In the mean time that is kind of the problem; again, Tebow is hardly the first pro athlete (especially in football) to ostentatiously reference God in connection with his athletic performance (because whether the Giants beat the spread is a VERY high priority for the Almighty ) but he has raised it to a new level. As with other examples, that means the next person who wants to use his religion for self promotion will have to go yet another level higher to get the notoriety they crave (because Christianity and religion in general is all about adherents' notoriety. ) I shudder to think what form that will take.

There is something truly absurd about a League making a show of its piety while excusing any degree of thuggery, both for the sake of lionizing athletes. Between the time the Denver QB Tebowed after beating Miami and the time the Lions Stephen Tulloch Tebowed over his body after sacking him, another Bronco, Ryan McBean had a court date for a stalking charge: Seems the defensive tackle angrily demanded an ex-girlfriend pay back a $500 loan, then invited her to his house and offered to forgive the debt in exchange for a sex act; things got ugly and at one point he sent her a text that she AND HER SON should sleep lightly. Maybe Tebow should spare some prayer for his teammate (or perhaps his teammates ex-girlfriend and child. ) That is just in Denver, of course; go further and we can look at the Hall of Fame running back (arguably the greatest in League history) now "famous" across the globe for brutally murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT, or the Ravens linebacker everyone agrees will just as automatically go to the Hall of Fame despite gunning down a man in cold blood at a nightclub, because one of his entourage took the fall for him. Getting away with murder (sometimes literally) because of athleticism makes no one saintly, no matter how many times they point to the sky after a TD.

This is not laudable piety or devotion, it is hypocritically self righteous self promotion. I do not expect it to end soon, but it grows more offensive daily.