Smiling Tim Tebow escorts Iowa girl to prom ... sort of (but not really)
Thursday, May 3, 2012 | Football, Men's Tennis, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- An Iowa high school girl who adores Tim Tebow dreamed of being escorted by the New York Jets quarterback to her senior prom. One of her classmates said he'd shell out $50 if she made it happen.
[Note: You'd think one of the world's biggest sports figures showing up at a prom in cornfield country might be worth more than a 50 spot, but I digress.]
When Rachel Bird's Twitter requests to Tebow, his agent and the Jets went unanswered, she decided to take matters into her own hands -- and with a pair of scissors. She found a photo of a spiffy Tebow, donned in a vest and tie, and had Staples blow it up to a life-size likeness that Bird turned into a cut-out version of the former Gator. Just like that, she had a partner for the April 28 Kingsley-Pierson High affair.
Bird and her date were the hit of the night's grand march entrance.
“Rachel Bird escorted by ... Tim Tebow!” the announcer crooned.
Her classmates cheered.
“It was awkward, but people asked me to stop for photos," Bird told The Sioux City Journal. "Believe me, this isn't something I ever thought I'd be doing.”
Bird said the faux Tebow was a great sport who smiled all night, even when some of the boys in her class dragged him onto the dance floor.
“He was a cheap date, and he didn't talk much,” she said. “And when I asked him to stand in a corner, he did. I don't think it hurt his feelings.”
Neither did calling it an early night.
“The after-prom [stuff] would have been too much,” Bird said. “He was tired.”
