Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin on Time's influential list

Reggie Jackson famously put the struggles of American athletes into perspective by noting that when he struck out, a billion Chinese didn't care.

The publication this week named the Knicks guard and Jets quarterback to its list of "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.''

Not bad for one guy who was a backup until February and another who reverted to backup status in March.

The Tebow entry was authored by Lin, who wrote, "He realizes what he has been blessed with and seeks to help those who are worse off. As athletes, we pour our hearts into winning games. Tim is a reminder that life is about much more than that.''

A fellow Harvard basketball alum, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, wrote about Lin, saying, "It's great to see good values rewarded in professional sports because that's not always the case.

"Often it's the bling, the glam, the individual that gets celebrated -- not the team and working together to advance a goal bigger than oneself. Jeremy cares only about one thing -- winning.''

When teammate Steve Novak congratulated Lin on Twitter for the honor, Lin responded, "Now im blushing.''

Lin and Tebow were the only Americans among the six athletes on the list. The others were tennis player Novak Djokovic, soccer player Lionel Messi, runner Oscar Pistorius and golfer Yani Tseng.

Only three athletes made the list in 2011 and none were Americans: Messi, tennis player Kim Clijsters and cricket player Mahendra Singh Dhoni.