Tim Tebow: Study Finds Football Players Should Be Crybabies

Remember when Tim Tebow broke down and cried after Florida lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama in 2009?

You probably do. If you don't, feel free to refresh your memory by watching the video of said tears, which is embedded below. Depending on what kind of person you are, the video will either make you cry or make you laugh.

If I recall correctly, most people laughed. There was just something about Tebow crying that was oddly comedic.

However, believe it or not, there are actual researchers out there who claim that Tebow's tears were no laughing matter. Football players and athletes in general typically refrain from showing this level of emotion, but there are reasons to think that's a bad thing.

The study (retrieved via ThePostGame.com) involved an experiment that polled 150 college football players who were randomly assigned to four groups and asked to respond to a series of vignettes featuring a character named "Jack," a football player who cries after a game.

Here's how Y. Joel Wong, PhD, the study's lead author, summarized the findings: "The college football players in our study who believed Jack's crying was appropriate had higher self-esteem. In contrast, players who believed Jack's crying was inappropriate yet felt they would likely cry in Jack's situation had lower self-esteem."

In so many words, a player who openly weeps has higher self-esteem.

Sure, any player who would do this will be going against the grain in terms of what is expected of male athletes, who the report says are "pressured to act a certain way because society expects men to be powerful and competitive, and to show little emotion and affection in front of other men."

The problem, apparently, is that these expectations can have a very negative effect: "Other studies have shown that this type of pressure to conform can lead to poor self-esteem and disruptive behavior."

Poor self-esteem and disruptive behavior, eh? It's easy to see why the study uses Tebow as a key exhibition, as these things have never been associated with him.

This, of course, is one of many reasons why Tebow is so widely beloved. He's not as a relevant in the NFL as he was in college, but his status as a role model has not dwindled one bit. If anything, he's probably more of a role model now than he ever was at Florida.

And if this study is any indication, Tebow isn't a role model for just the kids. College athletes could benefit from using him as an emotional model. If that involves crying, then so be it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my sources tell me that Johnny Unitas has reanimated and that he is currently trying to punish us for our sins. I'm going to go join the effort to stop him before it's too late.