Photo credit: Mark Seliger / GQ

Happy 25 th Birthday, Tim Tebow! What better way is there to celebrate your birthday than scoring the cover of GQ magazine?

The famously devout quarterback graces the September cover of GQ magazine, ahead of his kick-off as a New York Jet, wearing a worn, gray athletic shirt, a "Thank You God" bracelet and sporting a simultaneously pensive and hunky gaze.

Though that's not the photo that has women on the Internet swooning. Another shot in the GQ spread features Tebow shirtless and striking a Christ-like pose in an empty football stadium. The black and white photo was taken back when Tebow was a Gator at the University of Florida and was altered by GQ to remove any reference to the school in the background, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Photo credit: Mark Seliger / GQ

Tebow, the former Denver Broncos quarterback who took the country by storm with a 2011 six-game winning streak, has become a cult sensation for athleticism but more so his deep Christian faith and much-mimicked on-field praying dubbed "Tebowing."

READ MORE: Tim Tebow Says Football Comes After Faith and Family

After much fanfare, Tebow will make his season's debut as a New York Jet soon, irritating and delighting fans and inspiring GQ's cover story, "Brothers, Have You Accepted Tim Tebow As Your Sunday Savior?"

GQ's articles editor Devin Gordon takes a look at the real guy behind the Tebow mania. Gordon, a Jets fan with an unabashed "Tebow problem," sets off to Jets practice camp to see if he can change his own mind about the controversial QB.

When Gordon asked Tebow what he would say to Jets fans who aren't sold on him, he replied: "I think if they're a Jets fan, hopefully they'll be rooting for me. I'll do whatever I can to help this team win football games. I'll give my heart and soul whenever I step on that field and even when I'm on the sidelines. And at the end of the day, that's really all you can ask of someone."

His conclusion? Up close, "the charisma is real" and it's harder to be a "Tebow hater" than take issue with the "Tebowmania" surrounding the NFL star. The Tebow cover issue hits newsstands Aug. 21.