Tim Tebow

For those who don't follow sports and don't know who Tim Tebow is, you better pay attention. This is a man (Is he really a man or some sort of Messiah?) who has the chance to transcend sports, to inspire the world, to change the way everyone believes.

I'd consider myself a skeptic on most things. I have philosophies like "Don't believe everything you hear" and "Sell high, buy low," "get out while you're ahead," "I'm not inspired by 3 circles drawn on a piece of paper that someone else calls art." In fantasy sports, especially, I'm the guy who goes by value, isn't loyal to any one player, thinks that you should trade guys while their "stock" is high, etc. I'm that way because usually I'm right: a lot of times things get hyped and people think they're bigger than they are; players like Chris Shelton, Colby Rasmus, Paul Konerko, etc., etc., etc. get hot at the beginning of the season and don't sustain their success through the season.

But even me, the skeptic that I am, believe in Tim Tebow. It's not just the way he plays football, although his single-handed turnaround of the Broncos' season from 1-4 to 8-5 is amazing (with a 6-game winning streak), he has awesome speed for a QB, and has brushed aside questions of his arm accuracy by winning, winning and more winning.

It's not the way he leads his teammates, although it's pretty impressive: everything from winning a Heisman trophy, from his "We will win all our games the rest of this season" after a loss at Florida, the way his teammates rally around him now in Denver, the way he applauds everyone else's effort and credits his teammates for "keep fighting, keep going and never surrendering."

It's not necessarily the religious icon he is: a devout Christian, he points to the sky after every score/accomplishment in the season,


Tim Tebow is the epitome of a great human being. From all accounts, he takes time out ot meet everyone, is nice to everyone, says how honored HE is to meet people who ask for his autograph. Lot of talk about how there's "not a fake bone in his body." That's vastly different from what we usually get from celebrities. We always hear about drug addictions, ugly divorces, luxurious houses, and all matter of ugliness from celebrities away from the camera/field/stage, and we're often disappointed: these are not heroes, not people we should look up to when we live our lives. I think, as a nation and a human society, we need people like Tim Tebow, someone who is in the limelight but doesn't let it change him, who has been humble throughout his life and continues to be despite his celebrity, someone we can tell our kids/family members/people we love, "I want to have the same attitude as Tim Tebow," not necessarily "I want to be a great football player like Tim Tebow," or "I want to be a great leader like Tim Tebow," or "I want to be as religious as Tim Tebow." Instead, I want to be "as good of a human being as Tim Tebow, and that's why I root for him on Sundays: for him to succeed and gain more attention to the world, to deliver "his message" to be good and humble and ethical in how you treat others. And that's why, when Tim Tebow beat my hometown Bears this afternoon in miraculous fashion (again, again in OT), I was okay with it, because I know it's just adding onto the legacy of Tim Tebow, and that legacy is very healthy for our world.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan