*Posted by Kirk Spencer
Many athletes have spoken openly of their faith—bowing, crossing, looking upward, even “taking a knee” for the Coach—so why is it so shocking when Tim Tebow does it? Even a sports novice like me knew about Tebow’s Faith and how he liked to talk about it long before the NFL. Did everyone think he would change when he went professional? In terms of his praying, the only “big deal” is that so many are making a big deal about it. In listening to his detractors, I get the impression he is breaking some etiquette of public religiosity. Like eye-contact, you should only do it for the socially acceptable amount of time—or, more importantly, with a socially acceptable amount of trite, off-the-cuff, I-don’t-really-care, savoir faire. But “Tebow talks too much about his faith and this gives the impression that he’s a hypocrite.” I’m not sure I follow such a conclusion. However, let me try to read between the lines:
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No one really, truly believes all that Jesus stuff, and if you are going to talk about it as a sincere hypocrite, to make yourself look sensitive, or to make your grandma proud, or to pick up chicks, then okay you can talk about it a little. But be sure to keep enough obvious shtick to help us ignore it. But if you talk about it too much, especially in a genuine way and try to live it, then you are a real hypocritical hypocrite because, as we all know, no one really believes all that Jesus as Savior stuff anyway, so you certainly can’t really believe it. So you’re a hypocrite.
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It may be that the point is that he is not trying to score points on the field (or off). It very well may be that the point is simply that it is who Tebow is. I mean, he did grow up in as an MK (Missionary Kid) and he was preaching at 15. And, if it is who Tebow is, then he can do no other. If he did do something other, such as stop praying and praising, then he would be a hypocrite. And if Tebow listened to his critics and stopped praying and praising and “te-bowing,” these very critics would say, “See I told you he was a hypocrite.”
[I like the Urban Dictionary’s definition of “tebowing:” “(vb) To get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.” Anyone who has played football knows what “take a knee” means. In his devotion, Tebow has turned taking a knee for the coach into taking a knee to the Coach. In the arena, one lion even mocked the Christian quarterback by tebowing to Tebow after a humiliating sack in a humiliating game. (I’ve often thought that football and other arena sports go back to the coliseums of Rome. However, now they throw the Christians to the media instead of the lions.) The te-bow is an interesting icon. It is like a Rodin “Thinker” on one knee. It shows off the hamstring and bicep, but more importantly, it speaks to our time. Kneeling. Thinking Ready to arise for action and enter the game whenever the Coach calls your name. Is it any wonder Tebow, tebows? He just has another Coach. As a Christian, we too should both think and pray—and be ready for action when the Coach calls our name.]
There is also the Biblical argument against Tebow: Didn’t Jesus Himself say that if you pray in public you’re a hypocrite. The critics are speaking of Matthew 6. And if you read it, you will find that, at the beginning of the discussion, Jesus adds this important qualifying phrase, “to be noticed by them” which is itself an inward private thing. Christ’s command is certainly not a prohibition of living your faith publically, but living it publically just “to be noticed by them.” If Jesus meant that we should not live our faith publically, such as praying in public, then Jesus did not follow His own advice because He himself prayed in public. To understand why this argument would arise and be widely accepted by the current culture, let me read between the lines again:
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Everyone knows, except for Tebow, that the ALCU has spent the last generation proving to us that our Bill of Rights gives us the inalienable freedom FROM religion. And so religion must be practiced in private. So when someone keeps FORCING their religion down our throats by saying such inflammatory things as “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” and “I thank God for allowing me to play the game” they are violating my religious right to freedom FROM religion. But rather than call them a “violator of my constitutional rights,” we call them “hypocrite” because that sounds worse.
