So was he so famous because of the religion thing? I'd even heard of him when apart from watching the Super Bowl every year I knew naff all about it.
He's famous for being one of the best college qbs ever. His openness about religion certainly added to his notoriety.
After college, there was debate on whether or not his skills transitioned to the NFL. He had enough failures - and success - to allow the debate to continue 7 years later. People who are in his corner boast about the playoff win against PIT. People who were thinking he wasn't good enough (like me) point to his sub 50% completion rate.
Then he flipped to baseball and much of the same debate kicked off again. Some claimed he was only getting a shot because of the fan draw, and some thinking he was legit good enough (he's not). He's still chasing this dream and has a .223 average over 3 years of ball. Not good.
He's a good dude, a decent analyst and a hell of a hard worker and athlete. If he has one fault it's being stubborn as a mule, and he probably should have taken people's advice that his football talent level was more suited at a different position (HB, TE).