I just posted this on Twitter, but this was something I thought would be cool to share here.
Both athletes were seen as rising stars by the higher levels of their respective sports, and both drivers saw breakouts in 2011, with 21 year old Bayne winning the 500 and Rookie Tebow leading the Broncos on a playoff run.
However, following these bright shines of lights, both athletes fell off, and fell of big time. Tebow was out of the NFL after the 2012 season and, while remaining in cup until 2018, Bayne would later be replaced by a semi-retired Matt Kenseth.
Years after being ousted from their respective positions, both would make comebacks in their sports. Bayne would run 8 truck races in 2020, and Tebow would be signed as a TE for the Jaguars before being cut after pre-season.
The main, and most obvious, connection between the 2 is their outspoken faith in Christianity. While Tebow was outwardly criticized for his stances, Bayneβs faith stayed rather neutral, though it did provide the βHey, watch your language man!β quote a few years ago.
While you can probably make connections with all 40 cup drivers to some other athlete in a completely different sport, the connection of Tebow and Bayne is something I am shocked has not been mentioned or noticed (at least to my knowledge).
Anyone possess any updates of Bayneβs status for next season. At one point, it seemed that he was going to have a ride with Niece next season. Itβs since been completely quiet on that front. He seemed like he was actually having funβ in Trucks and was semi-competitive. Itβd definitely be fun to see him get a full-time shot in the series.
https://preview.redd.it/b24b5vddwn181.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=01306ce99b975bed0c69a0dd3746f85e5c1dea25
Hey! Has anybody had him? How was the class ?
