O'Connell's Off Topic

New Issue Of GQ Sizzles: Shirtless Tim Tebow
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:30 pm
Written by: Victor Chi

Even in the dog days of August, we can always count on Tim Tebow to provide a heaping helping of sizzle.

The latest issue of GQ, which hits newsstands on August 21, offers an interesting take from a writer who is a Jets fan but not a Tebow fan, and how he is trying to resolve this dilemma.

"This, really, is the root of my beef with Tebowmania: It has nothing to do with football," writes Devin Gordon. "It's a sales pitch -- a sensation built on evangelism, not ability, powered by people who see a chance to turn the NFL into the next front of the culture war. And now that culture war is coming to my team."

Compelling stuff. Not just the standard I-love-this-guy/I-hate-this-guy yelling that inevitably comes with any Tebow discussion. Gordon brings some context, texture and complexity to the conversation.

But Gordon's incisive analysis will likely have to settle for the silver medal in the Generating Buzz competition when GQ packages his story with a photo like this:

Shirtless Tebow.

In a Jesus-like pose.

Because there hadn't been nearly enough hype around the Jets, right?

But let's face it. Tebow would still be an attraction even if he had ended up in Jacksonville. The lights might be brighter on Broadway, but there are certain people from whom geography is irrelevant. As Reggie Jackson once put it: "I didn't come to New York to be a star. I brought my star with me."

Well, Jets fans will love it if Tebow can bring two championships to New York the way Reggie did, but for the moment, they'll have to deal with daily doses of Tebowmania that will only crank up once the season starts.

Even Gordon acknowledges that Tebow has that je ne sais quoi, which is noticeable just from being in his presence.

"The charisma is real, folks," he writes. "It almost startles you, especially if you're the kind of person who is skeptical about airy notions like charisma. It's there.

"Tebow smiles the entire time he is surrounded by reporters, no matter what he's asked, no matter how naked the trap being laid for him, every one of which he dodges, effortlessly, with a soft chuckle. He is clearly enjoying himself. He likes the attention, and not in a craven, needy way. More like: I'm a people person!"

And that has been the case whether he was at Florida (where this was shot a few years ago), Denver or New York.