Today, families across the nation will gather to watch the best of America’s beloved sport. As one person said to me, “Super Bowl Sunday should be a national holiday.” It certainly brings families and friends together like a holiday does.
This year, the idea of celebrating family during the Super Bowl has brought quite a controversial stir.
Over a week before Super Bowl Sunday, University of Florida football superstar Tim Tebow confirmed that he will appear in a commercial with the theme “Celebrate family, celebrate life,” along with his mother Pam, to share their family’s inspiring story. The CBS Super Bowl commercial, sponsored by the evangelical Christian group ‘Focus on the Family, will somehow discuss her decision 23 years ago to continue with her pregnancy despite complications. Doing missionary work in the Philippines at the time, Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, and the treatment required strong medications that doctors warned could cause irreversible damage to Tim, the child she was carrying.
Mrs Tebow chose to continue the pregnancy, citing her Christian faith as reason for hope that her son would be born healthy. She spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to healthy ‘Timmy’ in August 1987, the star quarterback who would go on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy Award, headed for a career in NFL pro-football. Now Tebow wants to celebrate his life with his family in this opportunity to give thanks for both before a major audience. Which is precisely what big-name athletes do, using their ‘celebrity’ responsibly to influence people with a positive message. Tebow’s message is that his mother had a choice, and he’s grateful for the one she made.
Simple, uplifting, and brings us back to family. While the ad has not be released yet, a pre-game ad has.
If the Super Bowl ad is anything like this ad, those who are against are going to really regret letting their true colors show. They say they’re all about helping people plan for families in their argument for choice. If that’s true, what’s so wrong with an ad like the Tebows’, which simply focuses on the gift of family?