morning at the water cooler you hear "Hey guys. DId you see that SNL Tebow sketch. Oh man. It was so funny!"

SNL sucks and they have for years. And that's the Tebow double standard. Telling you right now. If Larry Bird had thanked Jesus after all his wins we'd still be hearing about how his lack of athleticism makes it impossible for him to win long term.  

So what you are saying is that Tebow is as talented a football player as Larry Bird was a basketball player Mohammed Ali was a boxer and that the reason Tebow is made fun of and not liked is because of his very public displays of his belief in Christianity that Larry Bird and Ali didn't show?

Or is it perhaps Tebow is a fairly mediocre professional quarterback, a good football player, who gets tremendously, much more attention than just a bout any other mediocre quarterbacks in the NFL has ever gotten because he is white and because his very public displays of religion appeal to a large portion of conservative, white, Christian America.

Cam Newton had one of the most amazing rookie seasons that any rookie QB has ever had in NFL history. He threwdfor over 4000 yds and has 21 TD passes. He ran for over 700 yds and 14 more TDs. His team improved by the same 4 games that Tebow's Broncos improved by. Yet when it came to young QBs in the league, all the media wanted to cover was Tebow.

In their first full season of play I don't remember Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham, Kordell Stewart, or Michael Vick getting nearly the attention that Tebow did and yet all those guys were running QBs with much better passing games than Tebow's. Difference? They weren't running around spouting off about Jesus whenever someone put a microphone in his face and they weren't white.

So maybe a double standard does exist, only not in the way you think.

Regarding SNL, if you are getting a huge amount of publicity, guess what? You are fair game and are going to be made fun of. Doesn't matter if you are famous or not, a jock, a politician, a musician, a movie star or even the producer of SNL. They are going to ridicule you. You and your fans will need to live with that.

No I'm not saying Tebow is as good as Muhammed Ali. Not yet.

I'm saying that it's popular to take a dump on Christianity and it's unpopular to do that to any other faith. So you can take a winner who's a big Christian and take a dump on him on SNL and it's ok. But not any other religion.

We're very used to the media saying "This guy is really good. He's taking a horrid horrid team and making it a little less horrid."

We're not used to the "experts" like other football players that were awful in their day (looking at you Merril Hodge) saying "This guy is horrid. He can't hit the broad side of a barn." and then watching said QB have a historic day and then thank God for it, and then have critics yell even louder that he is awful. We're not used to seeing that. Of course we'll pay attention to it.

If Tebow keeps doing this his critics will just devolve into haters, but he could have virtually the same career as Brady and win multiple rings and his haters will never go away. What's the difference? Gee. Could it be that he thanks Jesus?

And believe me if Cam Newton praised Jesus in the same way Tebow did and lived the same life style you'd see tons of Cam Newton "critics".

At this point if his critics really believe that he is that bad then they have to admit this is a miracle, only they won't want to admit that either. So which is it "experts"? Tebow is actually good and that's why he's doing good things, or he's bad, and he's doing things with divine help. Which one? Cause this weekend's game was divine. Tebow did things in that game no other QB has EVER done. So which is it? 

[indeedproceed]

But if Jesus tells Tebow and the Broncos they suck the next morning at the water cooler you hear "Hey guys. DId you see that SNL Tebow sketch. Oh man. It was so funny!"

SNL sucks and they have for years. And that's the Tebow double standard. Telling you right now. If Larry Bird had thanked Jesus after all his wins we'd still be hearing about how his lack of athleticism makes it impossible for him to win long term. 

That is pretty darn ridiculous. Did you watch the sketch? Jesus was portrayed as a super-cool guy, and Tim Tebow as an over-zealous but cherished follower.

And, the Broncos (at the time) WERE playing awful leading up to the 4th, and they WERE pulling off miraculous comebacks.

And, Tim Tebow is pretty in-your-face about his faith.

Its not only a perfectly fair caricature, its a funny one. Nobody was disparaging Christianity, it was good-natured all-around.

And, FTR, who cares what Muslims think, or what Jewish people think about hypothetical jokes that have not been told about them yet (Jews are far from out-of-bounds. Some of their most famous sketches touch on it..coffee talk for instance, is a parody of a jewish person)? One thing about the Muslim faith that I absolutely abhor is the lack of a sense of humor it seems to have about its self a lot of times. I like that Christians by and large don't share that predilection towards humorlessness.