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I remember an insight I gained about public praying one day when a group of people came barging into my classroom with a large, professional-looking video camera. They said they were filming on campus for a college commercial and they wanted to film part of the class. I said, “Fine.” And they captured me on camera as I taught the class. Then they said, “We want to get some footage of you leading the class in prayer.” And they had the class come to the front of the room and form a circle and hold hands. And they said, “Now, pray.” So I said, “Do you want me to just act like I’m praying or do you want me to really pray?” And they said, “Oh no, we want you to really pray.” So, I prayed. But, to be honest, I wasn’t sure if it was a real prayer. It was an odd thing: The camera, and the fact that many people were going to watch my prayer, and the fact that I was trying really hard to make it a “good one,” all of this, was really messing with my mind. It really exposed my motivations. I learned that there will always be questions about our motivations; not just from others, but from ourselves, especially when people are watching. This doesn’t mean we should not live the reality of our Faith in public. If they had set up cameras in the classroom I would not stop praying. Just as Tim Tebow should not stop praying just because, now that he’s in the NFL, there are cameras everywhere, or because people are questioning his motives, or because people believe “he thinks he’s better than everyone else,” or…
There should always be a private side to our faith—the faith we practice when no one is looking. Then the motives are much easier to sort out. We see our motives more clearly when alone in the dark. And so, whether Tim Tebow is a hypocrite only Tebow knows. And it’s not just Tim Tebow. It applies to us all when we ask “Do we do in private what we do in public? I suspect if we’re honest about what we know about ourselves, we are all hypocrites to varying degrees. None of us, including Tebow, are prefect. We all struggle to be less of a hypocrite each day. We struggle to express to those in the public the struggle that exists in private in hopes that we might climb down from any pedestals (and/or gallows). It is not that we are perfect or even want to be; ultimately it is that we want to please our Creator. It is also a struggle to remember, each day, that our hypocrisy has no bearing on the truth of God. Our Faith and our God’s faithfulness is true whether we happen to live for Him or not. In Romans 3, Paul says that unbelief does not nullify the faithfulness of God. Though every man be found a liar, God will be found true. Then four chapters later he speaks of his own struggles to reduce his hypocrisy. And then, in the next chapter (Chapter 8), Paul reveals the glorious victory we can find in the Spirit.
How much God cares about football, I don’t know; but I know He cares about football players and knows every hair upon their heads (And recently there seems to be a lot more). And though a lot of attention has been placed on Tebow’s prayers and how they believe his is just praying to win, I feel confident that Tebow knows that God cares about all prayers and gives strength and direction in all our endeavors in accordance with His will—not (necessarily) to win football games, but certainly to win at life, even when we lose.
At this moment in time, Tebow is not in the news because he prays. That’s old news. He’s not in the news for his skill as a quarterback (less than 50 percent completion percentage). He’s not in the news because he wins games. Lots of quarterbacks win games. Tebow is not even in the news because he wins games in the fourth quarter—that has been done too. He is in the news because he wins in the fourth quarter, in a chaotic fashion, against impossible odds, when all hope is gone and he has does it over and over again, in the same season. Tebow is a kind of “strange attractor” for an odd sequence of chaotic events which makes the impossible possible. He has become the center of belief for his team. Not religious belief, but belief that the impossible can happen, and if often does. And after the “coincidence” argument wears thin, and the Jungian synchronicity explanation fades, the fact that Tebow prays begins to loom large.
I don’t know what Tim Tebow prays—only Tebow knows—but I suspect, from what he has said, that he prays to play well and to learn from both victories and loses, successes and mistakes. And, if he leaves the victory up to God, then the victory in the answered prayer may not be recorded in the win/loss column as some might suppose. Because we know Tebow certainly does not win every time. There are certainly some impressive losses to let the skeptics gloat. But we all know the Tebow phenomenon is not about perfection or particulars, actually the opposite. It is a feature familiar to sports (and quantum physics)—probability. And so we ask “What are the chances?” It’s not so much about beating the other team—that happens all the time—but it is about beating the odds; and doing it over and over again.
Football, as with most everything else, is not that important in itself. It is important in what we can learn in playing it (and watching it). And, in this, there is a sense in which everyone can win even if they lose. I think I might have caught a glimpse of this higher victory. Not necessarily in the fact that Tebow, as a rookie in his first playoff game, passed for 316 yards in the game and averaged 31.6 yards per completion. For we know that 3:16 has become, not only something associated with the Bible, but also a part of sports. And we know that if anyone in the NFL would be associated with this most famous of passages (John 3:16), it would be Tebow. All of this is a “big deal;” and it is probably not just coincidence or Jungian synchronicity; and it will be recorded into perpetuity in that most sacred of sports texts—the stat sheet. The higher victory I saw was not even in the game, but in a press-conference where Tebow spoke of how they just kept believing to the very end, encouraging each other even when it’s not looking good, even when we have opportunities and missed them. It brought to my mind that, in the Gospel, the underdogs can win, and we are all underdogs. We can play an ugly game for three quarters, and make a complete mess of things until it looks hopeless and yet, even when it seems all hope is gone, the impossible can happen. We can still win, even at the very end of the fourth quarter. This is something Tim Tebow knows. And the quarterback on the other side of the field on Sunday knows it too. They both talk about that victory—God’s victory that they have found in Jesus. And they talk about it a lot. And that’s a big deal for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons. In the press conference on Sunday Roethlisberger said of the game, “It is what it is.” In this case a loss, at least in the game. But both Roethlisberger and Tebow know: “God is also always Who He is, whether we happen to win or lose.”
