I’m not ashamed to admit it. When Tim Tebow was playing, I was on the bandwagon. I thought it was awesome that as a backup, Tim Tebow stepped in for the struggling 1-4 Denver Broncos and reeled off a string of remarkable fourth quarter comebacks enroute to a berth (and a first round win over mighty Pittsburgh) in the 2011 AFC playoffs. After that season, the former Heisman trophy winner who had led his college team to not one, but two national championships, and who held career SEC passing records, and was a first round NFL draft pick, was traded away to the New York Jets, where he was put on ice and never allowed to start another game.

Many Christian sports fans, including my own flesh and blood son, tend to side with the majority of sports analysts who say that Tim Tebow wasn’t a skilled quarterback and doesn’t belong in the NFL, blah blah blah. Personally, I have never seen a player with such incredible college credentials and with such a promising introduction within the NFL as a starting quarterback, be kicked to the curb so quickly and with such finality as Tim Tebow. I am old enough to remember when Troy Aikman, also a first round draft pick, who ultimately became a celebrated three time Super Bowl winner, was a rookie in the NFL. He was terrible and the team (my team the Dallas Cowboys) was 1-15. He got sacked about a zillion times per game and had a bunch of concussions. But as the years progressed he got better and better and was ultimately acclaimed as one of the game’s best quarterbacks. I am a huge Troy Aikman fan, but I wonder why Tim Tebow, who arguably started his career with more visible success than Troy, was so thoroughly discarded by the league and never given a chance to progress. His record as a starting quarterback was 7-4. He never even got a chance to demonstrate that he wasn’t a good quarterback. All he did was win!

The only explanation (aside from the dubious claims about his lack of talent) that the sports world comes up with for Tebow’s rejection is a desire to avoid the so-called “media circus” and “controversy” that followed him. The only “media circus” was due to his popularity because he was an outspoken Christian believer who was winning games with miraculous fourth quarter comebacks. Sidebar: I think God likes doing this (the 4th quarter comeback thing). I’ll never forget Frank Reich’s 2nd half comeback for the Bills against the Oilers after being down 35-3 at half time to win the game 38-35. He was also an outspoken Christian believer, who was the backup to Jim Kelly (who also became a believer later in life and is now battling cancer). The only controversy with Tim Tebow was the controversy whipped up by the media when they asked him questions about his faith. I guess the NFL just doesn’t want to be upstaged by God, no matter how good or how popular a player might be.

Now we have Michael Sam, the first “openly gay” player. He was drafted in the seventh round this year by the Rams. His college team never won a national championship. However, the NFL is pulling out all the stops to glorify this very controversial figure (quite the opposite as with Tebow). During the draft they televised Michael Sam (quite disgustingly I might add) planting a huge, sloppy kiss on the lips of his boyfriend. When a couple of players tweeted their disgust, the NFL quickly fined them.

To me, it would appear that the NFL has made its official position on Christian beliefs quite clear. By embracing sodomy and rejecting Christian expression, they have clearly taken a side. Therefore, I, as one person who holds those beliefs, am taking a side. I am henceforth boycotting the NFL. I’m not going to watch the games, follow the playoffs, watch the Superbowl, play fantasy football, etc. etc. And I would bet that I won’t be alone. There may not be enough of us left to make a difference, but that doesn’t make a difference to me. I’m out.