Tim Tebow was surprised during the ESPN pregame television show ahead of the University of Georgia vs. Texas Christian University championship football game on January 9 by his fellow hosts and analysts with the announcement that he had been named to the 2023 class of the College Football Hall of Fame.

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Tebow has long been a class act and an outspoken follower of Jesus Christ, including his days as a young college quarterback playing for the two-time national college champions, the University of Florida Gators, while earning a Heisman trophy as the outstanding college player in 2007 and setting records along the way for passing efficiency as well as rushing touchdowns.

But Tebow has always put Christ at the forefront of who he is and what he does.

In the January 2009 BCS Championship game, which Florida won 24-14 over Oklahoma, Tebow wore the phrase “John 3:16” on his eye black, which then prompted 94 million Google searches on that Bible verse.

He later played three seasons in the NFL – where his on-field kneeling in prayer made “Tebowing” a cultural phenomenon.

He has spoken at numerous pro-life events, including the 2021 March for Life.

Perhaps Tebow’s most memorable moment in his support of the effort to end abortion came with the 2010 Super Bowl commercial Tebow and his mother, Pam, featured in on behalf of Focus on the Family. Although it’s hard to measure reaction to one ad, we know of at least one life – a child named Avita Grace – who is alive today because her mother, Susan, who was pregnant with her at the time and was considering an abortion, watched the Tebow commercial and decided to choose life for her daughter.

Tebow’s reaction to hearing the news of his Hall of Fame selection was, predictably, gracious and Christ-centered:

“Hard to put into words right now. Just incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity and all who helped make it possible!! All glory to God.”

Tebow has always set high standards for himself in his walk with Christ.

In 2008, prior to his final championship season with Florida, the young college quarterback told Sports Spectrum Magazine, “I don’t want to go to heaven and have God ask me why didn’t I do more and why didn’t I use my platform to tell more people about Him.”

Tim Tebow not only continues to use his public platform to give God the glory at every opportunity, but he serves as an example to all Christians on how to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV).

Congratulations to our brother in Christ, Tim Tebow, on his latest achievement, and for his ongoing and gracious acknowledgment of his Lord and Savior.

 

Photo from Getty.