PLAIN TWP. — Tim Tebow had mixed success at commanding a football huddle.
He was a big hit at commanding a room in Stark County on Saturday, June 13.
Tebow, 38, was the closer in the Ignite Men’s Conference featuring speakers across two days at First Christian Church in Plain Township.
At the end of his hour-long talk focused on his Christian faith Saturday, he invited the crowd of 700, ranging from retirees to teens, to stand if willing to join him in the “Fellowship of the Unashamed.” Almost everyone arose immediately and simultaneously (read on for details).
Tebow was one of the world’s most famous Christians by the time he won the 2007 Heisman Trophy, the season after he was a freshman quarterback passing for one touchdown and running for another as his Florida Gators beat Ohio State in a national championship game.
He led the Gators to another national championship in 2008, helped them go 13-1 in 2009, and was a first-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 2010.
He went 7-4 as the Denver starter in 2011, but an unorthodox throwing motion was among factors involved in a short NFL career.
He played minor-league baseball from 2016-19, popping up in games against the Akron RubberDucks as an outfielder for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Throughout his time as an athlete, Tebow used the platform as a Christian ministry. His kneeling and praying after touchdowns became known as “Tebowing.” He used eyeblack to denote Biblical verses. He steered interviews to some mention of Jesus.
Some of the response was, “Stick to football,” to which his reply, in essence, was a cross between “I can’t and I won’t.”
Tebow’s appearance amounted to a sermon to Christians about welcoming others to Christianity.
He came off as a highly polished speaker, with a tone ranging from humorous to conversational to impassioned. He must have racked up 10,000 steps going back on forth on the stage while seeming to attempt eye contact with everyone in the auditorium.
He spoke at one of the region’s oldest churches, founded in Canton in 1855; First Christian’s current campus opened in Plain Township in 2006.
Still looking the part of a bruising 6-foot-3 athlete, Tebow put the room at ease with spontaneity, humor and affability.
He said he was just like everyone else there, “a sinner and a screw-up” in need of Jesus.
Understanding his audience, he referenced Ohio State a few times.
One time, someone in the back blurted, “You should be a Buckeye!”
He drew laughs when he shot back, “And you should be a Christian.”
Tebow alluded to his short NFL career when he said, “I know. I didn’t have the best throwing motion.”
People laughed.
“It’s not that funny,” he said. “Let’s laugh about some of your weaknesses.”
Tebow’s talk, or sermon — he himself wasn’t sure what to call it — seemed to strike the crowd as fun, witty and moving.
The stage presence comes from his dad, Bob Tebow, who was a Christian minister serving as a missionary in The Philippines when Tim was born, the youngest of five siblings.
“I wish I could be one-tenth of the man he was,” Tebow said.
Bob Tebow died on April 23 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 78.
“The love of Christ so utterly changed him … the cause of Christ so utterly propelled him … the hope of Christ is what sustained him,” Tebow said.
He shared several examples of his dad combining faith and works in addition to relentlessly sharing the Gospel. Among them:
“One day when we were in The Philippines, dad got a call from one of his pastors who said, ‘There’s a mom who died in childbirth. The dad ran away. The grandfather’s taking the baby to throw in the river.’
“My dad called one of his pastors who was closer and said, ‘Go get the baby.’ And the baby was rescued. He named the baby Queenie, because to God, she’s a queen.”
Bob Tebow risked his own life, saved some lives and helped along many others, his son said.
The former Heisman winner didn’t drop many sports names, but he shared a story about a famous coach, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who reached out after Bob Tebow’s death.
“Dabo Swinney texted me a very sweet message,” Tebow said. “He said, ‘I just wanted to tell you the impact your dad had on me.’
“He sent me the letter dad wrote him when he recruited me at Clemson. I had no idea dad did this.
“This is the letter:
“‘Dear Dabo,
“‘I want to express my gratitude to you for recruiting my son Timmy to play football for you. Amidst all of the football talk, we did not talk about a much more important topic. Imagine that… something more important than football.
“‘I know that during the football season and through recruiting, you are as busy as you get during the whole year. With that introduction, I want you to know that we here in the Tebow family believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important aspect of life. And it is what makes life worth living.
“‘So many people have mistaken ideas about God. The most common misconception is that a person can get to God through living a good life. Don’t get me wrong. It is better to do good than to do bad.
“‘But our works can never commend us to God and earn us a place in heaven. Only faith in his son, the Lord Jesus, can give us eternal life and the desired home in heaven.
“‘I have enclosed a short book for your reading in the offseason. It is called ‘How Good Is Good Enough?’, by Andy Stanley. I hope you are able to take the time to read this book, and if you so desire, I would love to talk with you about its contents when you finish it.
“’Again, I appreciate you and your interest in Timmy, and I pray for you to have the assurance of eternal life. I do not think it was accidental that our paths crossed, even this brief way.
“‘You can reach me at my home or on my cell or my email. God bless. Bob Tebow.’”
Tim Tebow laughed on stage as he imagined 100 coaches who recruited him not knowing they were getting Jesus in the process.
Tebow went on to share the text of his own message to his dad, one he read at graveside very recently. The theme was “The Fellowship of the Unashamed.”
It was a long message, the gist of which was sharing the Gospel boldly, as befits Bob Tebow’s legacy.
Tebow said he came to his own crossroads on that topic several years ago, when he caught himself in a mindset of being able to talk to anyone openly about, say, a favorite sports team, whereas, “with Jesus, like, we’ve got to be super careful.”
“Did I not really believe the Gospel? Or did I not love people enough to talk about it?” Tebow said.
Tebow admitted the ease of talking Gospel with the First Christian walls. He challenged the audience, and himself, to do so outside church, at every opportunity.
After drawing out the theme, Tebow asked anyone wishing to join “The Fellowship of the Unashamed” to stand up.
“Don’t stand if you don’t mean it,” he said, but almost everyone arose.
Tebow walked off the stage to robust applause as Ignite people, from Richmond, Virginia, wrapped up the two days.
He returned to the stage with four footballs, all autographed by him and Master Teague, a former Ohio State running back who spoke on Friday. Teague replaced Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins, who was unable to attend because his wife was undergoing a medical procedure.
The conference ended with Tebow tossing the footballs, one by one as he picked out “a receiver,” into the crowd.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Tim Tebow tells Canton crowd what his recently deceased dad means to him
Reporting by Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
