Anyone with a pulse and a television has seen the overwhelming media coverage of Tim Tebow. For better or worse, media outlets like ESPN, TMZ, and the NFL Network have been covering Tebow’s every move while Saturday Night Live is producing some pretty funny sketches about him. Like a lot of people, I have reached the point where it has become a little “over the top” and kind of wish they would take it down a level or two. Nevertheless, anyone that can get beyond the nonstop coverage and peel back a layer or two of Tebow would realize that EVERYONE could learn a lot from this guy.

Make no mistake about it, Tebow is a polarizing figure; people seem to either love him or hate him, with the hate seeming to be outweighing the love. No matter what side people are standing on, they are very passionate about it, with the people that hate him not making any bones about it. The crazy thing is this doesn’t bother Tebow for one second…he takes it in stride. You hear all about how he can’t throw or how some people are sick of him “throwing his religion in your face”, yet it doesn’t bother him. Lance Briggs of the Chicago Bears had numerous critical remarks the week leading into the Bears-Broncos game, yet Tebow Tebow told him it was a pleasure to meet him and that he always dreamed about playing against him when they met on the field that Sunday. Moral of the story; Tebow shrugs off all the criticism and negativity like a would be tackler. Tebow doesn’t let other people, with all their criticism and negativity, bring him down. He believes in himself no matter what others say.

As many of the “haters” will tell you, Tebow isn’t the most gifted athlete the world has ever seen. And to be honest, he’s far from it. As a quarterback, he doesn’t have the most accurate arm in the world, nor does he have the strongest arm in the world. Every Sunday when he steps on the field, he isn’t the biggest and strongest guy on the field, nor is he the fastest guy on the field. But Tebow is different because he flat out works harder than everyone else. Tebow possesses a work ethic that is second to none. Back in his days at the University of Florida after a loss to the University of Mississippi, Tebow gave an emotional speech during the post-game media session that has now been immortalized with a plaque outside the Florida Gators football locker room, a speech that sums up Tim Tebow and his work ethic. What separates Tebow from most other people is that he knows his downfalls, knows what he needs to improve on, and then does everything in his power to improve upon it.

Tebow still has a long way to go when it comes to being a great quarterback. Whether Tebow ever becomes a great quarterback is up for debate, but one thing we know is that if he doesn’t end up being a great quarterback it won’t be due to lack of effort. For anyone that believes that hard work beats talent, Tebow should be your poster boy. For anyone that thinks that we should believe in ourselves and not let all the negative people in the world bring you down, Tebow should be your poster boy. You may not like Tim Tebow the football player, but you should love Tim Tebow the person.