As the new face of Jockey, NFL star Tim Tebow won't be following in the footsteps of David Beckham by dropping his trousers to sell underwear.
"Some things are better when left to the imagination," says Mo Moorman, PR Director for Jockey International, on HuffingtonPost.com.
An underwear-clad Tebow was briefly displayed on the company's website, but the image was replaced with one of the Denver Bronco fully clothed.
"It just shows you what direction the country is in," Skweez Couture founder and ex-"Real Housewives of New York" star Jill Zarin said. "Because if you go back 20 years, we were more liberal and we had Marky Mark in his underwear in the middle of Times Square for Calvin Klein. And now you've got the other extreme of Tebow completely clothed -- he might as well wear a turtleneck."
Marketing expert Stephen Bender agreed, "If you're not going to show the product, then how is the campaign going to work? You are either selling underwear or you're not."
Despite the backlash, the quarterback has been a "lightning rod" for the brand, driving up sales, according to Chief Marketing Officer Dustin Cohn.
The Extra List: Fun Facts about Tim Tebow
The hunky quarterback was recently linked to Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, but quickly denied the rumor.Tebow is single!
Saving Himself for Marriage
Deeply religious, Tim has made a personal, public declaration -- he's a virgin.
Tim spends a lot of his off-time at the hospital with sick kids.
Tim, a Heisman Trophy winner, doesn't take himself too seriously. The 24-year-old's funny outtakes can be seen on his DVD, "Everything in Between."
Doctors told Tim's mother not to go through with the pregnancy due to life-threatening complications, but of course, she refused... and a talented athlete was born.
The youngest of five children, Tebow was born in Makati City in the Philippines, to American parents who at the time were serving as Christian Baptist missionaries.
Tebow was homeschooled by his mother, who worked to instill the family's Christian beliefs. When the family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, Tebow was allowed to play football for Nease High School, under a law that specifies homeschooled students may participate on the team of the local school in the school district in which they live.
As one of the most highly recruited quarterback prospects in the nation, Tebow received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida from2006 to 2009.
Tebow was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 2007.
In 2010, a new rule for the next NCAA football season, dubbed "The Tebow Rule" by media, banned messages on eye paint. Tebow frequently wore references to biblical verses on his eye black, which resulted in huge Google searches during or shortly after the game.
Tebow was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2010, and on July 29, signed a five-year contract with the Broncos that had a base value of $11.25 million. In2011, he became the team's starting quarterback.
With his unorthodox skillset, frequent expressions of religion, and ability to help his team win, Tebow has attracted unprecedented praise, criticism, andattention from the sports media and beyond.
