The Passion of the Tebow: Sports Media and Heroic Language in the Tragic Frame

Abstract

As one of the most widely covered athletes of recent years, Tim Tebow is both beloved and resented. In this essay, I critique sports media coverage of Tebow to demonstrate how tragic framing constitutes this opposition. By emphasizing his character both as a football leader and a Christian missionary, sports media frame Tebow in transcendental terms, the consequence of which is a discourse of absolutism and symbolic division. What is required, therefore, is a turn to Kenneth Burke's notion of the comic frame, a position of humility that is well-suited to the agonistic ethos of commercial sport.

Keywords:

• Tim Tebow
• Sports Media
• Christian Faith
• Frame Analysis
• Kenneth Burke

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Todd McDorman and his Rhetoric of Sport students at Wabash College, Raymond Schuck, Ronald Jackson, Kent Ono, and the anonymous reviewers for their feedback in the development of this manuscript.

Notes

1. Favre is the recently retired NFL quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers. While he was inarguably an elite talent, Favre became something of a mythic figure for his durability and enthusiasm for the game.

2. On August 4, 2010, I contacted ESPN directly to ask if Tim Tebow: The Chosen One could be purchased. I received an email from “ESPN Viewer Response,” stating, “ESPN, Inc. does not release or sell copies of its programming or promos.” Nevertheless, the documentary is available on YouTube in five segments, beginning at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HOUMIgfhJA.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael L. Butterworth

Michael L. Butterworth is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. A previous version of this essay was presented in 2010 at the Fourth Summit on Communication and Sport in Cleveland, Ohio