Putting An End to the Term "Tebowing"

We've all seen it–and if you haven't then you clearly haven't watched enough NFL games in your lifetime.

There are plenty of spiritual players around the league that made it a habit of taking a knee either before the game starts, or even to celebrate and say a few words to himself after a touchdown. Yet it seems that now any time a players sinks down to one knee he is simply "Tebowing."

As a life-long NFL follower, I would like to take this time to put an end to all of this talk. This has been going on long before Tim Tebow's days, even before his University of Florida playing days.

I am not questioning Mr. Tebow in any way, I would just like to get my point across: getting down on one knee and saying a prayer or two before, during or after a game is not just a Tebow thing. Just because a player doesn't make as big a deal out of religion as Tim does not mean he is not a religious person.

Prayer is a big part of the game, and always will be. It all starts in peewee and high school football when the coach will instruct all of the players to gather around in a circle, take a knee and holds hands while they say the Our Father or Hail Mary in the locker room prior to a game. If a player is badly injured on the field and is being taken out in an ambulance, more often than not both teams will gather around and pray while on the field.

I have watched Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger take a knee and say a few words to himself before games for at least a couple years now. I think the biggest difference is there aren't 10 cameras around him while he's doing it, unlike Tebow.

I have heard far too many fair-weather or casual fans say "oh, look! He's Tebowing" when a player takes a knee and it has started to bother me enough to force me to write this rant piece.

So please, I am begging you...next time you see a football player (of any level) taking a knee and saying a few words to himself, whether it be pre-game or during a TD celebration, please just let him pray in silence. No need to yell "HEY, he's TEBOWING!"

In fact, let's just do away with the term altogether. Maybe one day Tim will set records and win a Super Bowl, that way we can refer to "Tebowing" as the act of throwing touchdown passes. But who knows if we'll ever get to that point in time.

But for now, no more Tebowing.

Thank you,

An annoyed blogger

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