Changing role models

 The man who declared: “I am the greatest,” the fighter who called himself “beautiful” is now old and diseased. All the years he spent reigning as King of the ring has come back to collect. Now he is no longer the greatest, he totters instead of “floats like a butterfly.” We continue to admire him but we no longer revere him. Today he is no longer King, he is just a living legend. Today we have a different breed of heroes.

 Legends like Muhamad Ali or the fictional Rocky Balboa are heroes from a time when the world looked up to people who did things on their own, heroes who beat the odds, and mocked the world that tried to deny them their place in history. They lived in a time where it was all about the individual, it was the era of “Me.”

 Todays emerging heroes are a different sort. I don’t know if it’s because of their home life, strong parents or personal discovery, but somewhere along the way today’s hero-athletes have somehow managed to shed or reject the “its all about me” mentality. One by one, athletic heroes are emerging with excellence as well as a “Public Display of Honor” to GOD.

 Rather than shouting “I am the greatest,” they kneel on one knee and head bowed they silently gesture towards the heavens, the undeniable: To GOD be the glory! In the Philippines, 8-division title-holder Manny Pacquiao has done this in all his title fights in Las Vegas before and especially after winning a title fight.

 Pinoys admired this expression of faith, but the concept of “Public Display of Honor” did not go viral until people started posting stories about the 25- year old Denver Broncos Quarterback named Tim Tebow every time he did something in order to send out a message about his faith.

 Being a devout Christian, Tebow started out by painting the book, chapter and verse from the Bible on his “eye black”; the shaded area below the eyes and the cheekbones of American College football players to reduce glare outdoors. After a while, league officials ruled that the eye black should not be used for any other purpose than to stop glare and officially put a stop to the Tebow messages.

 That of course did not stop the icon of “Muscular Christianity.” Tebow changed tactics and every time they scored a touch down or scored a point, Tebow would kneel on the turf, bow his head low and point is finger to heaven, an act now called “Tebowing.”

 As if to drive the message home from somewhere, an unknown second stringer of the New York Knicks got out of being a bench warmer when several key players fell sick or injured. Call it a lucky break or better yet divine intervention. His name Jeremy Lin. To this day people are still deciding on what is more amazing about Jeremy Lin, the fact that he is now an overnight sensation in the NBA, that he graduated from Harvard or that he gives all the glory to GOD publicly? When you combine all these things together the only word that comes to mind is: “Linsanity.”

 This week, the major dailies as well as TV Networks have given a lot of time and space to feature the redemption of Manny Pacquiao. From a self confessed gambler and womanizer, Manny Pacquiao has now opted to go public about his new found faith and his joy in reading the Bible.

 Although many people are still tentative about Pacquiao’s claims of having had a spiritual vision, the boxing champ is undeterred and has taken advantage of every opportunity to share his excitement and zeal.

 So exactly what is going on? How is it that the citizens of the web or the Internet seem to be latching on to a different sort of hero, not just heroes of the flesh but heroes for the faith? And why are the spiritual reminders coming to us in the form of athletes rather than priests and pastors.

 They say that GOD works in mysterious ways, but on this one he is simply showing wisdom and common sense. Very few priests and pastors can connect to such a large and young audience. Tebow, Lin and Pacquiao all manifest exceptional abilities in terms of communications, marketing and product presentation. Above all they are all audacious. Today’s youth respects all these in addition to their GOD given talent of athleticism.

At the end of the day, no matter what your background, no matter how disadvantaged and threatened you were in life, the question is, are you willing to rise up, do the best that you can with your talents and give glory to GOD.  That is what these three modern day heroes have done, they did not take credit for doing what they loved, they told people about the GOD they loved. That’s my kind of hero.