Are We Bullying Tim Tebow?

Bullying has become one of the most contentious and relevant topics in the United States today. Making headlines due to the rampant spread of bullying in schools, are we (the media), bullies ourselves? Sure, suicide and poor self-esteem are reasons enough to stop bullying between teenagers and college students, but who is setting this example? Is it human nature to bully? Or is it a learned behavior from the various media outlets and social pressures in our country? This topic is bigger than sports, but if we are to praise people for being themselves, why the hell are we so cynical of Tim Tebow for NOT giving into peer pressure, and NOT being afraid to be himself...no matter what.

Love him or hate him, Tim Tebow has been one of the most fun players to watch at the college and professional levels in recent history. More fun than Adrian Peterson, more fun than Mark Ingram, and WAY more fun than Andrew Luck. Why, then, has he become to most polarizing figure in sports?

One word, individuality.

Tim Tebow is an individual. He praises him team and the man upstairs more than himself, but make no qualms about it, Tim Tebow is an individual. This individuality is exactly what we promote to our children, yet we criticize an NFL quarterback for having morals that are TOO strong.

Maybe Tim Tebow is wrong. Maybe he should have given in to the pressures of being the big-man on campus at the University of Florida. Maybe he should have gone crazy, taken advantage of his status, and perhaps taken advantage of some college girls while he was at it. That's what professional athletes are supposed to do, right? Wrong. Maybe he should have taken his money and bought an Escalade on 27 inch rims, and driven straight to the night club. Maybe Tim Tebow should have listened to people that told him to drop the whole "God" thing because it made him less "manly" and more "vulnerable." That's what professional athletes are supposed to do, right? Wrong.

It is Tim Tebow's resistance toward common approval that makes him who he is, and makes him one of the greatest role models that sports has ever seen. I'm not saying, by any stretch, that just because he praises God that he deserves our respect. I'm not saying just because he stuck with his views of abstinence until marriage that he deserves our respect. What I am saying though, is that he deserves a chance.

People don't like Michael Vick because he killed dogs, and people despise Ben Roethlisberger because he has been accused of sexual assault (twice). And finally, people hate Tim Tebow because...ummm....uhhhh....he built a hospital in the Phillipines, gives his teammates all the credit, and brings a religious view of success to national TV? Things just don't add up.

As he recently said in a nutritional supplement commercial, nobody believed in him. From middle school, to top recruit, to national champion, to heisman winner, to first round pick, to NFL starter, to NFL winner (phew), nobody believed in him. Is it because he wasn't good enough, or is it because we didn't want to see someone that seemed so "perfect," to actually be perfect?

Now, lets take this and relate it back to bullying in our schools. We tell outcasts in our schools to stay true to who they are. We tell gay high school students that "it will get better." We tell EVERYONE that being yourself and not giving in is what makes a person so strong.

Then why do we consider Tim Tebow such a weak person? He is doing exactly what any parent would tell their child to do. Be yourself. The greatest part about it is that he is in one of the hardest positions to stay true to one's self! Women draped all over your belt loop in college, a heisman trophy, a national championship, and a first-round NFL contract. Those are reasons to change. Those are reasons to give in to the "typical athlete" ideal. Those are reasons that Tim Tebow should just drop his whole image and blend in. But those are the reasons that he DID NOT.

He showed everyone that being yourself is easy, especially if you don't have a press conference every day after practice. He showed everyone that sticking to your guns gets you success. He even showed everyone that being yourself gains you respect, right?

No. He hasn't gained respect, and he is ridiculed for his success everyday, and he has shown that being Tim Tebow gets harder every day. Maybe that is how our kids feel when they are feeling bullied, that every day is harder, that success isn't just putting your mind to it, and being yourself just isn't worth it.

Tim Tebow has done everything to be himself, something that we should recognize and promote. Instead, we, the media and society as a whole, have become the biggest bully our school of thought has ever seen.

If we want our kids to shape up, we need to shape up. You don't have to love Tim Tebow, but why hate him? He's only being himself.