Girl Uses Tim Tebow Cut Out As Prom Date

BALLS

A high school senior in Sioux City, Iowa had yet to secure a prom date. So of course, she tweeted Tim Tebow to see if he was available to accompany her. When Tebow never responded, she was left with only two options. Go alone or create a cardboard cut-out of Tim Tebow and use that as her date.

She chose the latter and the photo to the left is the result of her choice.

Rachel Bird, a senior at Kingsley-Pierson High School, did not. Rather than panic, Bird tweeted a request to her hero, Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner who plays quarterback for the New York Jets.

“I asked if he had plans on April 28 because I didn’t have a date to prom,” said Bird, daughter of Bob and Carol Bird of Kingsley.

Weeks passed. This Bird’s tweet got no response from Tebow, his agent or the Jets.

Undaunted — or maybe a little daunted — Bird found a picture of Tebow showing him in a sharp vest and tie. She took the photo to Staples in Sioux City and asked the pros there if they could make a life-sized vinyl reproduction of the photo.

“I knew you could get industrial prints pretty cheaply at Staples, but a color picture like this was going to cost $80,” Bird said. “I couldn’t spend $80 for a joke.”

As Bird departed, a Staples employee mentioned a sale on such reproductions would take place the last week of April. Bird could get her Tebow color print for $19.95 at that time.

She got the discounted picture at Staples. She and her mother then found a giant piece of cardboard in the trash bin behind Clarks Hardware in Kingsley. Rachel glued the picture to the cardboard as Bob fashioned back supports of wood and a wooden handle.

Everyone laughed when Rachel Bird showed up at friend DeAndra Mahrt’s home for pre-prom pictures. Her classmates had to include Tebow in group photos.

Classmates convinced Bird to enter the gym as a “couple” at the grand march. She decided to do it. Announcer Scott Bahrke introduced her last. “Rachel Bird,” Bahrke said. “Escorted by Tim Tebow.”