Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow prays after the Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in the National Football League AFC wild-card playoff game in Denver Jan. 8. The Broncos won 29-23, leading them to a face-off with the New England Patriots Jan. 14. (CNS photo/Marc Piscotty, Reuters)
Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
Are you ready for some Monday Night Football, revelation style?
Quarterback Tim Tebow of the New York Jets is. In the hours building up to the 666th NFL game on a Monday night, the outspoken Christian football player tweeted to his million-plus followers:
[The Bible verse referenced is: "No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things -- nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth -- nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."]
The fact that the latest Monday night game shares its number with the traditional mark of the beast was not lost on Tebow, who has made sharing his faith a tenant of his sports spotlight.
At USA Today, senior sports blog editor Christopher Chase offered his take on Tebow's latest foray into blending faith and football.
But tonight's game isn't the first time the quarterback has discovered religious undertones in the numbers of football. In his first playoff win Jan. 8, Tebow -- then with the Denver Broncos -- passed for a career high 316 yards, which many connected to his favorite Bible verse, John 3:16.
His play with the Broncos also introduced the world to the phenomenon known as "Tebowing," as people filled the web with photos imitating his practice of genuflecting in the end zone after each touchdown he scored.
At the University of Florida, Tebow would often write Bible verses -- including John 3:16 -- on his eye black before games. And in 2010, he appeared, along with his mother, in a Super Bowl commercial paid for by Focus on the Family, sharing their pro-life convictions. Tebow's mother refused an abortion amid contracting a life-threatening infection during pregnancy.
What does Tebow have planned for tonight's game? Will divine revelation intervene on the gridiron at MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, N.J.?
Well, we do know the Devils are from New Jersey ... but they play hockey.
For the remaining questions, as they say, God only knows.