NEW YORK (AP)—A national coalition of women’s groups called on CBS on Monday to scrap its plan to broadcast an ad during the Super Bowl featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, which critics say is likely to convey an anti-abortion message.

“An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year—an event designed to bring Americans together,” said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women’s Media Center.

The center was coordinating the protest with backing from the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and other groups.

CBS said it has approved the script for the 30-second ad and has given no indication that the protest would have an impact. A network spokesman, Dana McClintock, said CBS would ensure that any issue-oriented ad was “appropriate for air.”

The ad—paid for by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family— is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow’s pregnancy in 1987 with a theme of “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.” After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim, who went on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy while helping his Florida team to two BCS championships.

The controversy over the ad was raised Sunday when Tebow met with reporters in Mobile, Ala., before beginning preparations for next weekend’s Senior Bowl.

“I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe,” Tebow said. “I’ve always been very convicted of it (his views on abortion) because that’s the reason I’m here, because my mom was a very courageous woman. So any way that I could help, I would do it.”

Thirty-second commercials during the Super Bowl are selling for $2.5 million to $2.8 million. Gary Schneeberger, a spokesman for Focus on the Family, said funds for the Tebow ad were donated by a few “very generous friends” and did not come from the group’s general fund.

Schneeberger said he and his colleagues “were a little surprised” at the furor over the ad.

“There’s nothing political and controversial about it,” he said. “When the day arrives, and you sit down to watch the game on TV, those who oppose it will be quite surprised at what the ad is all about.”

The protest letter from the Women’s Media Center suggested that CBS should have turned down the ad in part because it was conceived by Focus on the Family.

“By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers,” the letter said.

However, Schneeberger said CBS officials carefully examined Focus on the Family’s track record and found no basis for rejecting the ad.

“We understand that some people don’t think very highly of what we do,” Schneeberger said. “We’re not trying to sell you a soft drink—we’re not selling anything. We’re trying to celebrate families.”

The idea for the ad came from an employee in Focus on the Family’s film department, Schneeberger said, and the Tebows “were thrilled” when it was proposed to them. The Tebows, including Tim, have been outspoken in discussing their Christian faith and their missionary work.

All the national networks, including CBS, have policies that rule out the broadcast of certain types of contentious advocacy ads. In 2004, CBS cited such a policy in rejecting an ad by the liberal-leaning United Church of Christ highlighting the UCC’s welcoming stance toward gays and others who might feel shunned by more conservative churches.

CBS was criticized for rejecting that ad—and perhaps might have worried about comparable criticism from conservatives if it had rejected an ad featuring such a charismatic and well-known figure as Tebow.

CBS noted that it had run some advocacy ads in recent months, including spots taking conflicting sides in the debate of a national health care overhaul.

Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, said she had respect for the private choices made by women such as Pam Tebow but condemned the planned ad as “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”

“That’s not being respectful of other people’s lives,” O’Neill said. “It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else’s.”

A national columnist for CBSSports.com, Gregg Doyel, also objected to the CBS decision to show the ad, specifically because it would air on Super Sunday.

“If you’re a sports fan, and I am, that’s the holiest day of the year,” he wrote. “It’s not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don’t care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don’t care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion.”

“An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year—an event designed to bring Americans together,” said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women’s Media Center.

Jemhu and I went to high school together, she's been doing big thangs as a political activist for ages.

And this is some bullshit. I don't want a political debate on Super Sunday! Bring on the talking frogs and flatulent horses, I say!
[Edited 1/25/10 20:46pm]

SCNDLS said:

Nothinbutjoy said:

You won't catch any of that shit at the Puppy Bowl!!!!

As a sports fan, it's not the holiest day of the year. That used to be New Year's Day, lol. But I could care less.
It's not like the crowd I'm watching it with is going to get into in during the game. You'll be told to take it to another room . . . . It's not like we're gonna start trying to change people's opinions.

SUPRMAN said:

I don't give a fuck! Abortion and football don't go together!

SCNDLS said:

not a dallas cowboy's fan i see.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

SCNDLS said:

come on that was a pretty good joke!

OnlyNDaUsa said:

In the other topic that was locked.

i said that free speech means that the woman's group can protest this ad and if they so choose CBS/NFL can pull the ad for any or for no reason (assuming there is a clause in the contract, which I again assume, is very standard in such contracts).

The makers of the Ad have the right to make the ad and try to get someone to show it. But they do not have the right to force anyone to show it.

SCNDLS said:

Maybe his ass needs to focus on football right now since his stock is dropping faster than Pam Anderson's titties

Tim Tebow meets his worst career fears in Senior Bowl debut

On top of the technical issues NFL scouts have with Tim Tebow as a prospective pro quarterback, there's also the standard next-level complaint about "the system" -- specifically, among other things, that Tebow spent the entirety of his college career at Florida taking snaps from the shotgun, never from under center, even in short-yardage situations. That seemingly minor qualm opens up an entirely new avenue of doubts about his ability to adjust to basic mechanics like footwork and turning his back to the defense, fundamentals most quarterbacks have converted to second nature long before they show up for NFL auditions (or, in most cases, before they ever set foot in an actual college game).