I don’t see him as a hypocrite for his public praying. As it is a public expression, it however certainly deserves a public response. To be clear, he is ‘thanking God’ or ‘talking to God’, is he not? Well, I don’t believe in that God and so his actions make me either ignore him (which I don’t find particularly respectful) or point out that he seems to be having a magical conversation with an invisible force or maybe is just meditating. What would you say if a pagan, Islamic, Jewish, or other religious athlete were to publicly pray. You would have the same two choices that I do: to ignore it or to comment on it.
Hi John…
Thanks for taking the time to comment. And I certainly welcome and respect your perspective. And I thank you for not ignoring it and for entering into the conversation—that does show a tremendous amount of respect. And I think that your interpretation of what Tebow is doing is correct. Prayer is certainly a magical thing. I often think about what it means to be able to speak with our Creator and it is simply unbelievable. I am not sure that I would have attempted it myself if the Bible had not told me it were possible. And, to be honest, after sensing God’s presence in my prayers and seeing Him work through them (even if it’s not what I asked for) allows me to believe even more. But it is still a magical thing. Magical at least to me. I’m sure God knows how it all works. And if He explained it to me, and my head didn’t explode, I might not think it was so magical. And, as you say, God is an invisible force (The Bible says God is Spirit). But, I believe, He was made visible is Jesus. I know you don’t believe this… I am just saying this to extend what you understand about Tebow’s praying. Tebow knows that Jesus is not visible now, but he believes He was visible once and He will be again. Just the other day this guy said hi to me and began to talk to me; and I turned around and said hi; and was looking at him and listening to him; and thinking about what I was going to say to him; and then I realized he was not talking to me. But we were the only ones in the room. He was talking to an invisible something on his Bluetooth. Magic! Praying in public can seem childish. Talking to invisible people and all. But, as you probably already know, Jesus said unless we become as little children we will never see heaven.
I assume your last question was rhetorical since you answered it. But someone wanted to know how I would react to non-Christians praying in public, I would say it’s a great thing. Not just because the free-exercise clause of the first amendment invites us to do it, but because I believe that recognizing there is a Creator God is the first step toward Him. And if our hearts and wills are open to Him, He will help us take the other steps. I also believe that part of that openness involves free-thought. I mentioned it in the blog post in my take on the Icon of tebowing. Thinking, Praying and ready for action. We should be open to what we can know and what we can see and compare it to what we believe about the world and about faith. That’s the reason, not just ignoring things, as you say which is disrespectful, but to enter into a conversation and express your beliefs or disbeliefs. When Doubting Thomas, the skeptical disciple, said that he would not believe unless he saw and felt the facts of the resurrection, Jesus said, “Here I am touch and see.” Then He said “blessed (happier) are those who have not seen and yet believe.” The point is—In reference to comparing the prayers of Christians (in this case Tebow) and athletes of other Faiths —If Tebow is sincere and is faithful, and prays that God might use him; if he not only thinks and prays, but is ready to get off his knee and enter the game when the Coach calls his name, then God might just do something magical to draw the Doubting Thomases to Himself—If they are free-thinkers and willing to consider the evidence. One of the reason I chose the picture of that Lion linebacker, Stephen Tulloch , in the Tebow praying position as the picture for the Blog post is because it captures something about Tebow that needs to be seen, and why we might see some magic. You’ll notice that Tebow is in the picture… He is also on his knees because he has just been sacked and he is trying to get up. (So there is more ways for a Christian to be on his knees than just in prayer.) When they asked Tebow about Tulloch’s mockery (and I think everyone knows it was mockery—unless you think he was praying for Tebow), Tebow said that he believes that Stephen was just having a little fun and that he made a great play and was celebrating with his teammates. I think that kind of response shows something different. Maybe even different enough to add a third option to the two you mentioned. When we see someone pray publically we could also consider what they do when they get up off their knees and we can consider what happens around them. There are great and talented football players, just as there were great and talented people in the Bible and History. And great and talented people do great and marvelous things. And people say they did great things because they were great. But in the Bible, very often, it was not the great that did great things, because God wanted the Doubting Thomases to see that He was doing it—so that they might think for a moment that He existed and cared. For I believe that God can still perform signs and wonders for the Doubting Thomases and also with people who are so unlikely that people shake their heads and say… how did that happen. And if they are free-thinking enough they might even suspect, at some level, that it may be something more than coincidence.
