Tim Tebow may be the most popular Christian in sports. He is a cross-cultural phenomenon, a preacher in a football player’s body

s he demonstrates in interviews and throughout his book, in his frequent appearances at churches and prisons, and even at his hugely anticipated and nationally televisedintroductory news conference for the Jets on Monday, Tebow is far from a firebrand evangelical.

With unflappable optimism and politeness, using his gift for artfully preaching without sounding preachy, Tebow mostly discusses his life story — a child of Southern Baptist missionaries in the Philippines who prayed for a son to become a preacher, named for Timothy in the Bible. Football, Tebow says, is his platform for greater good. He talks about the charitable works of his family and his own foundation. And he repeatedly invokes Jesus Christ’s name and the good that comes from committing to a life lived by his creed.