Tim Tebow Shares His Secret to Overcoming Rejection
In our latest issue, Tim Tebow opens up about his disappointments and struggles after being cut from the NFL, and how he's found new hope for the future.
Tim Tebow’s heart sank as he stood in front of his locker holding a garbage bag. He stared at the jars of nutritional supplements and shakes that cluttered the shelf…then his eyes dropped to the New England Patriots uniform—a uniform he’d never put on again. You should have done more, Timmy, he thought as a wave of regret and shame washed over him. Why didn’t you push harder? Work out longer?
The Heisman Trophy–winning quarterback had been drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2010, then two years later traded to the New York Jets. After only a year, the Jets had let him go. He had high hopes when he was picked up by the Patriots, but they were dashed again when he was cut in the preseason.
Tim scooped his belongings into the trash bag, hugged and thanked his teammates and coaches, and walked out the door. “I was embarrassed. No team wanted me to do what I’d dreamed of doing since I was little,” Tim describes in his new book, Shaken. “I had no job, no car, no home. I’d let down people who’d looked up to me.”
But as Tim faced each blow, his faith remained a rock-solid foundation. “It was hard, but I knew God hadn’t left me,” he tells Simple Grace. “We’ve all been told that we’re not good enough, we’re not qualified, we’re not significant enough, that we can’t accomplish something. But every setback is God setting us up for something better. Sure, tough times are going to come again, but with God, they’ll be worth it.”
Read more about how God walked with Tim through this difficult time in the November issue of Simple Grace, on-sale now, and in Tim's wonderful new book Shaken.