This is what a rookie quarterback (whose quarterbacking is “ugly”) did in his first season:
Tebow put together six game winning drives in the fourth quarter (or overtime) in one season. This has never been done in the Super Bowl Era NFL. And he did it within his first eleven games!
Tebow overcame a 13 or more point deficit in the fourth quarter twice in his first four games. (It took John Elway, the comeback king, 16 seasons to do this.)
Tebow completed four 30 plus passes in a single quarter of an NFL playoff game. This has never been done in the history of the NFL
Tebow threw an 80 yard touchdown pass in overtime. This has never been done in the history of the NFL. (And he did it on the first play).
Tebow gained on average 15 yards per attempt in a playoff game. This has never been done in the history of the NFL.
Tebow gained 31.6 yards per completion in a playoff game. This has never been done before in the history of the NFL.
This is the record that stands out because of the 3:16 connection. Free-thinkers recognize the connection to Tebow’s faith and the significance of this to it and to football. And to the fact that the NFL will not allow him to wear his John 3:16 in his eye-black because of the NFL ban on messages in eye-black. Yet it is this series of numbers that not only appear in the stats, but in broken league records in the stats and it happens three times in this one game.
31.6 yards per completed pass (NFL Record)
316 yards passing (Bronco Playoff Record)
31.6 Nielsen ratings on fourth quarter. Highest for any AFC wildcard game—Estimated 45
million viewers.
You can just ignore these facts or you can point out that it is all coincidence. But if you believe it is coincidence you have much more faith than me.
Sorry for the long post John.
And thanks again for taking the time to respond.
ks
It seems to me that you are setting up an odd and emotional straw-man argument here. I don’t follow football, but have asked my people for an update. Here is what I understand. Tebow isn’t a very good football player on a technical level. The fact that he has succeeded is a bit of a mystery, but in some cases can simply be explained as ‘the other teams are also that bad’. There is also a bit of chance in football. You are simply supposing a causal and affect connection between Tebow’s prayer and success. Praying might make him play better. Belief in God might make Christians happier than atheists. None of this proves the existence of God, not even close. I saw it is a straw-man argument because you are simply setting up a situation where it appears that God has helped Tebow because of his prayers. Do the other teams not also pray to win? Does God really care about football in this way? I often compare this to the wildly popular practice among evangelical Christians and perhaps Catholics to read ‘The Davinci Code’ together and then debunk it. No real skeptic ever presented this book as an argument of any sort. It is simply a sufficiently heretical Tom Clancy style novel to get you guys worked up. On the spine, if you look carefully, are written the words ‘fiction’. Talking about football is fun, but using the acts of a football player is somewhat like reading the will of God in the intestines of a Chicken or turning the Bible into numbers or reading it in its original Latin to ‘best understand it’ when globbing over huge issues with its origin. It is one thing to raise the criticism of someone as myself who feels a strong urge to argue against what I see as ‘bronze age mumbo jumbo’, it is quite another thing when the huge mass of football watching ‘average folk’ start criticizing you. Their opinion actually means more than mine in the democracy of ideas, as I am an outlier.
It also seems that they all completely dismiss the idea of God’s involvement in this as nonsense. The discussion includes a Catholic, a Baptist, a Mormon, and an Atheist. Far more important to them is trying to figure out if Tebow is a good player or not. Football is the centerpiece for them, and the prayer of Tebow seems to be simply considered part of the entertainment: “Tulloch is a decent middle linebacker for the Lions. I think he’s poking fun at Tebow. Football players often steal other players’ moves to mock them when they beat them.” So as a total outsider to football, it appears that it is just part of the fun. You guys get your camera time just like everybody else.