[CelticG1]

With all other religions and races being dumped on in real life I think its fair game to dump on christianity  in an SNL skit.

[Moranis]

One double standard is pretty obvious.

If Muhammed came down from Heaven and told Muhammed Ali "Oh wait. You think YOU beat Joe Frazier? Ha. That's funny"

or if Moses or Abraham came down and told Rex Grossman "You think YOU led this team to the Super Bowl? Yeah right."

We know exactly how people would react.

But if Jesus tells Tebow and the Broncos they suck the next morning at the water cooler you hear "Hey guys. DId you see that SNL Tebow sketch. Oh man. It was so funny!"

SNL sucks and they have for years. And that's the Tebow double standard. Telling you right now. If Larry Bird had thanked Jesus after all his wins we'd still be hearing about how his lack of athleticism makes it impossible for him to win long term.  

So what you are saying is that Tebow is as talented a football player as Larry Bird was a basketball player Mohammed Ali was a boxer and that the reason Tebow is made fun of and not liked is because of his very public displays of his belief in Christianity that Larry Bird and Ali didn't show?

Or is it perhaps Tebow is a fairly mediocre professional quarterback, a good football player, who gets tremendously, much more attention than just a bout any other mediocre quarterbacks in the NFL has ever gotten because he is white and because his very public displays of religion appeal to a large portion of conservative, white, Christian America.

Cam Newton had one of the most amazing rookie seasons that any rookie QB has ever had in NFL history. He threwdfor over 4000 yds and has 21 TD passes. He ran for over 700 yds and 14 more TDs. His team improved by the same 4 games that Tebow's Broncos improved by. Yet when it came to young QBs in the league, all the media wanted to cover was Tebow.

In their first full season of play I don't remember Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham, Kordell Stewart, or Michael Vick getting nearly the attention that Tebow did and yet all those guys were running QBs with much better passing games than Tebow's. Difference? They weren't running around spouting off about Jesus whenever someone put a microphone in his face and they weren't white.

So maybe a double standard does exist, only not in the way you think.

Regarding SNL, if you are getting a huge amount of publicity, guess what? You are fair game and are going to be made fun of. Doesn't matter if you are famous or not, a jock, a politician, a musician, a movie star or even the producer of SNL. They are going to ridicule you. You and your fans will need to live with that.

No I'm not saying Tebow is as good as Muhammed Ali. Not yet.

I'm saying that it's popular to take a dump on Christianity and it's unpopular to do that to any other faith. So you can take a winner who's a big Christian and take a dump on him on SNL and it's ok. But not any other religion.

We're very used to the media saying "This guy is really good. He's taking a horrid horrid team and making it a little less horrid."

We're not used to the "experts" like other football players that were awful in their day (looking at you Merril Hodge) saying "This guy is horrid. He can't hit the broad side of a barn." and then watching said QB have a historic day and then thank God for it, and then have critics yell even louder that he is awful. We're not used to seeing that. Of course we'll pay attention to it.

If Tebow keeps doing this his critics will just devolve into haters, but he could have virtually the same career as Brady and win multiple rings and his haters will never go away. What's the difference? Gee. Could it be that he thanks Jesus?

And believe me if Cam Newton praised Jesus in the same way Tebow did and lived the same life style you'd see tons of Cam Newton "critics".

At this point if his critics really believe that he is that bad then they have to admit this is a miracle, only they won't want to admit that either. So which is it "experts"? Tebow is actually good and that's why he's doing good things, or he's bad, and he's doing things with divine help. Which one? Cause this weekend's game was divine. Tebow did things in that game no other QB has EVER done. So which is it? 

Troy Palamalu prays after every single play in every single game (PLAY not game).  Yet no one ever says anything about it or takes a "dump" on his Christian faith (did you even know he was Christian?).  Taking a "dump" on Tebow has nothing to do with his faith, and much more to do with him and the way he is perceived by many people in this country.  It also doesn't help that in his rookie season he did a Superbowl ad regarding abortion that was sponsored by an organization that openly practices bigotry.  

[Donoghus]

Its not only a perfectly fair caricature, its a funny one. Nobody was disparaging Christianity, it was good-natured all-around.

IP nailed it.

[Chris]

Its not only a perfectly fair caricature, its a funny one. Nobody was disparaging Christianity, it was good-natured all-around.

IP nailed it.

Yup.  And it was not a dig at Tebow really at all, and certainly not the Christian faith.  It was a dig at the people claiming God is helping him win.

