Back in the middle 1970’s, when I was in high school, I had a buddy named Derral. Derral was a 6’3″. 280 lbs, tackle who could run a 4.3 440 and broke the Tennessee State Record by throwing a shot put 63 feet. My big mouth caused it. I bet him a Wendy’s Triple Meal that he couldn’t do it.

Anyway. when we were in class, Derral could usually be found doodling in his notebook. The usual subject of Derral’s artistic efforts was the rock group KISS. And, despite the catcher-mitt size of my big buddy’s hands, he was a surprisingly good artist.

Derral went to be with God 4 years ago. His big ol’ heart just gave out. I still think of our adventures together in high school to this day.

Somewhere up in Heaven today, my big buddy must be smiling, because sincere or not, KISS member Gene “The Demon” Simmons has come to the defense of a professional football player, who just happens to be a Christian…professional quarterback, Tim Tebow.

“He’s got a religious passion, as well he should, we’re in America,” the KISS frontman told Radio.com earlier this week. ”He’s proud to be a Christian, what’s wrong with that? And yet, with sports media and pop culture media, they make fun of his religion. Really? In America? If he was wearing a burqa, they wouldn’t dare say anything [editor’s note: only Muslim women wear burqas]. But if you’re a Christian, you get to be picked on? What the hell? The guy’s got family values. I never saw the media picking on Michael Vick for torturing dogs. Or this other football player, who’s alleged to have killed, committed murder. That’s ‘cool.’ But a guy who’s religious and has got family values isn’t ‘cool?’ He’s cool to me.”

As has been widely reported, Simmons and his KISS bandmate Paul Stanley are now co-owners of a new Arena Football League team, to be called LA KISS. And Simmons wasted no time drawing attention to the expansion team (which will begin playing in 2014), extending a very public offer to quarterback Tim Tebow, who after a brief up-and-down career in the NFL, was released by the New England Patriots a few weeks ago.

In an interview focusing on the new oral history of KISS, Nothing To Lose (more on that to come), Simmons addressed the situation with the man who he hopes will be the KISS QB.

“We haven’t heard back from Tim,” Simmons said. “He’s considering this seriously; he’s in Los Angeles. Right after this, I’m gonna fly back with our guys and try to sit down with him and tell him that we’re serious about this. He’ll get the respect here that he didn’t get at the NFL.”

Simmons may relate to Tebow on that level: he has always taken issue with the music media (notably Rolling Stone) for not treating KISS seriously, which he addresses in Nothing To Lose. But the treatment that he feels Tebow has received makes him particularly incensed: “They’re a**holes. And they should be called to task, and they should lose their license, because in a very real way, as far as I’m concerned, it’s slander and defamation. You’re making fun of somebody’s religion.”

“I think religion is good for mankind. Without the Ten Commandments,” he pauses to note, “Jews gave you that,” and continues, “Without that, there’d be chaos. Somebody had to say, ‘Here are some good ideas: don’t steal, and don’t kill.’ Those are good ideas. That’s called ‘civilization.’ There was once a time where those things weren’t written down. You had chaos! We still have chaos, but there’s a reference point. But those are good ideas. Honor thy father and thy mother. That’s a good idea!

The Internet has been buzzing since the news of Gene’s defense of Tebow was made public. In the last few years, KISS’ long-tongued Demon has had a surge of renewed popularity through his series on the A&E Network, “Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels”, a series which followed his and his now-legal wife and former Playboy Bunny, Shannon Tweed’s, efforts in raising their two teenage children, while trying to handle the own careers and notoriety.

Opinions from all sides are coming in . Some are praising Gene’s forthrightness, while others are saying he is being disingenuous, and is only praising Tebow’s Christianity in order to sign him as a marketable asset for his new Indoor Football Team.

My thought’s are these…

I realize that years ago, Gene made very some ugly remarks about religion and the Christian Faith.

However, as viewers of his TV series know, Gene has done a lot of growing up in recent years. He is actually a Fiscal Conservative, who loves his family, and works hard to provide for them.

When I first heard about his statement, the cynic in me thought,

Okay, “Mr Show Business”, Gene Simmons, is trying to draw attention to his new endeavor, and is simply using Tebow to draw more attention to his team.

I mean, after all, he has supposedly had sex with 5,000 women, and, according to our parents, back in the 1970s, KISS stands for “Knights in Satan’s Service”.

But then, I remembered a very salient and important fact: On that blessed night, so many years ago, God used a jackass to help deliver the Good News!

Why can’t he use “The Demon”, as well?

Until He Comes,

KJ