Hi John…
It’s good to hear from you again and to get your thoughts on the subject. I’m not a big football fan either. I usually just catch the playoff games. I only wrote this post because a good friend of mind said I should write something on Tebow. The fact that Tebow is not that good a player is something that I have heard also. Of course this is part of the reason people make the assumption that his praying might have something to do with his success. The opinion that he could do what he did was because the other teams (I’m assuming defense) were so bad that anyone could have done it with a little chance thrown in… I don’t know, because I don’t know football. The NFL records would still hold because those records are not just based on playing bad teams. There have always been weaker teams. Maybe there are just a lot of weak defensive teams this year and they all fell in line for Tebow (this is something that would be easy to check).
I’m glad to hear you say that praying might make Tebow a better player (But I assume you’re talking about the placebo effect). I have always thought that a “straw man” was to misrepresent an opponent position, making it easier to knock down—such as saying that someone is trying to “prove” something when they are only trying to show that there may be possible evidence that needs to be considered in an environment of open and free enquiry and might sway some ones opinion. Or to characterize a position as trying to say that God is picking sides in a football game, like a “game fixer” based only on which team prays the most. To me these are good examples of “straw men” because they are either impossible or ridiculous. It seems that you may have set up a “straw man” while accusing me of doing it. Either that or I just did not explain myself very well—Probably the latter.
It is certainly worth explaining again. While they may not be important to you personally, these are important aspects of practical theology. We all have abilities and the desire to use them to do something worthwhile. Christians pray that God will help them to do their best and to bring honor to God. This applies to football. So in this sense God does care about football. I believe that people who believe God is just interested in churchy things are wrong. However I can’t imagine a real competitor praying to lose, however, there are other types of prayers other than just winning and losing. This is an important point that I hinted at in both the post and my first response. Let me expand on it: I don’t think that it is as much cause and effect (as you say) as it is means and ends. I believe what is animating the misconceptions about Tebow’s prayer is that mankind naturally focus on the ends—in this case winning. Everything else is a means to that end—including God and our prayers to Him. Because we automatically think this way, we cannot see it any other way. Tebow uses God and his prayer to win games. And if he prays he will win. We know this is not true because he prays when he loses also. So God is fickle or He does not exist. There is another way of looking at it: God is not interested in the ends as Man. God is more interested in the means. And so the means become the end (and the end, a means). So Man uses God and prayer as a means to obtain the end of winning. But God uses the end, wanting to win, as a means to teach and to draw us to Himself. In this, He does care about football, as with all our endeavors; but for other purposes than what we might expect. Let me try to explain it in terms of Tebow. Tebow’s prayer could be, “Lord help me to play my best so that I can win this game.” (What most people think.) Or it could be “Lord help me to play in such a way to accomplish your will and learn what you want me to learn and draw other people to You.” I have no idea which of these prayers he prays: The first in an “end” around prayer. The second is a Quarterback sneak (or at least an option play.) I tried to explain this in my first response: In the game with the Lions Tebow’s team and Tebow were humiliated. The picture that I posted was an icon of that humiliation. Tebow is on his knees. (Atheists such as Bill Mahr made fun of Tebow because of this loss.) But this could be a misunderstanding of the prayer. Because I believe, and probably Tebow too, that God answered his prayer in the Lions game as well, maybe even more of an answered prayer; because Tebow got a chance to show a difference. In his comments, Tebow defended the “offending” defensive player who had mocked him. I believe this gave Tebow a chance to learn, to glorify God through his actions and not just his words, and maybe even draw someone (I’m thinking young people who look to him as a role model) closer to His God.
You’re right about the di Vinci Code being written to get Christians worked-up. It seems to be a favorite hobby, and so easy to do. It is interesting to me because more times than not, the Christians who criticize these movies often just miss the point. However, with the “Di Vinci Code” I didn’t get it or get worked-up. You know how some Christian art can be so heavy handed and full of distracting in-your-face indoctrination… So with the Di Vinci Code (IMO). Angels and Demons wasn’t that bad.
