As his upcoming Senior Bowl looms, carrying with it thehopes and fears of an NFL career, his name has begun to pop up on NFL team websites around the internet. Most notably to me is his mention on the Buffalo Bills official website, who while acknowledging Tebow’s headliner status at the Bowl, are also real enough to know that the Golden Gator has the magnifying glass squarely over him.

After Monday, you might have thought the pressure and criticisms of his impending pro career may have gotten to him and the Bills declaration of him as the headliner has for all the wrong reasons.

He reportedly looked terrible, missing receivers, fumbling numerous snaps, and straining to read defenses. Some commented that it looked like he’d been working on his much maligned throwing mechanics, but the fruits of it were ugly ducks that wobbled uncertainly through the air before crashing to earth safely away from theintended targets. In addition, going under center seemed to still be a problem, as his footwork looked off when dropping back.

It was really a pretty bad day, though on a positive note,Todd McShay (Scouts, Inc) said that,” [Tim] remained positive, though, continuing to accept coaching and showing the same leadership qualities thathelped define his college career”, so there’s no immediate reason to jump off and in front of the NFL train yet. Fumbling snaps and missing receivers can be explained away by first day nerves, so neither is reason to panic as these are simply things we’ve seen himdo before, so he’s bound to be able to do them again. First time with a completely foreign team, first time really working out for NFL scouts, first time showing his new skills under center, and the first time his tweaked throwing motion is really gettinga show and tell; there’s a heck of a lot of opportunity to fail, but discouragement isn’t in Tim’s dictionary and I don’t foresee this ending with a whimper. Tebow’s work ethic is probably already ramping up and he’ll have these wrinkles ironed out before the end ofthe week. I’m sure of it.

The second story is about an upcoming Super Bowl adfeaturing Tim and Mom Pam Tebow which has come under fire so much that CBS is being asked to pull it from their telecast. Paid for by “Focus on the Family”, a Christian group who, according to their site, provides “relevant Christian advice on marriage, parenting, and other topics”, it is being most strenuously opposed by women’s groups, who are worried about its potential antiabortion message. Why?

Well, if you haven’t heard the story, seems Pam Tebow was actuallyadvised to abort her fifth child, Tim, during a missionary trip to the Philippines when she fell ill. Ignoring doctors’ advice that keeping the baby could kill her, she carried Superman toterm and created a college football God by weighing her fear, making adecision, and choosing chance over the safe bet.

She chose life, both her and Tim are stalwartly Pro-Life, and when questioned about the content of the ad, Focus on the Family were coy, simply stating that the ad “celebrates family” and that when you see the ad onSuper Bowl Sunday people will see that there’s “nothing political orcontroversial” about it. Tim was hit with this media shark attack on Monday during his Senior Bowl practices (another fine reason to excuse his first day jitters), but remained cool aboutthe whole thing, responding with:

He stuck to his guns on this, though the Women’s Media Center, one of the most vocal of the groups protesting the ad, was surprised that CBS even allowed the group to advertise to begin with, calling them “anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic”, then going on to tell CBS that it “is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage itsreputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting itsshows and advertisers”. Though CBS has made no decision about the fate of the ad yet, both sides seem to be justified, at least on paper without having seen the spot itself.

From the Tebow’s point of view, they are simply celebrating the courage it takes to make hard decisions in life, onesthat lead to glory and love and upholds all the foundations of what they believe. You can’t fault Tim or Pam for wanting to give public testimony as to what living their lives based on theirfaith and beliefs has yielded them, and women’s groups aren’t attacking her or Tim, per se.

In fact, the head of the WMC has come out and said what kind of respect they have for women put in hard situations and the hard choices they make, but they are worried that puttingthe ad out would make people feel like they’re somehow worse people for making the opposite, but equally difficult decisions.

The holier than thou argument aside, critics also cite the divisive nature of the topic, saying it has no part of Super Bowl Sunday:

Tim, you can’t catch a break. Follow your dream and you’re criticized for not being good enough to play at the pro level. Speak from your heart and you’re criticized for giving the wrong message or playing at being better than everyone else.

Good luck with the rest of your week, it can only get better after Day 1.

Go Gators.

Josh Bauer is a Columnist for GatorTailgating.com