Tim Tebow Ad Wins NRB Best Commercial Award
Focus on the Family’s first-ever Super Bowl ad has won the Best Television Commercial award at this year's National Religious Broadcasters conference.
Then college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam, star in the 30-second ad, which aired Feb. 7, 2010 on CBS.
It is estimated that 5.5 million people reconsidered their position on abortion after seeing the ad, according to a Barna Group poll released last Tuesday.
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"We are thrilled and honored by this award," said FOTF President Jim Daly in a statement released Wednesday.
"More importantly, we are humbled that we were able to initiate a national dialogue about the wonder of life, the beauty of family and the celebration of a woman's decision to give birth to her baby boy."
FOTF reported that since its debut, the ad has been seen by an estimated 92 million viewers both nationwide and worldwide. Another 1.5 million visitors visited the FOTF website after seeing the commercial. The ad ultimately generated nearly $32 million in free media.
While presenting its award to Jim Daly, the NRB called the commercial “the most buzzed-about spot of Super Bowl XLIV.”
“It created a national dialogue about the true definition of choice as it pertains to the issue of abortion.”
The Miracle Child
In the commercial, Pam Tebow calls Tim her “miracle baby” and says there were so “many times” she had “almost lost him.”
Focus on the Family later released a full-length interview hosted by Jim Daly in which Tim’s parents share their testimony.
Tim’s story began in the island-nation of the Philippines, where his parents worked as missionaries in 1986. While preaching in the mountains, Tim’s father, Bob, asked God to give him a son destined to be a preacher.
Because she was 37-years-old at the time, Tim’s mother was considered high-risk for pregnancy. The Tebows already had four healthy children, and acquaintances questioned Tim’s parents' decision.
Eventually, Pam conceived Tim, but was asked to agree to an abortion to save her life.
“[The doctor] she said it wasn’t a baby at all, but a mass of fetal tissue,” Pam recalled during the interview. “[She]…said it was a tumor.”
The Tebows already made the decision to have Tim, however, and chose to stay with the pregnancy. After many near brushes with death, Tim was born a healthy baby in the capital city of Manila.
“We…reminded him countless times that God has a special plan for him,” Pam said of Tim.
“He [God] spared him in the womb…spared him laying on the field over there at the University of Kentucky, and He spared him for a reason,” she continued.
“Of course, we tell that to the other children, too.”
During college, Tim played football for the University of Florida – eventually winning the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 2007.
Even so, says his parent, Tim continues to live his life in accordance to the scriptures.
At a college press conference in July 2009, Tebow had been asked if he was a virgin – to which he replied, “Yes, I am.”
“He takes seriously his accountability before all those little kids who look up to him,” says his mother. “They [children] follow him, they want to grow up to be like him, and parents are grateful because they have a role model for their children.”
Since last year, Tim has played professionally for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League.
