Is Tim Tebow a Culture Warrior?

Over the course of 30 seconds during Sunday's Super Bowl, Tim Tebow will complete his evolution from college football superhero to culture-wars flash point.

The irrepressible University of Florida quarterback -- famous for his two national championships, his Heisman Trophy, and his penchant for wearing his Christian faith on his sleeve and on his game-day eye black -- will make his first Super Bowl appearance. It will not be on the field, but in a commercial airing on the CBS telecast that will be utterly different from what we're accustomed to seeing in the big game's advertising reel.

Tebow and his mother, Pam, star in an ad produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family. According to the Colorado-based organization, the spot will emphasize the theme "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." Details have not been released -- and neither the news media nor the public have been given sneak previews -- but the ad is expected to retell the story of the extremely difficult pregnancy Pam Tebow experienced with Tim and her faith-based refusal to follow doctors' recommendations to abort.

At a surface level, the Tebow ad likely will stand out as a wholesome, inspirational contrast to the beer-guzzling, sex-selling excess that characterizes Super Bowl commercials. But just beneath the shine of the "Go Families!" pitch is a veritable bomb of combustible politics.

If you want to set a progressive's teeth on edge, just mention Focus on the Family, founded by the recently retired James Dobson, one of the country's most outspoken and controversial culture warriors. Dobson, and by extension Focus on the Family itself, is the embodiment of the staunch anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality politics that characterize the Christian right.

Tebow backlash?

Even before its airing, this commercial has accelerated a Tim Tebow backlash that was already growing over the course of Tebow's senior year at Florida. Heretofore, much of the criticism has been provoked not so much by Tebow himself, but by the over-the-top fawning of some fans, broadcasters and writers who have told and retold the Tebow story past the point of hagiography: His home-schooled childhood under the wing of his deeply Christian parents. His missionary trips to the Philippines. His passionate, championship-winning play. His fiery motivational talk after a dubious Gators' loss, now enshrined like Scripture on the entrance to the university's football facility. His virginity.

With this ad, Tebow becomes a direct participant in the political uses of his person and his story. Call him naive or call him courageous and principled -- probably more the latter -- but few will be calling him non-controversial after this.

"Tebow will come crashing into football's Holy Night with a partisan pronouncement on one of the most controversial issues in American life," pundit Ed Kilgore aptly observes on The Democratic Strategist blog. "I somehow doubt it will persuade too many watchers to change their views on abortion, but it may change some views about Tim Tebow."

In one sense, Tebow's athletic, religious -- and now political -- visage is nothing new. For decades, evangelical athletic stars have been using their visibility to help promote a Christian message. In the many instances when they've segued into the political sphere, they've generally marched in tight alignment with conservative causes. (Think former Boston Red Sox star Curt Schilling and his high-profile campaigning for George W. Bush after his 2004 World Series heroics.)