GEORGETOWN, Tex. —
Tim Tebow fans embraced the opportunity to don their new
Jets finery and celebrate Easter with him at an outdoor service that drew thousands of worshipers Sunday.
William Philpott/Associated Press
A crowd gathered early Sunday to hear Tim Tebow at an Easter service in Georgetown, Tex.
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“We have never worn another jersey other than orange and blue,” said Debbie Sandoval, a lifelong Denver Broncos fan who lives in Round Rock, a suburb between here and Austin.
But she said she and her family were sticking with Tebow, who was recently traded to the Jets from Denver, and they wore green to the Celebration Church’s Easter on the Hill prayer service in Georgetown, a city of 47,000 about 30 miles north of Austin.
“It’s not just about being an athlete,” Sandoval said. “It’s about being a decent human being. That’s not so common nowadays.”
Speaking to a crowd that the church estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 on a hill on church grounds, Tebow encouraged worshipers to share their Christian faith publicly.
“My biggest prayer is to kind of make that cool again, for a high school kid to get on a knee and pray and it’s not something that’s unique or different and that it’s O.K. to be outspoken about your faith,” Tebow said during a 20-minute exchange with Joe Champion, the pastor of Celebration Church.
It was a message that played well in a state where faith and football are often intertwined, as was demonstrated by the touch-football game going on before the service and the long line of children waiting to get Tebow’s signature “John 3:16” painted under their eyes.
Matt Johnson, the president of a local youth football association, said he took several of his players to hear Tebow because he considers Tebow a positive role model. That is tough to find in the sports world, Johnson said.
Tebow has been a role model for Liam O’Rourke, 10, since Liam was much younger, said his father, Dave O’Rourke of Round Rock.
Liam wanted to ensure that he would be front and center to see Tebow. Father and son woke up at 4:30 Sunday morning and arrived early. As soon as the gates opened, Liam bolted up the hill to secure a prime spot three hours before the morning service began shortly after 10.
“He doesn’t care if he gets made fun of,” Liam said of Tebow. “He cares about how good a Christian he is. He never gives up.”
Champion, a former football player at Louisiana State whose father was an N.F.L. coach, said that Tebow reached out to the church seeking an opportunity to speak. But Tebow did not say why he chose Celebration, which says it attracts about 7,500 churchgoers a week to four campuses in the Austin area.
The church had never hosted such a large, high-profile event. It required more than 1,200 volunteers and 120 rented school buses that ferried attendees from parking lots at shopping centers, a baseball stadium and nearby Texas State University.
Some even arrived Saturday night do some tailgating at an outlet mall down the street. “That’s a good service, when you have tailgaters,” Champion said.
On a typical Easter, the church attracts about 12,000 people, Champion said. So Tebow proved a big lure for people who would otherwise not have come to the service, Champion said.
Tebow took the stage about halfway through the two-hour service, which featured music and a sermon. He joked comfortably with Champion about football and his recent trade.
“Excited to be a Jet,” Tebow said, adding, “I’m really looking forward to it.”
He added, citing one of his favorite quotations: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.”
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