Florida tried to address that last year by hiring respected quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler from the pro ranks, practicing with Tebow under center and having him take a handful of "conventional" snaps in a few games, all with an eye to making the most celebrated college player in modern history a more viable prospect to the skeptics. But when he showed up Monday for the first day of heavy scrutiny at the Senior Bowl, all the old alarm bells started ringing at maximum volume -- Tebow reportedly flubbed his first snap from center, and it only got uglier from there:

Performing drills with fellow South team quarterbacks Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State and Jarrett Brown of West Virginia, Tebow fumbled the ball at least twice while taking snaps under center.

Later in team drills, Tebow fell into his same old habits — holding onto the ball too long, locking onto receivers and throwing wobbly passes.

The scouts noticed.

"He looks like the third QB out there," one NFC South talent evaluator said.

Of course, the two QBs in front of him, Robinson and Brown, also come from shotgun-based spread schemes that featured a steady dose of quarterback-as-runner, and former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach -- as prominent an acolyte of the "college spread" as you can find -- hilariously mocked the NFL mantra when his prolific protegé, Graham Harrell, met with failing grades from the scouts last spring. ("How could you possibly look yourself in the mirror and consider yourself an NFL coach and not be able to teach a guy to run back three steps, five steps and seven steps? I can teach a child that!") Longtime coach and quarterback guru Marc Trestman, who worked with Tebow to prepare for this week, said he didn't think Tebow looked bad enough to hurt himself; Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, overseeing the South roster, said Tebow improved over the course of the practice. If nothing else, he's already well on his way to replacing Brett Favre's spot in Peter King's heart in the league's most influential weekly column.

But for a guy who needed a knockout week, the initial reviews are unadulterated fuel for the haters. Handling the snap is supposed to be the easy part of the transition; if he's still struggling with the basic exchange on national television this Saturday, we won't be hearing the end of it anytime soon.

SCNDLS said:

He may be the greatest college player ever but he's not NFL material at QB.
No team is going to restructure their team to build it around what Tebow does best. No team can afford to.
He should be playing TE this weekend . . .

Why is a fetus a potential NFL/SuperBowl hero but never a potential Hitler or Stalin? So many prolifers act like women are just having abortions while waiting to get their mani/pedis or some shit. Anyway,,,ixnay on the adday. Inappropriate since people watch the game to have fun and have a laugh not get caught up in some political/moral BS.

DesireeNevermind said:

But couldn't you say that about TV in general (maybe the news excluded), not just the Super Bowl?

Not saying I agree with the ad, but if it's allowable on TV, I don't get why the Super Bowl should be any more off limits than airing it during re-runs of Friends or something.
[Edited 1/26/10 14:45pm]

FauxReal said:

I suppose so but it seems many ads relate to the show in some way and are also geared toward the interests of the shows' main audience which is why you tend to see beer ads during sports games and condom/cologne ads during dating and reality shows, and also house cleaning and food ads during soap operas. Just seems like bad taste IMO to air any kind of abortion ad either pro or con during a football game that people have been waiting months to see. I mean damn they might as well air such ads during the Thanksgiving parades if all air time is fair time.

DesireeNevermind said:

I see what your saying. But I guess that begs the question, what time is a good time for abortion-related ads then? Is there a good time?

FauxReal said:

Nope. I don't wanna see ads on either side, for or against. Quite frankly, abortion is a very personal reproductive issue (and a surgical procedure) to a woman and need not be advertised like teeth whitening or popeye's chicken.

DesireeNevermind said:

And it's obviously not just another tv show or else they wouldn't be doing this on Super Sunday. This ad is inappropriate and unnecessary for the same reason whippin' out a 40 year-old titty on a Sunday afternoon is: People are gathered with family and friends to watch the game, eat some artery clogging food, and get drunk so don't nobody wanna have some bullshit disturbing the overall groove.

Maybe Tebow's the genuine article, but I can't take these fans treating him like he's the Second Coming. I can't wait for Ray Lewis to lay his ass out.


...and if this cat ever gets caught with a ho(like Tiger), forget it. The same media that's kissing his ass(one sports announcer said we should be blessed to know someone like Tim Tebow) will eat him alive.

uPtoWnNY said:

Ain't he sposed to be a virgin?

SCNDLS said:

I'm still recovering. Not because Janet was 40 but because she thought at age 40 that was a cute thing to do...and that it was cuter to pretend like she had a wardrobe malfunction. Mmmm yeah, every chick wears pasties under her bra.

SCNDLS said:

say what???

DesireeNevermind said:

i think they should balance it and put a Planned Parenthood commercial on.

Vendetta1 said:

Planned Parenthood can't afford it. Hell, this group can't either, this ad was paid for by a couple of donors and not from their normal budget.

SCNDLS said:

I really don't believe any group like this should be doing commercials. This is almost as irritating as those come back to church commercials from the Catholic church.

uPtoWnNY said:

Tebow won't play QB in the NFL. That was a given before this week. TE, some wildcat, but no one is going to draft him as the QB of the future. He may get picked in round 6 or 7 or maybe not at all. He wouldn't be the first undrafted Heisman.