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Tim Tebow is as famous for his Christian faith as he is his abilities on a football field. The quarterback attended the University of Florida, and during his time there, led his team to two national championship titles, and captured the highest award for athleticism, the coveted Heisman Trophy.
But when the University of Florida erected a life-sized statue of their star quarterback, the “numbers” they included on his image had nothing to do with passes completed, yards rushed, or touchdowns scored.
Nope. The numbers that stand out actually reference a chapter and verse in the Bible.
On April 9, 2011, the University of Florida revealed a life-sized statue of Tim Tebow just outside the walls of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium where he played football for 4 years of his life. In addition to the intricate details of his posture, hands, helmet, and uniform, the statue also included the quarterback’s famous biblical reference of “John 3:16” written into his eye black on his face – the black lines painted underneath a player’s eyes.
In every game, Tebow painted eye black on his cheeks, and then painstakingly painted Scripture references on top of it in bright white. Knowing that millions of people in a national viewing audience would get a close up of his face during the 2009 National Championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners – which the Gators won – Tebow painted “John” underneath his right eye and “3:16” underneath his left eye. During that game – and after – Google reported that “John 3:16” became the search engine’s top query.
The statue’s designers, Sandy and Peggy Proctor of Tallahassee, said Tebow personally picked the Scripture reference for the statue. The young Christian simply doesn’t want people to look at him – or images of him – and not think about Jesus.
Of course, the freshly-revealed statue brazenly depicting a biblical reference didn’t go unchallenged. The ACLU was contacted and members of the University Athletic Association discussed whether a Bible verse should be included in the statue. Chip Howard, senior associate in the Athletic Director’s office said the Scripture verse would be the most realistic way of portraying Tebow. “It really was part of his uniform,” said Howard.
Wow! What if that could be said of you and me???
What if others said, “The Word of God was just a part of who he was,” or, “She made no bones about declaring God’s Word with her life”?
Tim Tebow has cemented the Bible into his image for generations to come. Will you?
Click here for the online report.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Athlete
Bible
Evangelism
Football
God’s Word
Identity
Scripture
Sports
Witness
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
