“Thirty minutes for the rest of our lives!”
I still remember watching the NCAA National Championship football game from the 2008 season. It was the University of Florida versus the University of Oklahoma. Both teams were tied by halftime at seven points each. In the locker room Tim Tebow was getting his teammates fired up with a spirited speech about how the rest of the game should be played. “Thirty minutes for the rest of our lives!” he kept repeating.
My brother and I still chuckle about that, not really sure what that meant, other than the fact that Oklahoma was about to be served with all the fixin’s as, what we like to call in the Gator Nation, Gator bait. Of course the Gators went on to win the game 24-14 regaining their title of national champions. One thing that was evident from that speech, and anything else I remember about Tebow, was his determination.
Okay, I must apologize. I am reviewing another book, which I generally am endorsing. (And while we are doing apologies, I’m sorry to the two of you who have read my blog so far, and that it’s been four weeks since the last post.) But who isn’t impressed with this guy’s stance on setting a good example on and off the field? Well, surprisingly there are some folks that turn out to be big critics of men with character simply because they didn’t play ball for their team. That’s my conclusion anyway. But other than those types of people, I think that most others would agree that this Heisman-winning quarterback from UF is a man with uncanny character, and that should be reason enough to read Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow.
This 257-page read is what some people would call an autobiography, although I hesitate to label it as such. The problem is Tebow just turned 24 this month (he was born just ten days before yours truly; there’s some useless trivia for you…) so he hasn’t lived out the majority of his life. A lot of people were complaining about this fact when the book was about to be released. He’s too young to write an autobiography… Perhaps so, but this was something that he addresses in the beginning of the book.
“You read glowing things, and it doesn’t feel deserved. You read things that are critical, and it cuts you to the bone. It’s because of both those extremes of others’ opinions that I felt it the natural thing to do to tell my story, written from my perspective. It also seemed like the right thing to do–perhaps in many instances to simply set the record straight–sharing my story as I see it, as I remember it, including my actual mind-set and motivation…”
The book does start off like any biography, beginning with the early years. With all the hoopla about the Super Bowl commercial that he and his mother did for Focus on the Family, a lot of people know that it started with a complicated pregnancy. The doctors said it would be unwise to go through with the birth, and that abortion would be a viable option. They turned out to be wrong.
The story goes on with this theme. People telling a young Timmy things that that he wouldn’t be good at, until he proved them wrong. Like playing quarterback. When he was in high school, the coaches felt his body type wasn’t right for the quarterback position. He proved them wrong.
And some people still think that their assessment is accurate, that he won’t make it very far in the NFL. I’m not really sure where people get their data from, but judging by the determination of this “kid”, I’d say he’s about ready to prove some more folks wrong. (I just heard that he led the Broncos down the field for the game-winning field goal this weekend in their pre-season match against the Seahawks.)
I was incredibly moved by how driven he was in achieving all of his goals as both a player, and a man of integrity. As a football player, he would train hard by this thought process that motivated him to train harder: Somewhere he is out there, training while I am not. One day, when we meet, he will win.
If his determination to be a better football player is evident, then his drive to be a Godly man is even more obvious, whether by leading by example by not partying through college, his involvement in mission trips, leading people to Christ, maintaining sexual abstinence until marriage, the Bible verses under his eyes, beginning causes on campus for the underprivileged or supporting foundations for orphans. I mean, all Christians should be like this right? I should be like this.
That’s what I really liked about this book, it really challenged me. I know it’s not good to compare our spiritual journey with others, but sometimes when one sees someone else’s output, it begs the question, “What am I doing?” This question can lead one to get serious about examining their own faith.
The famous “Tim Tebow Speech” was also featured, which followed the 2008 loss against Ole Miss. It was a game everyone was expecting the Gators to win, but they came up short, (literally by one yard). But again, I just was pumped by hearing it again, completely inspired by this guy’s determination.
“To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida has never done here. I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player play the rest of the season as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.”
That was Tebow’s promise, and he kept it. The team finished off the season winning the rest of their games including the national championship.
The story continues as it touches on every college game in which Tebow played. I’m pretty sure I either went to as many of the home games as I could, or I watched all of the away games that were televised, being a student at UF while Tebow was there. So it was pretty fun reliving those explosive games. However, I could see how someone who didn’t watch the games may not be as interested in this part of the book, (which is a considerable portion). But if you love football, and especially Gator football, then I’d recommend you check it out. Also, if you are a Christian, or you just admire Tebow’s character, I think you will find something inspirational about this read. I really appreciated how each chapter started off with a Bible verse that was applicable to that point in his life.
The downsides to this publication, in my opinion, are pretty limited. Non-football people may be lost through most of it, but he does a pretty good job explaining a lot of the game’s terminology to those who don’t watch the sport. I did find that the book read pretty slow, even though I enjoyed it. But that’s just how most biographies go for me.
So, another light critique from me, I know. But I was inspired. We can all learn the importance of doing everything with such determination, as we are living for God.
Thirty minutes. For the rest of our lives. Let’s go.