I loved the Brady part of it BTW. 

It's interesting though that they have the same person playing both Jesus and the Devil though...

[thirstyboots18]

For years athletes in all sports have been thanking whatever higher power they believe in, their Moms or their coaches, etc. for leading them in the right direction, keeping them safe, or helping them on the road to reaching their potential. For those who believe, teams have been praying for years for God (or their personal higher power) to protect them from injury.  I really don't see any difference between the pointing to the heavens and a genuflection or dropping on one knee.  I don't see why what Tebow is doing is any different, or at all objectionable. 

It doesn't seem to me that Tebow (or anyone else) has forced anyone else to do the same.  It does seem to me that they have every right to do what they are doing.  The United States has always tolerated individual statements of principles and beliefs of all kinds. 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

[KCattheStripe]

Also, no one in Judaism prays to Moses or Abraham, they don't serve nearly the same function as Jesus so your Grossman joke doesn't make any sense. Neither does the Ali joke as Mohammed isn't prayed to, Allah is. The most he gets mentioned in is in some prayers it begins " Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet" that's a pretty clear distinction. In Christianity, Jesus is not only the son of god but -- as St. Patrick explained to the Irish-- part of the same clover. Christians pray directly to Jesus as a way of talking directly to God, as they are one and the same. The joke wouldn't have worked for a muslim or jewish athlete not because of privilege but rather because it wouldn't make sense in context.

[KCattheStripe]

 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

The IOC suspended them and kicked them out of the olympic village.

[thirstyboots18]

 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

The IOC suspended them and kicked them out of the olympic village.

I'm sorry, I should have specified...by the United States government...

[BballTim]

 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

The IOC suspended them and kicked them out of the olympic village.

  I thought they were stripped of their medals.

[KCattheStripe]

 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

The IOC suspended them and kicked them out of the olympic village.

I'm sorry, I should have specified...by the United States government...

No, but they weren't exactly welcomed back home with open arms.

[indeedproceed]

For years athletes in all sports have been thanking whatever higher power they believe in, their Moms or their coaches, etc. for leading them in the right direction, keeping them safe, or helping them on the road to reaching their potential. For those who believe, teams have been praying for years for God (or their personal higher power) to protect them from injury.  I really don't see any difference between the pointing to the heavens and a genuflection or dropping on one knee.  I don't see why what Tebow is doing is any different, or at all objectionable. 

It doesn't seem to me that Tebow (or anyone else) has forced anyone else to do the same.  It does seem to me that they have every right to do what they are doing.  The United States has always tolerated individual statements of principles and beliefs of all kinds. 

I believe it was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico that the athletes on the medal podiums gave a raised fist salute to honor Black pride and solidarity.  A lot of people didn't understand it, or like it, but I don't remember that there were ever any sanctions against it. 

Tboots I think everything you said there is true, but I don't think anyone is really contesting it, and I don't think its what the real 'talk' around Tebow is.

1) Tim Tebow is a devout Christian, who makes no apologies or excuses for his faith, and shouts his belief from the mountain-tops, literally. (cuz Denver is way above sea-level)

2) Tim Tebow is a quarterback that has a lot more in common with Sammy Baugh than he does with Sam Bradford (if you followed fooseball it would make sense, basically it means he's not a traditional QB in the modern era). His skillset defies what conventional wisdom tells you makes a winning quarterback.

3) If you took the last what...4 years as a continuous line, Tim Tebow is also the most consistent winner in football right now among QB's. 2 national championships, a heisman, 2 all-americans, a manning, and a record of 7-4 as a full-time starter in his second season, with one playoff victory under his belt.

4) He also seems like a really decent human being, who consistently gains the faith and loyalty of his teammates and coaches alike, along with inspiring a near-rabid level of devotion from his fans

So he's a weird player, with a rare relation to God (for our time. There aren't many athletes who have a faith that looks like Tim Tebow's, from a fan's perspective), that keeps defying conventional wisdom by winning, with hoard of rabid fans.

He's unique and loud, and I think that's why there is so much fuss over him.

[thirstyboots18]

Tebow is in the vein of my favorite athlete.  Maybe not the most obviously physically gifted, but with heart and a winning attitude that his team mates buy into, and the smarts to make it work.  He may not end up as the best quarterback who ever played, but he will be remembered as one who was able to use the skills that he has, and the skills that his team has, to consistently forge  winning systems...throughout his career.