In December's poll, Tebow was picked by 3 percent of those surveyed as their favorite active pro athlete. That put him ahead of Kobe Bryant (2 percent), Aaron Rodgers (1.9 percent), Peyton Manning (1.8 percent) and Tom Brady (1.5 percent) in the top-five of the results.
The poll results were gathered from 1,502 interviews from a nationally representative sample of Americans ages 12 and older.
"To put this in perspective, Tim Tebow rose to the top before the end of his second pro season. It took Tiger Woods three years, LeBron James eight years and Kobe Bryant 11 years," Rich Luker, founder and director of the ESPN Sports Poll, said. "I think we may be at the front end of a new era in sports stars.
Tom and Tim rank among the most popular, polarizing and appealing players in the game. Marketing Evaluations’ Q rating, which measures the public’s awareness and opinion of celebrities, lists Tebow as the NFL’s sixth-most-appealing player, and Brady as the 13th.
“Two out of three Americans age 6 years and older knew who Tom Brady was, and two out of five knew who Tim Tebow was,” Schafer said. “That’s crazy. That’s telling me (Tebow) is more of a national personality than anybody thought, even before the season started.”
What’s more, that measure was taken in September, before backup QB Tebow stepped up and turned his 1-4 Broncos into the NFL’s 8-8 comeback kids, very publicly professing love for Christ and admiration of his teammates the whole way through. Just yesterday, ESPN Sports ran a poll showing Tebow is American’s favorite active pro athlete, ahead of Brady in fifth place.
Indeed, a December report from Dallas-based The Marketing Arm says Tebow has just a shade less influence than Lady Gaga, and more than Tom Hanks. And he’s head-and-shoulders above Brady, who has about as much pull as Bruce Willis and Robert Downey Jr.
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