Move over Paul Bunyan, Here Comes Tim Tebow

More over Paul Bunyan, Tim Tebow is here! Get out of the way Jack Bauer, Tim Tebow is here to save the day! Truth be told Tim Tebow gets dressed in a phone booth not a locker room. On Thursday night, he traded his red and blue Superman outfit for the "Orange and Blue" of the Denver Broncos.

Late in the fourth quarter of the Jets game, Tebow walked into the huddle at the five-yard line, dipped into his pocket full of pixie dust, and sprinkled it all over Mile High Stadium igniting the home crowd into a frenzy. One fan summed up the evening best with a sign that read, "I drove 533 miles to see that play."

But it was more than one play, it was a 95-yard game winning drive, capped by a read on the blitzing cornerback that freed him to outflank the defender on his triumphant sprint to the end zone. He didn’t leap into the stands as do Packer players. He didn’t pose for the audience. Nor did he call attention to himself like so many others, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. He just scored on the play, handed the ball to the refs and hugged the lineman who got him there.

So what did Tim Tebow do after time ran out on the field, he eschewed interviews and walked triumphantly to the 50-yard line and joined hands with about twenty-five other players from both teams leading them in a post game prayer. Tim Tebow finds thanking God more important than promoting himself.

Yet, Tim Tebow was never good enough. When he was young, they told him that he couldn’t play football. When he got older, they told him he couldn’t play quarterback. Then his critics said he couldn’t get a D-1 scholarship. The same people told him he could never win the Heisman Trophy. Well so far he has done all that, plus smashing multiple offensive records in college on his way to two National Championships.

Now the naysayers criticize his every action on the field. He can’t throw the ball. "His mechanics are terrible." He will never be a pro quarterback! And after three wins in a row, they say he is still not the Broncos quarterback of the future. The "talking heads" at ESPN have created a bulls-eye target with Tim Tebow’s photo on it. Literally every announcer has thrown a dart at it. In the future, sports fans will see Tim Tebow do a host of things his critics say he can’t do.

What they fail to see is that Tim Tebow is the reincarnation of Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, who was worshiped as a hero on radio from 1933 to 1951. Tebow, the son of Christian Baptist missionaries, has become a symbol of all that is good in America by shining his light for future generations.

As "Neon" Deion Sanders quipped, "I don’t know what "it" is, but he’s got it!" Many said the same of Sanders when his critics said the same thing about Sanders audacious attempt to play professional baseball and football at the same time.

In this life, you either have "it" or you don’t. Tony Romo doesn’t have it. David Rivers, despite his prodigious talent, doesn’t either. You can teach fundamentals and mechanics, but even Dr. Frankenstein could not create "it" in an athlete who does not already have it.

That "it" is typified by Tebow spending his $2.5 million signing bonus on various worldwide charity organizations that focus on famine, education and home-building. Tebow’s humble response, "The money was burning a hole through my pocket," he said. "I just wanted to help people. There are so many people in need who can’t afford a delay in aid. I have been blessed with this money and I want to help others."

Where "it" takes Tim Tebow in the future is anyone’s guess. But when you have "it", the sky is the limit. Just look at General MacArthur, Jack Kemp, Byron "Whizzer" White, "Dollar" Bill Bradley and Alan Page. All had the "right stuff."

Whether or not Tim Tebow becomes a legendary NFL football player or not is still undecided. But, it is clear that one day his name will be mentioned in the more important game of life along with the illustrious athletes listed above. Some people have "it", while others have the "right stuff." Tim Tebow has them both.