Church groups plan pilgrimages to Jets camp to see Tim Tebow

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Tim Tebow may be a second-stringer, but his presence — more than that of any other player — will be felt at Jets training camp.

The Jets’ training camp takes place at the State University of New York at Cortland, and officials there say they’re already preparing for swelling crowds made up of church groups that will travel from far away to watch Tebow sweat through August practices and run the Wildcat offense.

“A couple months ago, I got a call from a church group, then another and I thought it was interesting, not groups we normally get calls from,” Jim Dempsey of the Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau told the New York Daily News. “Right now, we have no way of knowing how many more groups will come because of Tim Tebow. But we expect a lot.”

Tebow has a track record of drawing huge crowds of Evangelical Christians, with tens of thousands attending his Easter sermon in Texas and his Father’s Day sermon in California. And starting next week, the crowds will follow him to Jets camp.

35 responses to “Church groups plan pilgrimages to Jets camp to see Tim Tebow

  1. Ridiculous. He’s not Jesus or the Pope people. He is a genuine and also a flawed man. He’d tell you the same thing.

    I wish Christians would just respect the man – not deify him. I wish non-christians would tone down the acidic comments because they don’t like his faith being worn on his sleeve.

    He is a NFL QB who can run. He can’t read the defenses in the NFL. And he can’t throw the middle and top levels of the route tree.

    In other words – he’s a backup QB with intangibles. A great locker room guy who believes what he says all the time.

    Let’s all leave it at that.

  2. Oh man, and you thought Cortland was a wild town BEFORE. Lock it in, the Jets will win their fourth consecutive Super Bowl.

  3. This is getting way too ridiculous. Btw… wasn’t there a commandment saying something like “thou shall not have other gods before me” or such?

  4. The church group had better brace themselves for some un-church-like culture shock.

  5. What really drives me nuts about this kind of stuff is that the same idiots who are doing these pilgrimages to see Tim Tebow can vote.

    Not only can they vote, but their votes have the same weight as mine.

  6. Good for them. You’d think if our Lord & savior was to come back, he’d be a QB in NY.

  7. Tim Tebow is a professional athlete who believes in God and isn’t afraid to express it. What is the problem with fans coming to see him?

  8. Spend the money your (tax shelter called a) church collects on the poor. Do Not spend a church’s funds to see some mid grade athlete acting like a christian.

  9. *as John Elway and the Broncos laugh hysterically the Jets cheerleaders que the music,shake their pom poms, and beg the christian hoard to stand in unison and join the cheer…
    “Give me a C..
    Give me a I..
    Give me a R..
    Give me a C..
    Give me a U..
    Give me a S..
    What does tha spell??”

  10. noahbird says:
    Jul 15, 2012 3:59 PM
    Spend the money your (tax shelter called a) church collects on the poor. Do Not spend a church’s funds to see some mid grade athlete acting like a christian.

    ———————–

    Churches don’t spend their funds. The people who go have to pay for themselves.

  11. There was a time Christians made pilgrimages to holy sights, such as the National Cathedral in DC, Jerusalem, etc. Now they’re making pilgrimages to football camps? Is Tebow a priest who’s going to run the Mass services? This is ridiculous, it’s not a “pilgrimage” if you’re going to see another Christian. It’s like saying that I make a pilgrimage every time I go to my neighbor’s house to watch Sunday/Monday/Thursday night football. It’s great that Tebow isn’t afraid to show his pride for his faith, but can’t he be more like Jeremy Lin and express his faith without creating 15 articles? Screw Drew Brees, I want an explanation.

  12. Seriously haha its getting incredibly ridiculous at this point. I cannot wait until tebow gets on the field for the jets and plays terrible, and then gets cut and can be out of football preaching to the mindless flock of christians and women that follow him blindly, and then (hopefully) can focus on quarterbacks who actually matter in the nfl. Oh magical invisble man in the sky may I get an amen!? O:)

  13. Tim Tebow needs to put an end to this weirdness. He may not be initiating this type of behavior from people, but he does need to address his minions publicly and stop the madness.

  14. You folks are just sad!It’s no one elses business what groups do or Mr. Tebow for that matter.Get a life and go away if you aren’t interested in this article.That anything could help people focus on trying to be better is a good thing no matter in what medium it’s presented.I’ve seen nothing out of Mr. Tebow to lead me to believe that he even enjoys all the attention it just follows him.

  15. These churches are not calling the trips pilgrimages and what is wrong with taking high school kids to see a good role model in action? Or maybe you would rather take them to see Elvis Dumervil, who although charges will likely be dropped, nonetheless was arrested for aggravated assault and has multiple driving violations against him, despite being a pro-bowler. What BETTER role model than one who works hard to beat the odds?

  16. Tebow is so popular because we see our society falling apart, and here we have a man who loves God, and shows it. We have a President who is at war with Christians, and who no one knows what or who he believes in. So showing love for a football player who is a Christian, is a way of some people to fight for the good team, God’s team.

    Go Tebow!

  17. I think Americans are so fascinated by Tebow because he is a role model and Christians are starved to see a public figure and an athlete who is not afraid to profess his faith. Beats Jerry Vick (dogfighting)Rothlisburger(sexual assault)ad nauseum. Sports figures used to be held up as role models but I see from the majority of the posts that a lot of you object to that. That is just another indication of how far our country has fallen into
    secularism and degeneracy.

  18. this will be fun to watch. It is obvious the church people have no clue what happens in training camp. the F word is used by everyone from trainers to the head coach. Not to mention the New Yorkers who will taunt the church people. It would be worth going to see the look on their faces…

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