Born in the Philippines of missionary parents, home schooled until entering college. Tim Tebow was able to take advantage of a Florida law passed in 1990 that allowed him to play sports with the local school while not attending classes there. He led his high school team, the Nease Panthers, to a state title his senior year while earning All-State honors. This led to him being named Florida’s Mr. Football and to the Parade High School All-America team. Tim quickly became one of the most recruited high school athletes in the nation. His notoriety grew as the result of being a subject in an ESPN "Faces in Sports" documentary and from being featured in Sports Illustrated on the "Faces in the Crowd" page. Plus he played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl for graduating high school seniors, a game shown nationally on NBC television.
Tebow took his time deciding which university to attend, but after entertaining several, it came down to Alabama or Florida. Both of his parents are Florida alumni, and I think that may have played into his decision to become a Gator and play for Urban Meyer. The fact that Meyer has Florida playing a spread offense certainly didn’t hurt either!
As a freshman at the University of Florida, Tim Tebow played part-time behind senior starting quarterback Chris Leak, even though in the annual "Orange and Blue" Spring scrimmage prior to the 2006 season, Tebow went 15 completions out of 21 pass attempts for 197 yards and one touchdown. There were those that thought he had earned the starting job, but Coach Meyer wasn’t among them. During his first season, Tim passed for 22 completions in 33 attempts for 358 yards and had one interception for an efficiency rating of 201.73. In the process, he threw for 4 touchdowns. Tebow had a much greater impact on the ground as he ended up second on the team, rushing for 478 yards on 89 attempts for a 5.3 yard average per carry. Through his rushing skills, Tim scored an additional 8 touchdowns. All this while playing part-time. I think we all can remember his "jump pass" in the LSU game that year. He also had a hand in the Gators’ other two touchdowns in that critical game victory. Florida made it to the National Championship game against Ohio State and Tim played a large role in the Gators’ offense. He threw for one touchdown and his 32 yards rushing included another touchdown.
So here we are near the conclusion of the 2007 NCAA football season. Florida, which lost 9 defensive starters and 6 starters on offense to graduation or early entry into the NFL, has ended their regular season posting a remarkable 9 win – 3 loss record in the tough Southeast Conference.
After Tim Tebow’s rushing abilities were showcased in his freshman year, many questions were raised concerning his passing ability coming into the 2007 season. Steve Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman Trophy as the Gators’ quarterback, and the current "Head Ball Coach" at the University of South Carolina, had the following assessment of Tebow’s passing skills:
"The tapes I’ve watched, he doesn’t miss many open guys. If they’re open, he doesn’t zing it five, 10 yards over their heads," Spurrier said. "He’s made some unbelievable plays when they’re not open and guys hanging all over him."
This quote from Spurrier was made prior to the Florida – South Carolina game this year held in Columbia, South Carolina. A game which generated the following lead paragraph in the Washington Post:
"Tim Tebow accounted for all seven of Florida's touchdowns, a school record five rushing and two passing, as the Gators kept alive their hopes of making the SEC title game with a 51-31 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night."
In today’s headlines we learned that Tim suffered a broken right hand in the 3rd quarter of yesterday’s game and yet he continued to play, throwing a 31 yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter! He should be ready to play by bowl time...
Tim Tebow has set the following records in only his second year and first as the Gators’ starting quarterback:
University of Florida single-game record for Rushing Yardage by a QB vs. Mississippi – 166 yards
University of Florida single-game record for Touchdowns in a Game vs. South Carolina – 7 TDs
University of Florida single-season record for Rushing Touchdowns (24) (Surpassing both Emmitt Smith and Buford Long)
University of Florida career school record for a quarterback with the most rushing yards (1,285) and rushing touchdowns (32)
Southeast Conference single-season record for Rushing Touchdowns by any player – 24 TDs (Tebow surpassed Shaun Alexander, Garrison Hearst, and LaBrandon Toefield)
Southeast Conference single-season record for Touchdowns by any player – 56 TDs(Danny Wuerffel held the old record at 42 TDs)
The only player in Div. I history to have rushed and passed for at least one touchdown in 12 straight games
Tim Tebow became the only person ever in NCAA history to score 20 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns passing in the same season.
Tim Tebow’s 2007 statistics through yesterday’s overwhelming victory over traditional in-state rival Florida State:
Passing-
236 completions out of 345 attempts for a completion rate of 68.41% and 6 interceptions
3,240 Yards for an average per pass attempt of 9.9 yards
32 Touchdowns and a QB rating of 177.9 through 11 games
Rushing-
927 Yards on 207 carries for an average per run of 4.48 Yards
24 Touchdowns while leading the team in rushing
Tim Tebow has won or is under consideration for the following awards based upon his 2007 efforts on the gridiron:
Three-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week
Two-time Walter Camp Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week
I failed to mention one other award young Mr. Tebow has garnered this year:
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III first-team selection
Folks, I’ll venture to say we have never seen the likes of Tim Tebow in our lives. This young man is special. In other words, He is the complete package.
Yes, Tim Tebow is a sophomore and a sophomore has never won the Heisman Award as the best player in a given year in college football. After reading this article, you’ve got to believe this is not your normal sophomore football player. In fact, any student of the game should realize this is not your normal college football player, whether a senior, or otherwise. He is quite simply the best to come down the pike and his abilities will be on display for some time to come.
In short, there is no one more deserving of the Heisman Trophy than Tim Tebow in 2007.
Right now I'll venture to say that Oregon Senior quarterback Dennis Dixon is the front runner. Who better than Dixon to describe his play...
Closely on Dennis' heels is a Sophomore phenom playing for the University of Florida, Tim Tebow. Tim is a man child, bigger than life on the field. Off the field, from all that are around him, he is a genuine pleasure. He is still honing his football skills, but has made an indelible mark his first two seasons taking snaps for the Gators.
Is there a dark horse in this race? Several others laid claims earlier in the season, but injuries, poor performances or low visibility have seemingly dashed their hopes. There are normally five selections who sit patiently and wait for the award ceremony to conclude, who else will be there? Will they have a viable chance?
I'm a sports fanatic living on the west coast of Florida. I'm a rare bird that moved here from the left coast a couple of years ago. I advocate an even playing field in all of life's endeavors.
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