Tim Tebow: 6 Reasons Why People Hate the Denver Broncos QB's Guts

Tim Tebow has attempted just 82 passes in his NFL career and he has already become one of the most controversial figures in sports. The emotions range from complete hatred to undying love, but the real question is why?

Most backup quarterbacks in the league are happy if the announcers say their names correctly during preseason action. Yet, any time Tebow gets a chance to play, the media go crazy. Heaven forbid if he actually plays well.

Tebow is currently entrenched in what most observers consider a one-sided battle with Kyle Orton to become the Denver Broncos starting quarterback. It's an endeavor that hasn't been going well for Tebow as he attempts to prove he belongs.

His popularity is confirmed by the fact that he led the league in jersey sales during his first three months in the NFL. However, there is also a website called Timmy Tebow Sucks and numerous Facebook groups entitled I Hate Tim Tebow.

So, how is it that this seemingly perfect role model has become such a despised figure? Let's examine the possible reasons for this nearly unfathomable quandary.

Tebow Hasn't Proven Anything in the NFL

By the time most players reach the level of prominence necessary to have a legion of haters as large as Tebow's, they usually have a pretty long résumé of accomplishments to fall back on. Tebow on the other hand has five career touchdown passes.

While he did record 145 touchdowns while playing for the Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference, college football is not nearly as popular or influential as the NFL and, despite what some talking heads might say, no SEC defense is anywhere near as good as a professional defense.

Last year's BCS National Championship Game drew 27.3 million viewers. By comparison, most Monday Night Football games average around 20 million viewers while the Super Bowl in February had 111 million viewers, a new record.

Based on those numbers, you would be led to believe Tebow would have to accomplish something in the NFL before he became such a household name. Instead, he has skyrocketed to a level of fame that is independent from his on-field performance.

That doesn't sit well with a lot of fans, especially those of Kyle Orton who think he might be getting unfairly pushed out of town by a quarterback that hasn't earned the spot.

Tebow Isn't Afraid to Talk About God

Religion has become one of the biggest hot button issues in this country even though the entire premise of the United States of America was to be tolerant of all religions. To call it backwards would be an understatement.

Nevertheless, it is quite clear that Tim Tebow has no problem discussing his beliefs and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Whether it is thanking God during an ESPYs acceptance speech or ending an impassioned post-game press conference by saying “God bless,” some people think he goes too far and is shoving his views down their throat.

Tebow can't help himself, that's just the way he was raised and how he has decided to live his life. When he says those things, he isn't thinking about shoving God down the throats of everybody that will listen to him talk, it's just Tebow being Tebow.

But, for whatever reason, people just can't accept that. They believe that he is talking directly to them and making an attempt to convert them through the television set.

Due to that, no matter what he eventually achieves on the football field, he will still have a group of detractors.

Tebow Is Overhyped by the Media

Tim Tebow is astonishingly popular. Whether it is because of his success at Florida, his staunch support of religious beliefs or some other reason people can't quite comprehend, a gigantic army of people love the guy.

Because of that popularity, all the major sports media outlets and most notably ESPN, are going to exploit him to improve their ratings. If it means they have to tirelessly discuss a 23-year-old backup quarterback that completes 50 percent of his passes, so be it.

If you don't think the media roots for certain athletes, you're crazy. Whatever channel is carrying the PGA Tour on a given weekend is hoping for two things: Tiger Woods shows up and Tiger Woods is in contention on Sunday. That's the only chance they have of getting a big rating.

The Denver Broncos open the season with a Monday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders that will begin at 10:15 Eastern time. You can bet your bottom dollar that ESPN is hoping that Tebow is the starting quarterback for that game. If he isn't, the rating won't reach it's peak potential.

Think of some other athletes that the media overhyped. Brett Favre? Hated. LeBron James? Vilified. Barry Bonds? Despised. When sports fans are forced to hear about any athlete over and over again, they develop a dislike of the person. The same goes for Tebow.

Tebow Played College Football at Florida

Football in the South is less of an obsession and more of a lifestyle. Every Saturday is treated like a holiday and fans of rival teams develop a true disdain for each other and their teams. Playing at Florida and, more importantly, being successful at Florida, works against Tebow.

No matter how popular he becomes with the general NFL fan, there will be devoted fans of 11 SEC schools that will be against him no matter the circumstances. Once he won his first BCS National Championship in 2007, he became black-flagged across SEC country.

If you visit Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge and ask for some opinions about Tebow, you'll likely hear some language you thought was reserved for mob bosses and drunken sailors.

It might seem beyond belief that winning a couple SEC Championships would lead to such scorn, but that is football in the South.

Disliking Tebow Is a Trendy Thing to Do

Whether it be at work, school or a bar, all sports fans have had run-ins with a person that is just trying to fit in and in reality has no clue what they are talking about. They just follow the crowd and say what they heard somebody else say a couple hours earlier.

Hating on Tim Tebow is one of those trendy things to do in sports right now. If you run into one of those “fans” ask them what they think of Tebow and it's almost a guarantee that the first two words out of their mouth will be, “he sucks.”

They won't be able to explain why he sucks or how come they believe that, in their mind it's just a fact. This phenomena is very evident on social media. If somebody makes a bad play, suddenly everybody with a computer or a smart phone is an expert with the ability to express their opinion.

The best way to explain it is to pretend you are at the top of a mountain with a small snow ball. When you roll that snow ball down the mountain it will slowly pick up both size and speed and become more salient.

People love to hate on Tebow and the snow ball just keeps getting larger.

Tebow Is Too Perfect

Tim Tebow don't show up in the media because he was involved in a bar fight at 2:30 in the morning. He doesn't carry a concealed weapon in his pants and proceed accidentally shoot himself. He doesn't get pulled over for speeding while he was drunk.

Tebow is a good-looking guy with the ability to date women some men can only dream about. He is built like a truck and he gets paid to play football for a living. Unfortunately, this doesn't relate him to the common man.

Believe it or not, certain individuals like to see people of high stature fail. It proves to them that money and fame isn't all its cracked up to be. It shows that even though these famous people appear larger than life, they still have “small people” problems.

To this group, Tebow doesn't have any small people problems. Although being born was a near miracle after all that his mother went through, it seems like he has waltzed through life bypassing the roadblocks that every man should have to endure.

Without being able to associate with those problems, as minor as they may seem, Tebow hasn't been able to gain the respect of the blue collar workers of America. It is tough for them to comprehend why they have to work so hard just to make ends meet while he seemingly gets a free pass.

In the end, it's just another story of a backup quarterback who is simply too perfect to be universally loved.