Will Sports Fans Turn on Jameis Winston for Being Black Tim Tebow? | Jason Whitlock Harmony

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Jason Whitlock (0:30)

Yesterday on Fearless, we got into a conversation about Jameis Winston and the success he's having with the New York Giants and the incredible game that he played, the comeback he led over the weekend that ended up in a 27-27 tie. But it furthered the narrative that Jameis Winston, there's something special and significant going on with Jameis Winston. And Ock, Ock Nation, that comes on Fearless, he made the analogy of comparing Jameis Winston to Tim Tebow. And it's like, boom, what a great analogy.

And it's something I had thought about maybe a couple of weeks ago, but Ock spoke it and said it and it really resonated with me and it started me thinking like, hey, at some point, is Jameis Winston gonna start getting the kind of blowback that Tim Tebow did because Jameis is really leaning hard into his faith walk, his relationship with Jesus Christ. Every time he's on camera, he's making reference to it. It puts a smile on your face.

It comes off a tad bit humorous, but it's really, really authentic. And it's everything I've wanted to see from professional athletes and particularly black professional athletes. He's living it. He's walking it out. And yesterday, I believe it was John Harbaugh, the Giants head coach, talked about Jameis Winston. I want to play the clip.

SPEAKER_3 (2:14)

And with Jameis, how impressive is it the optimism that he has? Like he's able to maintain the positivity. Like I know there's, you know, guys try to stay positive, but there's also human nature to it.

He really does seem to always try to be positive and optimistic. What's that like and how important is that for a quarterback?

John Harbaugh (2:36)

It's awesome. I mean, it's how important is it for a person? You know, I mean, it's the best. He's willing to be around and it's genuine. I mean, he comes, you know, he's a very strong faith person. He's a very strong Christian.

He is a very good guy. He works extremely hard. He's very motivated. He's an unbelievable competitor. He's tough as can be.

He's a fighter and he just doesn't let adversity get him down. You know, he understands it's, you know, it's like Michael Jordan or Abraham Lincoln or all the different stories you've heard. It's not how many times you get knocked down. It's how many times you get back up. You need to be plus one in the get up category. And that's exactly what he does every single day of his life, I would say. And that's why people like him are always successful. You know, I mean, most successful people are optimists. Didn't Churchill say that, that he knew a lot of successful people in his life. He knew a lot of, he knew a lot of pessimists in his life. And none of the successful people were the pessimists. Are you aware of that quote? It's a long response.

SPEAKER_1 (3:41)

I'll take your word. I'll take your word. Take it out.

John Harbaugh (3:44)

It's a good one, man. It's a good one.

SPEAKER_3 (3:46)

I got to study up on my Churchill, I guess.

SPEAKER_1 (3:47)

I don't know.

Jason Whitlock (3:50)

You know, they really should just drop the hill and just the church. There's like someone did an amazing job discipling Jameis Winston. And yes, he had some major screw ups in his college career and early in his professional career, but holy cow, the guy has gotten back up and gotten back up and has become this, in my view, the most important story and maybe the best story in the national football league, the redemption of Jameis Winston. And look, he's been on this course for a long time. That's why television networks are putting him on the Olympics, or putting him any and everywhere where there's a chance to just for Jameis to bring his charisma, his personality. He's like the antithesis of Snoop Dogg. You know, you can put Jameis on anything, on any event, and it's better. And it's justified and it's what this culture needs. And it's what I've been trying to explain to athletes, the Colin Kaepernick types and everybody else that wants to bring an anger and a victimhood mentality, where Jameis wants to bring a joy and a victory mentality. It's an amazing thing to watch. It's a different version of Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow, of course, in the early 2010s, was having some success as a Denver Broncos quarterback and taking a knee and honoring God in a brief moment of prayer, but he came a very, very polarizing player. A lot of people loved him and a lot of people rooted against Tim Tebow.