One of the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday commercials will feature Florida Gator standout Tim Tebow expressing his pro-life views. The spot is funded by the far right Christian conservative group called "Focus on the Family." In a preemptive response, Planned Parenthood has released their own commercial featuring former Viking Sean James and Olympian Al Joyner. In the ad, the athletes say they "respect Ms. Tebow's decision" not to have an abortion when she was pregnant with her son Tim, but they are also "working toward the day where...every woman's decision about her health and her family will be respected." As a man, sports fan and someone who is also pro-choice, it's refreshing to see male athletes step up and deliver this message. It's also cool to see it delivered in such a classy and tasteful mannerI am wondering, however, if there are any pro-choice present day athletes that are more prominent and popular who could have delivered this message or are they all too chicken-sh*t to "take a stand" on something other than choosing Sprite over 7-Up or Nike over Reebok. It reminds me of when Michael Jordan famously refused to endorse the opponent of racist Senator Jessie Helms in his home state of North Carolina because, as he put it, "Republicans wear sneakers too." Utterly shameless. Jim Brown should have kick-dropped him, and Muhammad Ali should have bit his lip, shook his fist at him and spit out some clever rhyme in response to Jordans's cowardice.

For that matter, even though I disagree with Tim Tebow's pro-life position, I respect him for standing up and supporting something he believes in. Most present-day athletes, with endorsement deals hanging in the balance, don't have the heart. That's why Planned Parenthood had to go and unearth these two almost forgotten former greats. Okay, for real, I have no clue who the hell Sean James is, other than I read he used to play for the Minnesota Vikings. But I'm glad to see him, whatever position he played, along with Al Joyner doing this spot. Well done.