"...When Americans are asked which pro athletes they believe carry the most influence with the public, Tebow’s name tops the list."

When the question is inherently stupid and meaningless, who cares what the answer is?

If nothing else, Tebow has provided a bounty of material for The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-leg…

I'm quite sure that Goldy would not have written "Out of Work Mohammed Freak Tops Forbes Most Influential Athlets" if Tim Tebow was a Muslim.

Oh, @4, you know damn well if Tebow was a Muslim he'd never have made it to the NFL, let alone achieved any sort of celebrity there.

What exactly is he going to influence? He won't even be in the league this year. Even the CFL is a stretch. He did have a brief moment with the Broncos, but that was 18 months ago...an eternity.

Calling him "most influential" now makes Forbes look culturally retarded (in the chronological sense, if not the developmentally disabled sense), no matter what their survey said.

The most hilarious thing about Tebow is that he's not even SPECIAL. Tons of athletes are very religious, even fervently and openly. He's just way more obnoxious about it.

Our own Russell Wilson is a perfect example. Anyone follow him on Twitter? That guy (and his wife) are pretty candid with their faith. But do you see him with some dumb trademarked "Thanks God" move whenever he does well? Or pushing his religiously-informed politics in interviews? No. Because he's much classier than Tebow.

And also 10x the QB.

Tebow is a silly joke that had a moment in the spotlight.

There is a petition to Obama to force the Jaguars to hire this joker. A sampling of America's dumbest people.

Anyone whose zealotry so enormously overshadows his actual skill in such a public setting deserves maximum mockery.

Science beats religion yet again. I can't believe 'experts' are still predicting he'll land somewhere. It was obvious this wouldn't work for the Jets. You don't win games with empty gimmicks.

@10 " As a QB he took a team to the playoffs and he doesn't even know how to throw the football."

Is that meant as a subtle joke? Because it's really funny.

Some tiny-league Midwestern team is offering to hire him as quaterback for $75 a game. That is not a joke. ( Though it could be.)

Where is your God now?

@5: Yeah, I remember this guy from Tacoma, Bobby Moore. Converted his rookie year. Ended his career in an instant.

@14, absolutely - and he subsequently went around shoving his religion in everyone's face, right? Oh, wait, no. He just went on being a mensch.

Come on: if some QB went around prostrating himself to Mecca or hollering "Allahu Akbar!" every time he scored a touchdown, he'd NEVER have made it onto a team in the NFL, no matter how talented he was. The NFL is an incredibly "Christian" league, and it's okay to be a quiet Muslim or Jew or whatever, but the emphasis is on the "quiet". IMO, of course. I can only think of a handful of other such players - maybe six or so?

And wow, look at the crap the Abdullah twins (Hamza and Hussein) took when they had to deal with practices during Ramadan. (just Google it; yikes)

@4 If Islam was the dominant religion in the US, yeah I'm willing to bet Goldy would make fun of a player who, to quote Catherwood "went around prostrating himself to Mecca or hollering "Allahu Akbar!" every time he scored a touchdown".

Get it? Running around screaming " they're making War on Christmas, Ten Commandments, Pray in School". or running around screaming "Jihad, Sharia Law" it doesn't matter your still a nut job and potential danger to civil society.

Tim Tebow's fame is entirely predicated on his acts of faith. He's never been an exceptional football player.

That said, I can understand why he'd top a list of influential athletes. He's just not doing it based on his athleticism. The Tebow brand is strong and he's good at grabbing the spotlight. People who give no fucks about football know who Tim Tebow is and feel like they have a stake in his career.