Dear readers, we need to have a serious talk about Tim Tebow.
Before you get defensive, just take a second to breathe, and let’s be adults about this.
On Monday, the Gator Nation’s favorite football player walked into a batting cage and stared down a pitcher as a crowd of reporters watched. Hundreds of fans were in attendance, and, somewhere above him, a news station had enlisted the help of a helicopter to fly above the field.
It was the first day of the New York Mets’ instructional league camp, and a damn helicopter was there. In case you aren’t familiar with instructional league camps, our sports section tells us they’re barely worthy of an audience greater than a few of the players’ proud mothers, let alone a helicopter.
We here at the Alligator are Tebow fans just as much as the rest of you. The guy was great. He won championships, played a ton of sports and did the thing with the Heisman Trophy. We salute you, Tebow.
But that was seven years ago.
So, for Fuchs’ sake, why did we open up Snapchat today to be greeted by a new filter: “My thoughts on Tebow”?
Our thoughts on Tebow?
Are we all supposed to have some sort of strong opinion on the man?
For those of you who are living under a rock or just plain sports-challenged, Tebow decided to try his hand at baseball after failing at a professional career in the NFL. He then left
the security of a gig as a college football analyst for the SEC Network and held a private workout for a bunch of Major League Baseball teams in August. And somehow, a 29-year-old former UF quarterback who hasn’t played competitive baseball since high school got a minor league offer from the New York Mets.
Some think the Mets did it for publicity. Some think they did it for jersey sales. And a select few ardently believe they did it because they saw the innate, athletic talent present in Tebow, who will inevitably win a golden glove and a batting title in his first season in the majors.
To everyone, the Alligator asks: Who cares?
Why do we care so much that Tebow wants to pursue his dreams?
And it’s not just us — UF students, professors and Gainesville residents — who care, though we probably have a better reason than most for the interest in Tebow’s life. It’s the entire nation. National news outlets are captivated by Tebow’s attempt to reconcile his athletic career in professional baseball, and it probably doesn’t hurt that he’s trying his comeback in the heart of one of the largest media conglomerates in the country. But is it really necessary to scrutinize every breath the man takes for the rest of his life?
This brings us back to the question that appeared on Snapchat this morning.
Our thoughts on Tebow?
Let the man pursue his dreams, and let’s all just get on with our lives. Stop the hour-by-hour coverage of Tebow walking from the water cooler to the outfield, Tebow getting fitted for the correct-size baseball glove, or Tebow practicing his base-running stance. Save the Snapchat filters for movie promotions and puppy-face selfies.
You know how to tell when there’s too much media coverage about something that really doesn’t matter?
When there’s a damn helicopter there.
Tim Tebow stretches out before batting practice at the New York Mets' complex, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback got to the complex early Monday, and started his first workout as part of their instructional league team.
