Limbaugh Defends Tebow Against Media Attacks
A stellar performance and a squeaky clean record mean nothing to the media if the whole “faith business” gets in the way, Rush Limbaugh said, making praiseworthy Tim Tebow, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump the latest pariahs.
Limbaugh came to the quarterback’s defense Monday on his radio program, basing his comments off of an op-ed on Tebow by Larry Taunton, author of The Grace Effect, published in USA Today on Dec. 2.
“Their dislike for Tim Tebow is not, as they would have us believe, about his throwing motion or his completion percentage; it's all about his open professions of faith and his goody-two shoes image,” Taunton wrote in the piece.
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He continued: “So we wait.”
“We wait for evidence that he really isn't that good. We hope to see him kick a player on the ground, drop an F-bomb on television, or Tweet pictures of his privates. In the meantime, we always have Penn State's Jerry Sandusky to make us feel better about ourselves.”
Limbaugh read the op-ed on the radio program, adding, “It‘s also about the fact that he’s highly visible on his love of Jesus Christ, that just makes ‘em nervous.”
The conservative radio talk show host then went on to liken the Tebow uproar to the media targeting Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.
“The media investment is in Tebow failing, in the midst of winning five games in a row.”
“They’re ganging up on [Trump] as they ganged up on Palin … as the sports media is ganging up on Tebow,” Limbaugh declared.
The Christian Post spoke with Taunton after Limbaugh’s broadcast. He said he is not a Broncos fan, but he “felt it was time that somebody spoke on Tim Tebow’s behalf.”
Taunton said he heard the radio program and was “pleased that Rush really understood the heart of what I was saying.” Also, the response to his op-ed has been overwhelmingly positive, he said, though there has been some negative feedback.
“Tebow, however, doesn’t make us feel better about ourselves. People like him make us feel a little convicted about the things we say and do. So we find a reason to dislike them,” Taunton said in his op-ed. “Or, when Tebow says that glory goes to God and the credit for a victory goes to his teammates, coaches, and family, we are suspicious. An increasingly jaded culture, we don’t believe that anyone can say such things and really mean them.”
