As young sports writers, we grew up wanting to be on SportsCenter or any of the ESPN shows. To report sports news and do great journalism, like ESPN does — or did — was the dream job of many.

But as of late, it has come to the attention of many journalists that ESPN doesn’t report the news but rather makes the news. ESPN reports Tim Tebow.

Maybe it all began when the former Denver Broncos quarterback took his first kneel down in the end zone on Oct. 17, 2010, a day that will live in infamy. 

The day ESPN coined the term “Tebowing.”

Fast-forward to the summer of 2012, a summer of SportsCenter’s relentless coverage of Tim Tebow.

ESPN is like the clingy girlfriend that you had in seventh grade, the one who called every five minutes to see what you were up to. 

Some have coined their own term in spite of ESPN, no longer calling it SportsCenter but the “Tim Tebow Power Hour.”

On Aug. 15, it became worse.

During the morning segment of SportsCenter, the side ticker where SportsCenter alerts viewers of what major stories are coming up next, Tebow found himself in the ticker once again.

The ticker that consists of seven stories was dominated with headlines reading “Birthday Tweets” and “Tim Tebow Turns 25” and the best one, “Happy 25th Birthday Tim Tebow.”

And it gets better.

The staff celebrated with cake and a congratulatory phone call, personally, to Tim Tebow wishing him a happy birthday. 

Outstanding. Just remember, other second-string quarterbacks don’t have birthdays. 

This is only one of the many accounts of which ESPN has praised the back-up quarterback who currently resides the with the New York Jets.

Now, this doesn’t make Tebow a bad guy. His openness as the most well-known devoted Christian in the NFL has definitely sparked questions among viewers, wondering if this is the place to show that kind of thing.

But facts are facts. 

According to an article by Deadspin, a website that prides itself on unbiased sports news and uses no discretion, recorded Tebow was talked about more than any other athlete during the first week of the Olympics.

Are the Olympics even that important? ESPN didn’t think so.

In the span of the first week (July 27 to Aug. 2), Tebow was mentioned 65 times. 

Not a lot you say?

Michael Phelps was only mentioned 38 times, almost half of Tebow’s glory. That was in the height of Phelps’ potential in becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete in history.

But who cares? The cake for Tebow’s birthday is almost done. 

For years, sports fans and journalists alike shared a common interest in finding out what was happening in the world of sports.

On days where you stayed home, you flipped the channel to SportsCenter and watched it on loop because there was always something new to pick up on. 

Now, if you flip the clicker to ESPN, you may find ESPN heartbroken when Tebow said he couldn’t take SportsCenter to prom in the Spring.