The New York Mets made a smart decision when they decided to give Tim Tebow a chance to play for their Class A farm team in Columbia, S.C. The Fireflies are selling more tickets and drawing more media attention than ever before, and Tebow is a marketing director’s dream come true.
Through 14 games, Tebow leads the team in home runs. He is third in runs-batted in. He has put the previously obscure Columbia Fireflies on the baseball map and single-handedly increased attendance 65 percent. Tebow is extremely popular with the fans, a leader on the team and – in an era of wife-beating, cop-hating, child-abusing athletes -- a model citizen. He’s only batting .196 (10-for-51), but he just had a 3-for-3 game.
Tebow deserves credit, not scorn. This should be the feel-good story of the year in baseball.
It’s not. Because in “America’s press box” a group of grinches are tearing Tebow down and hoping he fails. Their hearts are exceedingly small, and to them, Tebow’s field of dreams is Whoville and it’s Christmas Day. They aren’t talking about athletes with notoriety; they just want Tebow to fail.
Shannon Sharpe recently said Tebow shouldn’t even be given the chance to play baseball. ESPN’s David Fleming called Tebow a “grifter” who is profiting from failure.
Colin Cowherd, of Fox Sports 1, just said, "I'm rooting against Tim Tebow to walk into baseball and flourish." Cowherd ripped into the former Heisman Award winner and Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback:
“Why would we root for Tebow to be able to just step into baseball, which he didn’t play for 10 years, and excel? He’s a crappy Single-A player … and that’s great. Because what it shows you — Michael Jordan was a crappy Double-A player — is that you just can’t mail it in. To be a great attorney or teacher or scientist or engineer or landscaper or truck driver, it’s not just about, ‘Man, I’ve got a good attitude.’ Yeah, but Jim the truck driver has been doing it 47 years. He knows the routes. I don’t want to live in a world where you can just jump in a plane and fly it. I want the guy who put in the time and focus to be rewarded financially, emotionally, physically and be hard to replace.”
“I’m not saying I’m shooting down your dreams. But your dreams only count if they’re part of the big package of hard work, focus, putting in the time to accomplish your dream. I got no time for dreamers. I got time for dreamers who are putting in the legwork. Tim Tebow’s just a dreamer; he doesn’t wanna put in the time. … Tim Tebow didn’t work hard enough. Tebow is not willing to take the steps to be great. … He doesn’t deserve to play major league baseball. Or be a franchise quarterback.
Cowherd is dead wrong on every account. He is shooting down someone’s dream and he isn't paying attention. If starting a pro career in the South Atlantic League, the bus leagues, isn’t putting in the “legwork,” I don’t know what is. Scientists, pilots, engineers, truck drivers all got their start somewhere. Cowherd himself started his career calling minor league baseball games because someone gave him a chance to develop a career. They all began at the ground level and paid their dues, as Tebow is now doing.
While Cowherd makes his living in an air-conditioned studio running off his mouth, Tebow is working hard in the gym and on the field, sweating, grunting, lifting weights, running, hitting, practicing skills and training his body. As dedicated as they come, he didn’t win national championships, the Heisman Trophy or a starting NFL position by sitting on the couch eating chips. He worked his tail off then and now. He’s a gym rat, an extremely hard working athlete who loves training and pushing himself. He is all focus, all action. Cowherd doesn’t know the man he’s railing against.
While the bigots in the left-stream media are focusing on the negative, Tebow is pursuing a new career and making good progress. He's earned his spot in the lineup.
