Tim Tebow Confirms Super Bowl Ad About Pro-Life Values, Defends Showing It

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 27, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Tim Tebow Confirms Super Bowl Ad About Pro-Life Values, Defends Showing It

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 27
, 2010

Mobile, AL (LifeNews.com) — College football superstar Tim Tebow defended a Super Bowl commercial Focus on the Family has filmed that is generating national attention. Tebow confirmed the commercial will focus on pro-life values and tell the story of how his mother decided against an abortion.

After the Senior Bowl practice on Wednesday, Tebow admitted he was surprised at the growing attention the Super Bowl commercial is receiving.

“I definitely didn’t think it would have this much hype,” Tebow said, according to an Orlando Sentinel report. “It’s something I believe in and I’ll stand up for.”

Tebow would not give any spoilers about the content of the ad — which Focus on the Family has confirmed will run with the message "Celebrating Family, Celebrating Life" — but confirmed it would share his mother’s story.

“I don’t think it’s anything that’s negative or anything like that,” Tebow said, according to the newspaper. “It’s a good time and place. There are a lot of people watching. It’s a great opportunity to show something very happy and a special story and my mom fighting for me. There are a lot of great things in that.”

The football player told the newspaper he doesn’t think his pro-life views or Christian faith would deter NFL football teams from pursuing him in the draft.

He said the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs all tackled with him this week about the potential for playing on their clubs.

“I think if anything, they like that I took a stand for what I believe,” Tebow said. “If they don’t, if that’s something that would hesitate them from bringing me on, then it probably wouldn’t be a good fit for me in the first place. I’m never going to deny what I believe in just for a game.”

The story of how Tebow’s mom Pam refused an abortion has already motivated and inspired millions.

Pam Tebow and her husband were Christian missionaries in the Philippines in 1985 and they prayed for "Timmy" before she became pregnant.

Unfortunately, Pam entered into a coma after she contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink. The treatment for the medical condition would require strong medications that doctors told Pam had caused irreversible damage to Tim — so they advised her to have an abortion.

Tebow refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. She ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a health baby boy in August 1987.

Tim Tebow would win the Heisman in 2007 and then lead the Florida Gators football team to the national championship a year later and he is likely a top draft pick for 2010.

In an interview with reporters on Sunday, Tebow defended the ad.

"I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe," Tebow said. "I’ve always been very convicted of it (his views on abortion) because that’s the reason I’m here, because my mom was a very courageous woman. So any way that I could help, I would do it."

The Super Bowl ad would be costly — as a spot during the game and three 30-second commercials before it would reportedly run about $2-3 million — but provides a unique exposure to a large national and international audience.

Whether CBS would allow the potential Focus pro-life ad to air was a question when news of the ad first came up earlier this month.

Last year, NBC rejected a television commercial the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis and its CatholicVote web site hoped to run.

The ad showed a beautiful picture of an unborn child during an ultrasound and asks what would happen if President Barack Obama had been a victim of abortion.

After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago told the group that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving "political advocacy or issues."

ACTION: Support the Focus on the Family ad by contacting Sean J. McManus, President CBS News and Sports, at [email protected] or 212-975-4321

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