by Tom Gallagher
The great NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who played from 1961 to 1978, has an opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal describing his futile attempt to get God's intervention in three Super Bowl games. Tarkenton places the current excitement around Denver Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow, an outspoken evangelical man-of-God, into perspective.
Prayer and faith have been a part of the NFL for decades. It's nothing new. Most team prayers before a game include the sacred quickly followed by the profane. ("Let's go kill those S.O.B.s!")
Tarkenton includes a funny story about Catholic Wellington Mara, the longtime owner of the New York Giants, who invited many priests into the Giants locker room.
God doesn't care who wins football games. But, Tarkenton concludes, it's good to be chattering about Tim Tebow, a great athlete and fearless leader, who is doing good things and not bad.
Tebow takes on the New England Patriots in a playoff game at 8 p.m. Saturday EST on CBS.
