Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow (born August 14, 1987, Makati, Philippines) is a former American football player who was a dominant dual-threat quarterback at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, where he won a Heisman Trophy and led the team to two national championships. After playing briefly in the NFL, he spent several years as a baseball player in the minor leagues and later became a television broadcaster. Starting in high school, Tebow garnered extensive media coverage and won a devoted fan following for his athletic heroics and personal humility. He is also known for speaking openly about his Christian faith.

Childhood

Tebow’s parents, Bob and Pam Tebow, met in the late 1960s while attending the University of Florida and were married in 1971. In 1985 the Tebows—who by then had four children—moved to the Philippines to serve as missionaries. While living in Makati, Pam Tebow became seriously ill with dysentery. She later stated that doctors, upon realizing that she was pregnant, recommended that she have an abortion because the medicine that they had given her to treat the illness had resulted in placental abruption, a condition that deprives the fetus of oxygen and necessary nutrients. Because of their faith and opposition to abortion, the Tebows opted to go through with the pregnancy, and Tim Tebow was born with no lasting health concerns. During the 2010 Super Bowl, Tim and Pam Tebow appeared in a controversial antiabortion advertisement sponsored by the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, in which Pam Tebow called her son “my miracle baby.”

In 1990 the Tebows moved to a farm outside Jacksonville, Florida. Tim Tebow, like his siblings, was homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade. A Florida law that allows homeschooled children to participate in local high-school sports programs enabled him to play for Trinity Christian Academy’s football team during his freshman year. The next year he began playing for Nease High School, where he was QB and excelled as a left-handed passer with a strong arm and exhibited adept running instincts. By the end of his senior year, Tebow had broken the state record for passing yards and had led Nease to the state championship. Already well-known in Florida, he was introduced to the broader public as the subject of an ESPN documentary called Tim Tebow: The Chosen One (2005).

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College career and growing celebrity

Heavily recruited by numerous division I schools, in 2006 Tebow opted to join his parents’ alma mater, the University of Florida, to play under head coach Urban Meyer. He was named backup quarterback during his freshman year and was used selectively, more for his running than his passing; the Gators won the BCS national championship. The following year Tebow assumed starting duties. Over the course of the season he proved himself to be one of the country’s top offensive players: he threw for 3,286 yards and 32 touchdowns and rushed for 895 yards and 23 touchdowns. In December 2007 Tebow received the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first ever underclassman (a freshman or sophomore) to win the award.

In 2008 Meyer announced that Tebow would be part of a two-quarterback system in order to alleviate some of the physical wear and tear on the young star. Tebow excelled under the new arrangement, helping to lead the Gators to a 13–1 record that ended with another BCS national championship. Despite his lighter workload, Tebow still managed to throw and run for 3,419 total yards, recording 42 touchdowns. In 2009 Tebow again co-led the Gators to a 13–1 record, though they missed out on the BCS championship game after losing to the University of Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship. In his final college season, Tebow was again prolific in passing and running, amassing 3,805 total yards and 35 touchdowns.

Throughout his time in Gainesville, Tebow attracted a huge amount of media coverage, partly for the serious way he treated the game. After what turned out to be the team’s only loss of the 2008 season, he addressed the media in a speech that went viral, declaring, on the edge of tears:

I just want to say one thing to the fans and everybody in Gator Nation. I’m sorry. Extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal.…But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season, and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season. You’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.

Tebow, who had a clean-cut image and spoke about abstaining from sex before marriage, also drew attention for his outward displays of his faith. He talked frequently about doing missionary work with his family, prayed openly, and wrote references to Bible verses, including John 3:16, on the eye black he wore for every game.

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Brief NFL success and foray into baseball

Although Tebow had much success in college, he was considered an uncertain professional prospect because he threw with an awkward motion and was thought to rely more on his grit than outstanding skill. Nevertheless, he was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 25th pick in the 2010 NFL draft. He began his professional career as a backup quarterback and started three games, going 1–2 with five touchdowns and three interceptions. Tebow was named the Broncos’ starting quarterback after week five of his second season. Some of the old football magic reemerged, as he led the Broncos to a 7–1 record—including three overtime victories—in his first eight starts, engineering a series of second-half comebacks after starting each game playing poorly. The crowning moment of his NFL career came in the wild card game of the playoffs, when Tebow threw a game-winning touchdown pass on the first snap in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite the excitement generated by that winning run, Tebow remained an inconsistent quarterback and finished the 2011 season with a 46.5 completion percentage. After the season, the Broncos signed Peyton Manning and traded Tebow to the New York Jets. Tebow was a backup during his lone season in New York, and, despite fans calling for his promotion to starter, he threw only eight passes. He was waived by the Jets after the season.

Tebow attempted a number of comebacks after his release by the Jets. In 2013 and 2015 he was signed to a preseason roster by the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. In both cases he was released before the season began. He then switched his focus to pursuing baseball, a sport he had played also in high school. In 2016 he was signed to a minor-league affiliate of the New York Mets. He reached triple-A in 2019 and was invited several times to major league spring training camps before retiring in 2021. That year Tebow’s hometown Jacksonville Jaguars signed him to their preseason squad to play tight end. He was released before the season, marking the end of his athletic career.

Move into broadcasting and media

Tebow has appeared on television broadcasts as a commentator for the ESPN-owned SEC Network since 2014. In addition, he has written several books, including the memoir Through My Eyes (2011, with Nathan Whitaker) and, with A.J. Gregory, Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life’s Storms (2016), the children’s book Bronco and Friends: A Party to Remember (2021), and Mission Possible: Go Create a Life that Counts (2023).

Personal life

In 2020 Tebow married South African model Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, the 2017 winner of the Miss Universe pageant. Under the auspices of the Tim Tebow Foundation (established in 2010), the couple is actively involved in Christian ministry, especially to those with special needs. In January 2023 he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.