I’m glad you think that the Bible was written within the glorious Late Bronze Age cultures. On this we can agree (at least the Pentateuch and Joshua and Job). Of course we are in the minority. I believe most Bible scholars have the Bible being pieced together in the Iron Age. But your point still holds, it is an ancient text and certainly would not have anything to say to modern minds. Bronze Age texts could never be of any value after three thousand years of progress—certainly not the number one best seller—unless it was magic… Which reminds me… I’m guessing your opinion of the whole three 3:16 NFL records, in one game, with the guy who wears those very numbers under his eyes is just coincidence. It is just my opinion, but this was not just something found in the intestines of a chicken. I understand the emotional import of saying so, but, while certainly not “proving” anything, someone could crunch the numbers on these statistics to determine the limits of probability of it happening over different periods of time with different variables. Of all things, we certainly have a plethora of statistics to work with in football. It is almost tailor-made for this kind of calculation. It would be interesting, and I believe informative (if we allow the possibility of God) to see if it falls within the limits of expected coincidence considering the variables and the duration of football, or mankind, or the earth. If we extrapolate the statistic we have in football and the kind of numbers that are generated if it is something that could happen in a hundred years or two hundred years of football then the coincidence seems likely. If it would happen only once in the age of the Earth (4.6 billion years) then coincidence may seem less likely. I don’t believe this, I don’t know what the numbers would show…. I know it has to do with the assumptions made, but you could make assumptions that worked to make it more probable. But at least it’s different from a chicken… Would probably just be a waste of time anyway, because everyone would probably ignore it or dismiss it with comments that it we see these coincidences because we are in the universe which bifurcated off from all the others with just the correct sequences of decisions (You mentioned the “Di Vinci Code”… have you seen the “Source Code.”)
In your second post I agree with both points. I believe that Tulloch was mocking but it was just in fun or part of the trash talking that happens on the field. I’ve done some trash talking myself—but not too trashy. I also agree that most everybody, including the religious are dismissing the idea that God would care about football. It is common to believe that God is only interested in, as I say, “churchy” stuff. I am just of a different opinion.
Thanks again for the conversation…
And, for what it’s worth, your opinion means more to me than the “average folks” because they ignored me… you took the time to comment.
Take care,
ks
Enjoyed the post. It is amazing to see how things work out in life, regardless of how it appears it will or won’t work out. I also think in truth nobody really knows what will happen next in their life. As for the comments it is cool to see that it engages others. My personal opinion always has been if one does not want to believe in God then they will find a reason not to. If one believes in God it is because they found a reason to. For my reason it was divine intervention that was real a hope for more than I see in this world where people harass one another, belittle one another, lie, cheat, steal, etc…Reality I know and deal with daily. Thanks for the post.
Thanks Kevin…
As I was reading your post, I was thinking that it is ironic that people don’t think God would care about football and yet it is my football post that seems to have gotten so much attention. All my “churchy” posts got very little attention. I think that God has always tried to speak to us through the everyday, and we miss it because we are expecting something “miraculous.”
We do live in a world where people “harass one another, belittle one another, lie, cheat, steal, etc.” And although I disagree with atheists, I believe that most want to fight against these things in the world also (except for maybe the belittling part). They see the hypocrisy in those who should be against it, yet are practicing it. How ironic, and sad, that atheists are more interested in Church Discipline then most church members. It breaks my heart. I have to keep reminding myself it begins with me. I’ve got to get the plank out of my own eye first—Ergo my dependency on God. So, as you say, it is not as much about evidence as simply recognizing our need. Evidence is good, and important. But, in those times, experience is better. However, I have found that experiences can become evidence too… at least for the individual who experiences God. And, as I said, that’s what it’s all about anyway—Finding God. While we try to use God to get what we want—To gain heaven or escape hell, or gain wisdom, knowledge, security, power, fame or stuff—He uses these things to help us find Him, and when we do, we can’t help but change. And if you agree with that, then you must also agree with this: If we think we have gained heaven and escaped hell, and gained wisdom, knowledge, power, fame and stuff and do not change—well then our security is false, as is our Faith. And if no one cares about us enough to point this out, then maybe the atheists will.
Thanks again for the encouragement Kevin…
take care
ks
In the context of our guessing about Tebow’s praying, I thought this was interesting:
In the Bronco’s win over the Chicago Bears on Decemeber 11th, the National Football League mic’d Tebow. The recording captured Tebow not only praying but singing. Two of his prayers were loud enough to make out on the tape:
Before the game:
“Lord put a wall of protection around me and my teammates today, and we go out there and we can honor you with everything we do and say. I love you in Jesus’ name.”
During the fourth quarter:
“Dear Jesus, I need you. Please come through for me. No matter what happens, win or lose, give me the strength to honor you.”