If you haven’t heard, former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has been playing minor league baseball. Tebow, who still plays for the Class A Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies recently traveled to Charleston for three games against the RiverDogs.
The RiverDogs opted to poke some good-natured fun at the superstar’s presence, playing the chorus of “Hallelujah” when he came to bat, putting eye strips with “John 3:16" on the team’s mascot, and introducing every other Firefly who went to the plate as “not Tim Tebow,” with a picture of Tebow crying at the 2009 SEC title game in the background. It was all pretty funny, a little creative, and part of the wacky ways of baseball’s minor leagues.
Apparently, one or more Tebowmaniacs disagreed, objecting to the antics on social media. Which prompted the team’s General Manager to issue an apology.
“While we believe that our promotions were poking fun at Mr. Tebow’s celebrity status rather than his religion or baseball career, our intent was not to offend anyone, and for the fact that we did offend, we are sorry,” Dave Echols wrote in a statement issued to the Charleston Post & Courier. “Of the many promotional pieces that we executed, there were a handful on Friday’s game that some construed as in poor taste, and we made it a focus to remove those elements and celebrate Mr. Tebow the remainder of his time in Charleston.”
Echols has not been attacked by a swarm of locusts or frogs since issuing his apology.