If you’re one of the many Americans frustrated by the NFL, its players, and its owners, I have a suggestion for you: watch Tim Tebow play minor league baseball instead. Just released attendance numbers seem to indicate that everyone else is.

Helped by New York Mets outfielder Tim Tebow, attendance increased by 12.4 percent this year in the Florida State League and by 2.1 percent in the South Atlantic League.

The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues said Monday that the presence of the former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner led to an increase of over 225,000 fans in the two Class A leagues.

Like many Americans, I have a bit of a “thing” for Tim Tebow (as shown here, here and here). He had a somewhat lackluster professional football career, although he did go on quite a winning spree whilst quarterbacking the Broncos. But it’s his poise on and off the the field that made him really stand out. He unabashedly went down on one knee in prayer, “Tebowing” as it became known, much to the ridicule of leftists and the media (but I repeat myself).

Undaunted when it became clear his pro football career was over, Tebow decided to try his hand at baseball instead. He currently plays for the New York Mets’ minor league team in Florida, where he has, among other things, increased attendance at games, gotten hit in the head with a fastball and proceeded to hit a home run, and made an autistic boy’s day by taking time out of a game to greet him.

And that, my friends, is what Americans want from their sports heroes. You don’t have to be the best player on the field, you just need to respect the time and money that fans have invested in you. And a little respect for the flag of the country the unites us all wouldn’t hurt a bit.

Sadly, baseball season is coming to end, so we won’t have Tim to distract us while the NFL self-destructs. Perhaps the NFL will take a page out of Tim Tebow’s book and act with some class and dignity – the numbers clearly show that being a class act pays off in people showing up.