Performance
enhancing drugs, drunk driving, sexual harassment, murder, and dog fighting,
all are things that the person I am about to discuss the apology of did not
do. All Tim Tebow did was simply be part
of a team that was upset by Ole Miss in a college football game. Yet, this has led to one of the most heartfelt
apology that may have been publically announced by any athlete in history. All Tebow wanted to was have an undefeated
season, because the Florida Gators have never done this before in history. Tebow’s apology speech is known as one of the
top ten apologies by any athlete, and it happened during a press conference
after the loss.
Tebow
has used two main strategies in this apology, and he didn’t even really think
them through. His apology was a spur of
the moment apology that was announce through emotion. The first strategy that I believe he used was
mortification. He was embarrassed that
the Florida Gators couldn’t beat Ole Miss.
He said at one point he didn’t have complete faith in his teammates or
himself to get the job done, and that he was embarrassed by it. His voice was weak during this part of the
speech and his eyes were bloodshot, as if trying to hold back tears. It was obvious that he clearly did feel sorry
about this loss. He felt that he let the
Florida Gator fan base down, which leads to the next strategy in the apology.
The
next strategy that was used by Tebow was the corrective action strategy. Tebow said he could promise a lot of good
would come out of that loss. ”I promise
you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this.” He was promising to make things right. He promised that the fans would never see
anyone work harder than he would ever again.
He would push the team harder than anyone else will push their teams in
the future. Tebow kept this promise, as
he finished the rest of the season without a loss and wins a national
championship. Tebow finishes his college
career with a record of 23-1.
What
I am trying to show is that the issue doesn’t always have to be serious for an
athlete to come out and apologize for.
Tebow’s apology became one of the most famous and has been written on a
plague at Florida University and is now known as “The Pledge.” It has been hung as inspiration to every
future athlete at Florida University to be the best they can be, and to always
have faith.
I never really thought about this type of apology. Usually when someone makes an apology its for something more serious like those that you listed at the beginning. But this is still a perfect example of the strategies you listed.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to find a category that this would really fit into well. I like to think of this in terms of the main idea from the beginning of the chapter: Sensemaking. I know the topic we had this time was apologia, but I feel that this one makes more sense to look at it from a resolution seekers point of view. This perfectly sums up Tebow's resolve in this instance. Resolution seekers look at a contest not necessarily for winners and losers but for the quest for excellence. He is appealing to the resolution seekers by saying he will work so hard to never lose again. Fans like that type of player, which explains part of the reason why so many people liked Tebow coming out of college.
ReplyDeleteMost apologies occur when the law is broken or when a horrible action has taken place. This is obviously the lesser, but nonetheless an apology. I do agree that Tebow was utilizing sensemaking. He is apologizing for the loss, but also promising to do better in the future.
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of this as an apology, but its unconventional and still be considered an apology. He is apology was for his fans and promising to do better in the future. Good post. I would have never thought of this.
ReplyDeleteFor me at least, I really think that mortification is one of the most believable types of apologies. If you can see that the person is actually upset by it, then it seems a lot more sincere. People can say whatever they want but it doesn't mean they will do it. But, mortification on the other hand shows you that they really are sincere.
ReplyDelete