Tag: Tim Tebow

Nick Diaz and Tim Tebow are doppelgangers of one another.

Before you start writing a scathing rebuttal, let me explain. 

Tim Tebow is an athlete whose presence in the NFL created a tremendous amount of controversy.

Some of this controversy was over his religious beliefs, while some was over his actual abilities (overyhped vs. not overhyped).

Despite the arguments, he’s still popular and even a sort of hero.

Nick Diaz is an athlete whose presence in the UFC created a tremendous amount of controversy.

Some of this controversy was over his thuggish attitude and his beliefs about marijuana while some was over his actual abilities (overhyped vs. not overhyped).

Despite the arguments, he’s still popular and even a sort of (cult) hero.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Diaz and Tebow, though they may be complete and total opposites on the personality spectrum, actually occupy the exact same roles in their respective sports—the role of the overhyped, over-marketed, hero. 

When Tim Tebow threw the touchdown pass that defeated the Steelers in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, it generated over 9000 tweets per second, a new record. Tebowmania was sweeping the nation and Tebow became something of a hero. 

No longer did kids have to look up to sordid men who shot themselves in the leg or tortured dogs— they had a religious, clean-cut, polite athlete to look up to.

Despite the fame and admiration, Tebow was still a controversial figure. Much of the debate around him was centered over whether he was actually an elite quarterback. 

To some, the questions was answered with an emphatic “no” once the Broncos were trounced by the Patriots. However, the debate still rages. 

Diaz’s story is a little different, but that reflects the sport that he partakes in. 

The Stockton, Calif. native was always controversial since he comes off as crass and disrespectful. However, as his fame increased, he became more and more controversial—in part because people started to like him.

Diaz’s brash persona and thrilling fighting style earned him many fans, as did his advocacy of marijuana use (since it’s the most popular “drug” in the country). People felt that Diaz was “real” so he developed a following. 

Diaz’s name would trend on Twitter (although he wouldn’t do nearly what Tebow would do because of MMA‘s relatively niche appeal) whenever a significant news story would erupt around him. 

The most recent stories being Diaz’s disputed loss to Carlos Condit (that has the MMA community fractured) and his subsequent drug test failure in which he tested positive for marijuana. 

Still, much of the debate is about whether or not Diaz is an elite welterweight worthy of being placed near the top of the division.

Some say he is, some say he’s not. 

MMA fans became split over Diaz’s abilities and ideals, as football fans did with Tebow’s. The main difference was that they were arguing over lewd antics and cannabis use rather than religious fanaticism. 

Nevertheless, both men occupy the same role in their respective sports and fulfill the same functions.

They have the role of the quintessential overrated athlete with questionable, contentious aspects about them that get the fans arguing and ultimately make money.

Controversy creates cash.

They may go about it different ways, but Diaz and Tebow do the same thing; they are cut from the same cloth in a strange way.

What causes over 9,000 tweets per second in the NFL world causes thousands of forum threads and articles in the MMA world. 

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