Not as a quarterback, only time will tell how that works out. Rather, his image as a goody-good, nice guy, hard worker–all around swell favorite of God. History tells us that our heros will fall and reveal themselves to be mere humans (dog fights, steroid scandals, drug abuse, DWI fatlities…). So how will it go with Timmy?
My $0.02: News will break about him being arrested following a routine traffic stop. In his car will be 3 hookers, and a ziplock bag stuffed with coke. His story will be, "I was driving home in the snow after a game and I saw these ladies, way underdressed for the weather, and was giving them a ride to their homes. It will be the truth. Nobody will believe him.
Yeah, I don’t see him screwing up lifestyle-wise. If anything it’ll be from an accident, like one of his misguided passes landing in the stands and he gets sued by a peanut hawker for loss of sexual function.
Why do you think he necessarily will have a fall? He’s an NFL quarterback, and the first two names that sprang to mind were Elway and Aikman. Neither of which has ever had an sort of public scandal, and both are hall of famers who are still active in the sport. There is time for them to have a problem, but nothing yet. I am no fan of Elway’s political leanings, but he keeps it fairly quiet if you are not in the local area. Tebow has some pretty conservative Christian values, but that is nothing new and his public statements on some issues are hard to take from a (now) privileged white man. Still, a fall from favor would require something bigger and new. Certainly something can happen, look at Penn State, but thinking that it is required is a bit misguided.
I am not a Tebow fan, but I don’t see it happening either. If it’s anything, he’ll get caught doing something perfectly okay* like being gay that many of his supporters will find scandalous.
*I don’t think he’s come out saying anything negative about homosexuality, so in that respect, it would be perfectly okay. If he has, or if he leaves the NFL to pursue a political career fighting for DOMA or other equivalent, it’d rank higher on the scandal scale.
I guess I’ll clarify: What little I know of the guy tells me he is the real deal and that the likelihood of him getting busted for doing something genuinely wrong is very slim. Nevertheless, the press can be vicious under the right circumstances.
I think the closest we’ll ever get to a Tebow fall is if he marries a woman of “ill repute” like an actress known for her raunchy roles or a bikini/nude model. The media will jump on him then.
Like the others, I don’t think he’ll have some major fall. He seems like a good guy, and most people don’t have damning things happen to them in life that the original post seems to suggest. If anything, I think it would be guilt-by-association, for example a church or pastor he’s personally close to is found to be embezzling money, or something like that. Said pastor will come out and say that Tebow wasn’t aware of it, etc.
I also think about Bart Starr, who, while he hasn’t been active in the NFL since being fired as Packer coach in the mid-80s, has still been a public figure. AFAICT, the only scandal which has ever touched Starr was when one of his adult sons (who was pretty troubled) died of a drug overdose.
After Tebow’s fairytale wedding to Lindsay Vonn, things start to break down fairly quickly as Vonn becomes increasingly impatient due to Tebow’s inclination to spend more time worshipping God and less time worshipping her. Amid scandalous accusations from both sides about infidelities, kinky sexual predilections, and crazy, booze-fueled fights (none of which are ever substantiated), the two divorce. Tebow turns to football and sacramental wine to ease the pain of his failed relationship before suffering a career-ending concussion from a blind-side hit when he’s trying to convert to a pocket-passing style. His name and marginal legacy are quickly forgotten as he wastes his life and modest fortune away in a haze of alcohol and prayers begging forgiveness for his weakness. Life for everyone else goes on.
Or the big fall never happens. It could go either way.
