Tim Tebow's Trajectory Started at Oakland Raiders Game, but Will It End There?

Foreword

Tonight a student showed me the halo that reportedly appeared over the stadium when the Broncos played the Pittsburgh Steelers a few days ago.

What does this have to do with the Oakland Raiders? Well, do you remember that Tim Tebow played his very first NFL game in Oakland in 2010 after the Broncos starting quarterback was injured? Thus, there is a Tebow connection in this complex situation.

Here is an article that I wrote a few days ago to share some interesting observations:

On January 13, 2012 I was distracted by the death of the mother of a good friend and fellow musician, V. Michael McKay. V. Michael and I have talked about patterns and innovations in music, and we also have had a great time talking about identifiable patterns in NFL and Oakland Raiders data. I usually focus on the data for the Oakland Raiders in most of my articles. Today, as I return to my usual work schedule, I want to inspire some deeper thinking.

Although I did not know it, I missed a very interesting article on Jan 13, 2012. Today, however, I discovered an article and I want to share an interesting series of events and conversations that I had with several Calculus Two students who were joking about "Tebowing" during the end of the Fall semester 2011.

The conversation before the Oakland Raiders bye week

The students showed me the Tebow position, and one of them said God was not interested in football. Others listened quietly. A few asked, "Are you sure?"

I tried to ignore the jokes. Later, I started doing research on the Denver Broncos because I knew they were playing the Oakland Raiders immediately after the Raiders' bye week in 2011.

My earlier research showed that the Raiders have lost most games immediately after the bye week. I was concerned about the discipline of the Oakland Raiders during that period of the 2011 season.

I buy books all of the time, and I have begun to collect books on football in all types of situations, including books at a Christian bookstore. I remembered that I had a book on Tebow.

Believe it or not, Tebow's NFL Journey started in an Oakland Raiders game

Believe it or not, when I picked up the book and opened it, it fell on page 251-252.

To my surpirse, I learned that Tebow's very first NFL game was in Week 15 in 2010, at the Oakland Raiders. That got my attention.

I read that the starting quarterback "bruised his ribs the prior week and couldn't practice for the Oakland game." Therefore, the adventure began for Tim Tebow because he started Game 14.

Tebow continued by sharing the scripture he selected for the Raiders game, and he described the Oakland Raiders fans as "known for its crazy, hostile crowds...."

Two historical events did occur for the Broncos and Tebow in that game, but the Oakland Raiders won the game.

Now, let's go back to the students who joked about Tebow and Tebowing. Yes, I did write an article, and yes, we lost the game after the bye week in 2011.

When I returned to the class on a Monday night, the students were ready to poke fun and have a good time talking about Tebow before class started. Enough was enough.

I said to the group, "Is it possible that Tebow understands something that some folks don't? Let me remind you that someone said that God does not care about football. Since I am a math professor (and daughter of a minister), let me stretch your mind a bit."

They got quiet. They gave me eye contact.

Tebow loves to display John 3:16. I, as a math professor, often talk about finite and infinite sets. A finite set starts and stops. It is like birth and death to some, in a symbolic way.

Often I talk about various types of infinities: countable and uncountable.

Now, if the human mind is intelligent enough to talk about an interval of finite length and the number line of infinite length...and if we can talk about transformations, and focus on a trigonometric transformation that can have a domain of finite length but map to an infinite range, then here is what I see as very intelligent about Tebow.

Tebow has selected the verse that proclaims the following:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but will have eternal life.

Students, I see mathematics in Tebow's verse.

So loved the world = all people and all things....

"So loved" = optimal love

Only begotten Son = uniqueness, another mathematics property

Whosoever believes = a powerful transformer, a powerful activator causing a transformation, one must believe....

shall not perish = will not have an end, or continues into infinity or eternity

The Conclusion #1

I said to the students that perhaps Tebow gets those touchdowns for a greater cause to activate a greater "awareness." Even Tebow's name could symbolize "T" for touchdown, and "bow" for 'bow down."

Well, the semester ended and here is an article that talks about an "eerie" pattern. See article

A summary of some of the facts:

1. Jan. 8 2009 Tebow wore John 3:16

2. Jan. 8, 2012 Three years later Tebow's actions have caused millions of fans to Google the meaning of John 3:16.

3. Tebow threw 316 yards in an NFL playoff game against the Steelers.

4. Tebow's average was 31.6, the highest single game post season completion average in NFL history.

5. Steelers finished the game with possession time, 31:06

and more....

Next, I consider the Broncos and Raiders as twins in the AFC West since both had a regular season record of 8-8, with a minor difference in point differential.

In the NFL, exactly eight teams had an 8-8 record in Week 17 in 2011. According to some research, 8-8-8 is a significant number.

Now to have a little fun and to stretch your mind, I thought that since the Broncos and Raiders had twin records during the regular 2011 season, then, in a symbolic way, the Raiders were Esau who sold his birthright for a bowl of food, and the other twin went farther and achieved more.

At this point, we know that the Broncos went farther in 2011 than the Raiders. But there is always room for restoration and redemption in my belief system.

So, with the new era emerging in the history of the Oakland Raiders we expect more remarkable events like the one in the Houston Texans game on Oct. 9, and in the press conference introducing GM Reggie McKenzie. (The light dimmed and the screen lowered for a moment.)

So, let me ask you: Should we consider the probabilities and the eerie patterns and, perhaps, "get smart?"

The Conclusion #2

Tonight a student brought his phone with him and stepped up to my desk.  He showed me a halo or a circle of light, the one that hovered over the stadium on the day of the Broncos-Steelers game.

This inspired me to do research and the read about the "presence" or "halo."

One thing football historians know is that Tebow's journey in the NFL started in an Oakland Raiders game in Oakland, California.

Initial points can become the endpoint

Is it possible that the path of Tebow crossed the path of the Oakland Raiders and somehow, someway, in the future, where it started may be where it will return for some other historical moment, next time, for the Oakland Raiders?

Think about it!