Ellington

The running back just ran 50 yards down the sideline, shook two defenders, stiff-armed another and galloped into the end zone for a touchdown late in the first half of a regular-season game.

And what does he do after scoring?

He takes a knee and seemingly thanks the good man upstairs for helping him high-tail his 230-pound frame those 50 yards into the end zone.

Don’t get me wrong: I am not saying that the guy isn’t allowed to thank whatever god or higher being he believes may exist. I am just wondering if he was also thanking him or her after a 255-pound linebacker rung his bell on the previous play, or after his quarterback missed him on a wide-open fade route in the first quarter.

In the United States, we pride ourselves on the freedom to practice whatever religion we so choose. I could make up a religion tomorrow that stipulates that Steve Sarkisian is the messiah, spreading the word of Pete Carroll to the people, and in this great nation, that religion would fly. That is what is so great about our country: You can have a player with a cross tattooed on his bicep passing the ball to a player with the star of David tattooed on his neck, who gets a block from someone with readings from the Quran.

However, to my dismay, amidst this seemingly endless religious diversity in Western culture, we are still trapped in this notion that the Christian way is the right way. Look at Tim Tebow, and at just about every other athlete who speaks from his or her respective soapbox and who is lauded for doing so.

This unfortunate truth was thrust onto my television screen during the Heisman Trophy Award ceremony in 2007. ESPN covered the event, glossing over each finalist’s achievements and airing short segments on each candidate’s life. What startled me was how much the commentators harped on Tebow’s religion. “He is a good Christian man,” one exclaimed.

I could not believe it: Why do “good” and “Christian” have to go in the same sentence? Have you ever heard a commentator refer to a player who practices Islam as a “good Muslim man?”

This seemingly harmless compliment struck a chord with me: Would Tebow not be a good man if he were not Christian? Was Darren McFadden, the runner-up, not a good Christian man because he had gotten into some off-the-field issues? Why mention religion at all? And if Tebow is such an upstanding citizen, why can’t he just be a good man?

This comment glosses over the fact that the United States is one of the few nations with no national religion. This means that there should be no assumed religion, which for me means that “God Bless America” should not be sung at ballparks across the United States just because some feel it makes us more “patriotic.” Winter break is called winter break because not everybody celebrates Christmas, and in this case, Christianity should not be the implied righteous path to goodness according to ESPN.

I guess it would be hard for ESPN to ignore the religious aspect to Tebow-mania when he talks about it in many interviews and publications, which, quite frankly, I have no problem with. I just don’t need the media telling me that I should like him because he is big, fast, good-looking and oh yeah, a good Christian guy.

By now, you’re probably thinking that I am just some bleeding-heart liberal, or a total communist with no examples to back up my claim. But look back 45 years to the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali. His conversion to Islam and association with the Nation of Islam was a controversial issue in the media, and many commentators even refused to refer to him by his new name.

Reach columnist Mark Morgan at sports@dailyuw.com.