Setbacks serve as set-ups
Oct. 11—Cumberland University's football team may have kicked off at 4 p.m. on Saturday, but the stands at Nokes-Lasater Field were full two hours before to hear Tim Tebow share a life account about serving others.
The Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion came to Lebanon as part of the university's Rise Above campaign, which coincided with Cumberland's homecoming game.
Fans lined the walkway and donned University of Florida, Denver Broncos and New York Jets jerseys to get a glimpse of the man many of them herald as a hero.
Tebow hasn't played a down of football in some time, but it's not for lack of trying. A failed attempt to rejoin a National Football League roster with the Jacksonville Jaguars likely ended the former quarterback-turned-tight-end's future in football.
However, as Tebow shared on Saturday, that failed tryout was just God opening another opportunity for him.
"The question is, how can we always rise together," Tebow said. "You continue to believe even amid setbacks. When I walk on to a football field like this, I'm reminded that I had a couple of setbacks. Let's be honest. I got cut like five times."
While he was able to laugh, he indicated the moral of that story went deeper and had a more considerable impact than not making a roster spot. Playing through pain and injuries was made easier by his longing desire to put the best version of himself out on to the field.
"Have I ever been willing to do that for something that is more important than a game," Tebow said. "What are the greatest things you've ever been willing to suffer for?"
Tebow lamented that throughout his life, the greatest endurance of suffering he has experienced has all been to try and win a game.
"I think if I said the same thing at the end of my life, I would have probably missed the mark," Tebow said. "One of the things you learn in sports is setbacks, but that not all setbacks are the worst thing, because sometimes, it can be setting you up."
After being cut from the Jaguars, Tebow felt another calling.
"It was around the time everything started happening in Afghanistan," Tebow said, referring to the United States' withdrawal from a 20-year-long conflict.
While in Afghanistan, Tebow came to an impactful realization.
"I had a chance to get on a plane and fly to the Middle East, where we had an opportunity to serve and care for evacuees," Tebow said. "I'm standing there with 35,000 people who are hurting and fighting for their life. It was the first time in a while that I had been able to say, 'God, thank you for letting me get cut.' ... Without that setback, I could not have been set up for ultimately what I know is most important in my life, to fight for people who can't fight for themselves."
