1/17/2012
By Angela Perelli
?When guys say ?I?m not a role model?. Well, yes you are. You?re just a bad one.? -Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow is a true HD character. He's authentic, real and honest. He's passionate, principled and inspiring. He has heart. He?s vulnerable. He?s the boy next door and an underdog. After years of Athletes Behaving Badly with money-grubbing, drug arrests, assault charges and worse, here comes good looking, God-loving, squeaky clean Tim Tebow. And according to ESPN, he is already the most popular professional athlete in the world.
He is not a football fan?s quarterback; he is the people?s quarterback. But he?s not ?perfect.? What HD character is? While many people appreciate his faith, he pushes other people?s buttons with the on-field praying. And he talks about Jesus. A lot. He doesn?t just go to church. He?s saving himself for marriage. It?s extreme. And his quarterbacking skills have come into question. Charles Barkley calls him a ?national nightmare.? It?s the combination of his endearing qualities and his perceived flaws that are cutting through and crossing him over from the sports pages into pop culture.
He has been parodied by Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live.
There is a ?Shit Tim Tebow Says? video montage on YouTube. There is a grilled cheese sandwich with his ?tebowing? silhouette on eBay. And he is now apparently going to date Katy Perry, if her minister mother has anything to say about it.
Internationally Tebow isn?t a football player; he is a phenomenon. He is as buzzworthy, and almost as polarizing, as last year?s Charlie Sheen media frenzy. Tim
Tebow, like Sheen, fits The Randy Lane Company's description of all great talent:
1. He's a high definition character (authentic, real; consistent; tells the truth).
2. He's dishing out sticky content (both his own personal underdog backstory and the content of the games themselves).
Last year we suggested that you channel your inner Charlie Sheen to become a true personality brand. If being a ?bad boy? isn?t your thing, how ?bout channeling Tim Tebow? Work hard. Have heart. Be a role model and a winner, on the air and off.
Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net).
She can be reached at angela@randylane.net
www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany
www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo
(1/17/2012 1:48:35 PM)
That's my point, Angela. The guy isn't a self-generated media star - he's a media-generated media star! :)
If he wasn't a starter for the Broncos, I wonder how many folks would even notice his ramblings... or take him seriously.
Nope. No role modelness-ish here.
(1/17/2012 1:34:56 PM)
His quarterbacking skills can definitely be questioned (especially after that rout on Saturday night!) but there's no denying his ability to cut through, to evoke emotion, to polarize, as proven by the comments!
People know his name and they know what he stands for. That's what the article is about, getting people to sit up and take notice (not necessarily to agree with him).
(1/17/2012 9:50:07 AM)For some of us, the Denver QB comes off as just another gullible, credulous "keener" who is operating under unique circumstances for enormous amounts of money. He is granted mewling patronization and an overabundance of credibility where little else - beyond his athletic abilities - exists.
This is no "role model". This is a media-generated freak who couldn't walk on Offense or part a Defense.
Let's get a grip, shall we? It's a long and bumpy ride.
(1/17/2012 8:23:52 AM)
It is nice to see Tebow setting an example, but it was even better to see the Patriots rip into Denver over and over on Saturday.
Beliefs are one thing, but the Patriots showed that teamwork, practice, and experience will always carry the day in the long run. THAT should be the REAL take-home lesson.
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