Character Matters

In the realm of sports there is a lot of bad wrap regarding athletes. There is the steroid issue plaguing American baseball and the Olympics. Athletes in college and professional football have especially been misbehaving, and for some reason this is all we hear about when the sports channel is on. The perception is athletes are trouble -makers and lousy role models, and that may be right.

Plaxico Burress, wide reciever for the New York Giants, recently shot himself in the foot (literally) in a New York night club. Talk about wrong place and wrong time! Another NFL player is Adam Jones, who has been in the negative spotlight consistently since coming out of college. His conduct was so bad the commisioner of the NFL suspended Adam for an entire season. There are others who have been accused of murder, concealing illegal weapons, possessing illegal and illecit drugs, and the list could go on.

But there is a successful role model out there for kids and for all of us, one that we could at least respect and admire. His name is Tim Tebow. He has won two national championships, one Heisman trophy, and countless other awards. He will very well go down as the best college football player in history. But in contrast with all the other big names in sports, Tebow did something different. He never compromised his integrity and moral ethics to succeed in greater ways than most athletes on steroids will ever. During the National Title Game, the announcer said that if one could spend 15 to 20 minutes around Tebow, then your life would be better for it. what a compliment! How refreshing is it to see someone of such "moral excellence" succeed in a field where sacrificing character seems to be a prerequesite.