Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos prays during the final minute of the game against the New York Jets at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on November 17, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/Getty Images)
Behind Bob and Pam Tebow, ESPN personality Skip Bayless might be the biggest Tim Tebow fan. So it was with great hype and anticipation from the Mickey Mouse sports nation that Bayless interviewed Tim Tebow for the first time Tuesday morning (see the world wide twitter campaign #WhenSkipMeetsTebow).
Bayless conducted a lengthy phone interview with Tim Tebow and asked him about his throwing game, the opinions of his Denver Broncos bosses – namely John Elway, and the comments former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer made about his irritation with Tebow’s constant recognition of his Christian faith.
To sum up Tebow’s responses, basically he doesn’t care about or pay attention to others opinions about his play because he’s living his childhood dream and believes in himself and the platform he’s been given to be a role model. Here’s the highlights from that interview.
On Tebow’s future in Denver
Tebow : Well, I just consider myself very blessed and I thank the Lord everyday that they gave me a chance to come into the National Football League and live my dream everyday because it has been my dream to be an NFL quarterback since I was six-years-old. I’m also very thankful that they give me an opportunity to be the starting quarterback for this organization and I’ve had a blast living out my dream for the last five weeks and I will continue to work as hard as I can to make this organization proud and everytime I step on the field I will give everything I have and I will leave everything I have on the field every single Sunday.
Bayless: Have you seen or heard Jake Plummer’s comments about you on our radio interview that he did in Phoenix yesterday?
Tebow: No, I have not heard. (Bayless reads the quotes)
Well, first I’d say, thank you for the compliment of calling me a winner and then I’d also say if you’re married and you’re a [husband] is it good enough to only say you love her on the day you get married or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and have an opportunity? And that’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing in my life so anytime I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or give him an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I’m gonna take that opportunity. So I look at that as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity and then right after I give him honor and glory. then I want to try and give my teammates honor and glory and that’s how it works because Christ comes first in my life, then my family, and then my teammates and so I respect Jake’s opinion and I really appreciate his compliment of calling me a winner but I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise he is due for it because of what he did for me and what he did for us on the cross for all of us.
Bayless: Do you believe that the power and strength that you gain from your relationship with God gives you an edge on the football field?
Tebow: Well, I think it’s more than what it can do for me on the football field. It makes me who I am as a person and I think it does help me on the football field because it gives me a peace beyond all understanding and it gives me such a comfort that I know no matter what happens on the field, win or lose, that God is in control and he has a plan for my life and that gives me perspective that I know no matter what happens on the football field, that it doesn’t define my life. That’s not what defines Tim Tebow as a person. But what it does do is give me a platform to be a great role model for the next generation to try to make a difference, to try to the man that dads can look to their sons and that’s trying to do it the right way, that’s trying to stand up for character, strength and honor, do what’s right, do what’s best and treat other people the way you’d want to be treated and that’s what I want to be. I want to be a great role model and be what Danny Wuerffel was to me and I want to be someone who makes difference. Because at the end of the day if all we’re doing is winning and losing football games and scoring touchdowns, then we really haven’t done a lot in our lives. But if we’re in the business of encouraging people, bring faith, hope and love to those on their darkest hour of need as the mission statement of my foundation reads then we’re really ding something successful with our lives. So I’m going to take the platform that football has given me and try to give back, make a difference and make this world a better place.
Bayless: Can you convince me that you will sustain this [momentum] the rest of the year?
Tebow: Well Mr. Bayless it’s not necessarily my job to convince you, it’s my job to go out and practice today and get a little better and be a great teammate and try to find a way to win this Sunday. I’m not in the business of convincing people that I can be a quarterback. I just want to go out there and live my dream and play quarterback and live my dream and I’m really thankful that the Broncos are giving me that opportunity.
Bayless: So will you vow for me the way you did after the Ole Miss loss at home that you will win the AFC West?
Tebow: (laughs) No sir, I will not vow to you that. But I will say that we have a very competitive team, a very resilient team that believes that everytime we step onto that field, we will give everything that we have because that’s just the character of this team and I’m proud to be apart of it.
So what are your thoughts on Tebow’s responses? Did you love it or hate it? Sound off.