Tim Tebow was arguably one of the greatest college football players in history. The popular University of Florida quarterback won a Heisman Trophy in 2007 and two National Championships. He later took his skills to the NFL, winning a playoff game before eventually attempting a professional baseball career. He called it quits in 2021 after a failed stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
A devout Christian, Tebow has since turned his attention to helping victims of child trafficking and exploitation in the U.S. and around the world. He recently appeared on Fox News and talked to Shannon Bream about his “Tim Tebow Foundation” and what he is doing to battle “one of the worst evils in the world.”
Tebow said: “I was made aware of this several years ago, just the depth of it by one of our team members. She said to me, ‘I believe there is 20,000 boys and girls that are still unidentified.’ So, law enforcement can see their abuse and rape images but they haven’t been able to identify them. So, if you can’t identify them, how could you possibly get to them?”
This led the former quarterback to partner with Homeland Security, Interpol, and Europol to look for answers. He continued: “We found that it’s not 20,000 kids that are unknown or unidentified, it’s over 50,000 boys and girls through the backlog that are unidentified in these global databases. There are so many boys and girls and 65% of them are under the age of 12 and 4.3% of them – that’s 2,100 – are infants.”
Tebow’s Foundation is working with numerous law enforcement agencies in hopes of identifying and prosecuting abusers. He was recently in Washington seeking funding for his efforts, including money to bring in victim identification specialists. Recently, his foundation partnered with Homeland Security to conduct “Operation Renewed Hope.”
In a three-week time period, the foundation located “311 probable identifications of previously unknown victims, including 14 positive contacts and confirmed the rescue of several victims from active abuse.” The operation is considered the “most successful of its kind.” In seeking additional funding, Tebow hopes to expand staffing and increase the Foundation’s efforts.
Tebow, who was long criticized by the left as a player for invoking God and kneeling and praying on the field, follows the success of ‘The Sound of Freedom” from last summer. The movie documented the real-life efforts of former U.S. Government agent Chris Ballard, who quit his job and embarked on a rescue mission in Columbia to bring home trafficked children. The film was the surprise hit of the summer, eclipsing numerous woke Disney offerings and even beating out Indiana Jones on its opening weekend.
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Child trafficking and human trafficking aren’t just third-world problems. Trafficking takes place in America as well, and that simply isn’t acceptable. Our open southern border has exacerbated the problem, and the humanitarian crisis that Biden’s border failures have caused has brought more victims to the United States. Thanks to people like Tim Ballard and Tim Tebow, the issue is being brought to light, and children are being rescued. There is more work to be done, particularly with our border, but Tebow’s Foundation will continue to fight for victims.
Watch Tebow testify on the human trafficking issue here: