New York Jets third-string quarterback Tim Tebow -- or his publicist -- realized that it was bad enough that he has been demoted to third-string, and that appearing at the anti-gay, anti-Catholic, anti-Buddhist (and more) Dallas-based megachurch of pastor Robert Jeffress was not a good idea, announcing his appearance cancellation on Twitter on Thursday.
To be clear, its Jeffress, who is known for his past controversial comments.
His cancellation message took four tweets, but started here -- less than an hour ago at the time of this writing -- and went on:
While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic...
... First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my...
...upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those...
...needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless!
While Tebow did not refer to the controversial Jeffress in his cancellation tweets, it is clear what the "new information" he obtained was. In 2010, Jeffress went further, including other religions in his attacks. In an interview with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Jeffress argued that Islam, as well as Mormonism, is "from the pit of Hell." He went on to add that along with Mormons and Muslims, Jews and gays are all destined for Hell.
Another example of the old new information that Tebow discovered occurred at the 2011 Value Voters summit. There, Robert Jeffress introduced and endorsed Rick Perry. While in that intro Jeffress only subtly contrasted the "born again Christian" Perry with eventual GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, he later that day stated in an interview with Bryan Fischer that he believes that Romney, as a Mormon, is a member of a cult. To be clear, in 2008, Jeffress also attacked Romney and his Mormon faith.
Tebow's 2011 rise led to him receiving multi-year contracts with sponsors such as Nike, TiVo and Jockey, but his fall in 2012, when he was eventually demoted to third-string, and when the Wildcat offense didn't help the Jets much, has to have them thinking -- as the Jets are -- what to do with him. In general, controversy doesn't sell products well, and Tebow's cancellation probably means his PR representative warned him of that.
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