Joe Gibbs on Tim Tebow

Posted on Jan 14, 2012 in Blog | 18 comments

Thank you for joining me today. I want to say first of all that we are in our quiet time – it is the offseason for racing but you would not know it around here. We have a lot going on around here – new projects, testing and we are in Daytona this week. It is a busy time at Joe Gibbs Racing.

We are racing Motocross. We kicked things off last week in Anaheim. With our new rider, James Stewart (also known as Bubba Stewart), we got off to a tough start. We were the fastest bike in practice, won our heat race where we got a bad start and came from behind in 8th to win and in the final we wound up 6th because he fell late in the race. I’ve got to tell you I am excited about that series. There was a packed house in Anaheim and we are going to be racing in Phoenix this week.

So a little bit of a quiet time in NASCAR racing but it is not a quiet time for all the rest of us out there that are busy in this world. I like to talk to you on things I have been dealing with and lately it has been decision making with me. It seems like in my life I am constantly making decisions as you probably are too. I want to share with you something that happened to me in my background. I was coaching at St. Louis at the time and I was trying to work my way up to being a head coach. I have shared this with you before. Maybe some of you out there are struggling vocationally where you are trying to work your way up and you have a dream about your vocation. I got an opportunity to go and coach in Tampa with John McKay who I had coached with in college. I got all excited because I was going to be an offensive coordinator calling plays. We take off that year and everything just fell apart. It was something that totally shocked me. My plan was this was my next step to being a head coach but everything just fell apart in Tampa. Meanwhile, Don Coryell who I had coached for before had just got the job as head coach of the Chargers. I started thinking to myself that Don just might call me and offer me a job out there. So I said to the Lord “don’t let Don call me unless you want me to go”. That was my first thought. The next day after I prayed that, I got a phone call from Don and he offered me a job with the Chargers. Now here’s the deal – his job was not the job I had with Tampa. It wasn’t the high profile job I had in Tampa as offensive coordinator. It was being a backfield coach. I would be backing up in my profession. Man, I got to tell you I was torn. I really faced one of the biggest decisions I had ever made in my life. So as a part of that process I talked to Pat and we prayed about it. I made the decision that I should leave Tampa and go with the Chargers. Tough decision for me. Maybe some of you have been through that.

Afterwards, I started questioning whether this was the right thing to do and as a consequence I made up my mind to go see George Tharel, my spiritual father in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I have shared with you many times that we can have a physical father and also a spiritual father. Flew out of Tampa and ended up getting snowed in at Fort Smith, Arkansas. I could not even get to Fayetteville which was just south of there. I was thinking to myself the whole time “God, why would this happen? I just want to go see George. I remember I got my bags and went out front of the small airport there and I heard these two business guys talking about driving to Fayetteville. I walked over and said “if you guys are going to Fayetteville, I am going with you”. I didn’t even ask them. I just threw my bags in the back seat and we started down the road. It is starting to really snow and it was getting deeper and deeper on the highway. I don’t know if these guys were from Florida or Arizona but I knew they had never driven in snow. They were all over the place and I said to myself “they aren’t making it to Fayetteville”. I told them “pull over – I want out”. I got out, took my bags, climbed over the center divider on a freeway and hitchhiked my way back to Fort Smith. I continued to say “God, why is this happening to me?” I just wanted to go see George because I was having a tough time with this decision. I got back to the Fort Smith Airport and realized I was not going to get to Fayetteville. I bought a ticket to return to Tampa. I sat down in the airport totally discouraged and covered in snow and I looked over next to me and there was a Bible. How many times have you seen that in an airport? I picked it up and opened up the Bible. I had been studying in James and the first chapter in James is about wanting knowledge and making decisions. I flipped to the first chapter because that is where I had been studying. About that time a guy who had been sitting in the airport tapped me on the shoulder and without me saying anything he said this – “I claimed that chapter in my life about six months ago.” I said in amazement “really?” Without me prompting him he then relayed a story that was so close to mine occupationally where he had wanted a particular job, took it and made the decision to go to another state. He then thought he was going to lose that job because he had to take a big test that he didn’t think he could pass. And the bottom line was God really gave him what he wanted after he had trusted God.

I stop and think about that now – for all of you out there who would say that was just an accident with that guy. Now, he tapped me on the shoulder – I didn’t say anything to him. To think that somebody would be sitting there in an airport with a Bible sitting next to me and then for him to say that he had claimed that chapter in his life six months ago – we have two choices. We can say that was an accident or God put that person there. I turned to him and wrote down his number in my Bible and then I ran and jumped on the plane headed back to Tampa. I sat down on the plane and said “OK, God, I get it. You are wanting me to just trust my future and put it in your hands”. That’s really what that young guy said to me. That’s what he did with his profession. I said “you know I want to be a head coach. I need to just trust you with this. If you want me to be an assistant coach, I am going to be the best assistant coach the rest of my life. It’s up to you God.” Two weeks after I got to the Chargers, Don Coryell called me in to tell me the Chargers’ offensive coordinator had been offered and accepted a head coaching job with the Giants. He offered me in essence the job of offensive coordinator in charge of the quarterbacks. Two years later I was head coach of the Washington Redskins.

That’s me telling you something that happened in my life. That story has always been with me. I shared it with you in the book, Game Plan for Life. Are you in a situation where you are trying to make decisions? First of all, we need to be studying God’s word diligently and asking him to guide, lead and direct us in big decisions in our life.

I also want to share these verses in Proverbs which says “how do we get knowledge, how do we get this wisdom to make good decisions?” In Proverbs 2:3-5 it says:

And if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding and if you look
for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will
understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Think about that. Do we really search God’s word like it is a hidden treasure? It’s not just a 5 or 10 minute quick study in a devotional. It’s a real study so that we are going after something and we are seeking it like we are going after silver. Then you will understand and find the knowledge of God.

In 2 Chronicles 16:9, I want us to kind of think about this for a second. Here’s what the scripture says:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose
hearts are fully committed to Him.

Are we committed to Him? Are we loyal to Him? Are we really searching his Word?

I want to throw something out there that is a modern day thing that is playing out before us. Tim Tebow is playing for the Broncos. Tebow is a phenom right now. It’s all people are talking about. Here’s a guy who in college won a National Championship at Florida and came out boldly and said “I belong to the Lord”. He talked about so many young people having sex and stated he was not going to have sex until he was married. That hit the papers. He took a bold stand. Underneath his eyes he put John 3:16. You probably saw that when he was playing for the championship at Florida. Now he goes to Denver. A lot a people say he doesn’t have the qualities of throwing to become a real player in pro ball at quarterback. We see what’s happened – Denver made the playoffs this year. I think he engineered five second half comebacks. This past weekend the Broncos played the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs and nobody gave them a chance. Denver was big underdogs. Can you believe that Tebow engineered a tie at the end of the game? Then the first play of overtime he hit a bomb for 70+ yards to win the game. A lot of people have commented on the fact he threw for 316 yards. Think about that. Here’s a guy who makes a bold stand for God. He made the decision in his life that he was going to take a bold stand for God. Talking about decisions – he made one. He had John 3:16 under his eyes and he threw for 316 yards. This has kind of swept America. It is one of the most talked about things in the media. Here’s a young guy making the decision to follow Christ and taking bold stands when he is young. And really when God says he searches throughout the world – his eyes run to and fro looking for people who are loyal to Him. I suggest Tim Tebow is loyal to Him and he is honoring Him.