You gotta like Tim Tebow, even if you don’t like him.

Yesterday, ESPN called Tim Tebow, “the most famous second quarterback in the history of the NFL.” The Tebow hype has come back into full swing as the New York Jets try and figure out what to do with the guy they traded for, yet refuse to play.  Skip Bayless loves him…and countless people still want him…except Rex Ryan, his coach.  Sad.

Tebow is famous for late comebacks.  He’s not the best quarterback by any means.  He’s not a great passer, or even a good passer. He intelligent, exceedingly gracious…all good qualities in life, but not necessarily in the locker room. But most importantly, he wins.  That’s what matters in professional sports.  In Denver, he orchestrated countless comebacks to John Elway’s chagrin. You could see John fume on the sidelines as the Tebow kept winning.  It was a strange site. Here was one of the most celebrated QBs of all time, frustrated at winning.  Because every time Tebow won, Elway had to continue the charade he didn’t want to play.  Ironic at best and strange at worst.  Because every time Tebow won, the crowds would chant his name, the pundits would bash him even more, and Tebow would continue to give credit to God.

What’s interesting about this year, is that Tebow is suffering.  The glory isn’t there. Rex Ryan refuses to play him, even though the back-up McElroy is not very good (and now has a concussion), and Mark Sanchez has proven he’s always (also orchestrated by Rex Ryan). Instead of stepping into the Elway charade, Ryan is now choosing to go back to Sanchez, the man he ceremoniously dumped two weeks ago.  And Tebow continues to wait.  His response was to defend his character.

But what’s notably absent for me is the credit to God.  Where his amazing success was attributed to God, his lack of playing time is not.  I really wonder if God has given Tebow this same suffering because of the platform that was built in the previous year.  Because it’s easy to credit God for success.  But it’s hard to credit God for trials and tribulations.  God allows it.  And as frustrating as it is, our faith is defined also by the trials and not just in the successes.  Perhaps Tebow’s greatest act will be in making it through the suffering with grace.  I think he has the character to do it.  But will he give credit to God?

You gotta like Tim Tebow.  I just hope he Tebows (gets down on his knees and prays) in the midst of this as much as he did last year.