AFP/New YorkNew York, city of money, Broadway, tabloid news, gay marriage and anything goes, meet your newest, most unlikely resident: virginal, Bible-thumping quarterback Tim Tebow. More of a mismatch would be hard to conjure. On one side is America’s most potent symbol of sober, Christian, small-town values. On the other, his new team, the loudmouth New York Jets, and the country’s brashest, biggest city. The result? Move over Linsanity, last month’s frenzy for Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin. It’s Tebow Time. Tebomania. Timsanity. Take your pick. By Friday morning, Tebow had only just arrived by private jet to visit his new stadium, but already blogs, newspapers and TV reports gushed at full flow. Some dissected Tebow’s sporting abilities, or rather lack of them, but New York’s real fascination revolves around the young star’s evangelical faith and squeaky clean image. New York does celebrities by the batch, but in a city with nightlife, prostitution scandals and cocktails in its DNA, a handsome 24-year-old, non-drinking virgin is a showstopper. Now, many wonder how Tebow, who prays during games and wears Bible references on his cheeks, will get along with his rowdy teammates. First string Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez’s girlfriend—or girlfriends—status is a staple in the gossip pages. Another of last year’s Jets, Plaxico Burress, managed to shoot his own leg during a nightclub outing in 2008. Then there’s Rex Ryan, the Jets’ bombastic coach and lover of F-word-laden speeches. The flip side of the question might matter more. As religionnews.com asked: “Will Gomorrah-on-the-Hudson embrace this Christian icon?” The embracing has already begun—although not always the kind that might get Tebow’s approval. Brother Jimmy’s bar is offering a special, alcohol-free “No Sex on the Beach” cocktail. But sports blog Busted Coverage interviewed nude dancers at Rick’s Cabaret—one of New York’s “gentleman’s clubs” and reportedly a Jets hangout—to see whether they’d like to tempt the upright young man. “He could just as easily go off in the extreme in the other direction, if he ever succumbs to that ‘sweet’ ole temptation,” one reader commented in a discussion on the msnNOW blog. Gay blog
www.queerty.com weighed with sweet words about the “cute” practice of “Tebowing,” the name given to Tebow’s virally imitated form of kneeling in prayer. However, the site warned him not to speak out against gay marriage—something he has never actually done—“because that, above all else, will not fly in New York.” The potential for a perfect storm of stardom, muckraking and sporting passion has prompted speculation that Jets managers will advise Tebow to live in New Jersey, where the stadium is located, rather than among New York’s fleshpots. “While believing the quarterback will be a great asset on the field, off it they think Tebow—a teetotaler and virgin who is saving himself for marriage—will need to have his hand held,” Fox Sports quoted a team source as saying. But Rich Hanley, who teaches on media and popular culture at Quinnipiac University, said Tebow can thrive—or at least survive—if he meets New York’s greatest obsession: success. “I think New York will forgive his sainthood if he can throw some touchdown passes.” Tim Muldoon, a theologian at Boston College, said he feels sorry for Tebow. “It’s probably the worst curse for anybody to become a symbol for people, but that’s what he’s become. I feel for him. He’s a young kid,” Muldoon said. But he added that Tebow, who was a sensation at the Denver Broncos, can handle both the obsessive media coverage and the ways of the East Coast’s Sin City. “He’s living that already. He’s got that. He’s already faced that.” Hanley agreed. “There won’t be any 4:00 am Tweets and he won’t be shooting himself in the leg,” he said.