Tim Tebow Zone

Wow! Just got done reading the Sporting News and came across a Matt Hayes article where he ranks the top 25 college football players. He has some high praises for Tim Tebow that’s for sure! His rankings are based on what they do in college and nothing to do with NFL value.

Hayes ranked Tim Tebow No. 1 overall.

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida. I said it last year and everyone thought I was an idiot (some still do): When his career is complete, Tebow will be the greatest amateur player ever in a team sport. No one affects the game like he can.

I guess two National Championships and a Heisman will garner some high praises… but to say he’ll be the best amateur player ever in an team sport is amazing! Better then Jim Thorpe, Earl Campbell and other greats? I like it! I wonder if Matt Hayes is basing that prediction off what he thinks Tebow will do this year, or what he has already done. If Tebow didn’t play in 2009, would he still be the greatest ever?

Here’s a video from a recent interview with Tim Tebow at an FCA event. Looks like the interviewer is Dan Hicken of First Coast News. He talks about speaking at events, the BCS championship and spring practice.

It’s not often a football player is immortalized at his stadium, especially when he hasn’t graduated yet. Well, the University of Florida has decided to recognize Tim Tebow with a plaque just outside the football experience at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. On the plaque are the words Tebow spoke following the Ole Miss loss during the 2008 season. His words inspired the Gator Nation and ignited them onwards to a National Championship.

From Deadspin.com

This monument will stand as an eternal testament to Earth’s greatest human and 500,000 years from now, when alien archeologists dig up this everlasting tribute from the watery ruins of our failed civilization, even they will understand the true meaning of perseverance and fortitude.

Tim Tebow, Ryan Stamper and Coach Urban Meyer joined Florida Governor Charlie Crist at the Mansion for breakfast Thursday morning. What an honor it must have been for Governor Crist to meet Tim Tebow. Ooppps.. or should it be an honor for Tim to meet Governor Crist?

“Great quarterback, great young man, great gator, great American, and he is spiritual like I’ve never seen,” said Crist.

They also talked about the importance of team work and service both on and off the field. Crist even declared Thursday as “University of Florida Day.”

“I think it’s our responsibility — as leaders, as role models — for all of us who are standing up here, with what god has given us the platform here, has given all of us here, to take that, turn around and to impact people and that’s why you do what you do, is to change, is to change people for the better,” said Tim Tebow.

“We get caught up in what we’re doing, what’s our next step, what’s our next platform, what’s our next goal, what’s our dream, instead of who can we change, who can we help, who can we improve, and I think if you keep that mind set, you’re goals, they’re gonna be reached, you’re going to succeed.”

Tim Tebow was on site at the Daytona 500 this past Sunday. Even though it was a crummy day out and the race was cut short due to rain (I don’t want to get into that discussion here), I bet Tim had a great time at the race. Why? Because his seat was right next to Gator great Steve Spurrier!

“Spurrier got a few cheers and so did Galloway, but when NASCAR President Mike Helton introduced the quarterback of the 2008 National Champion Florida Gators, people started cheering before his name was even called,” Tania Ganguli wrote on the Orlando Sentinel’s NASCAR Nuts & Bolts blog.

Here are a couple of pictures from the race.

I always thought that if Tim Tebow went to the NFL this year that he would have been drafted by the Tampa Bay Bucs. He just seemed to fit into exactly what John Gruden was doing and was the perfect QB mold for that west coast style offense. Of course now John Gruden is no longer the head coach of the Bucs and Tim Tebow is returning to UF for his senior year.

But that doesn’t change John Gruden’s opinion of Tim Tebow.

“He’s 250 pounds. He’s the strongest human being who’s ever played the position. Ever. He will kick the living [expletive] out of a defensive lineman. He’ll fight anybody. He is rare. Tebow is the kind of guy who could revolutionize the game.”

Gruden thinks Tim can be an NFL QB.

“He’s the ‘wildcat’ who can throw,” Gruden said. “…This guy here is 250 pounds of concrete cyanide, man. And he can throw. He throws well enough at any level to play quarterback. He can play in the NFL.”

It’s about time someone with experience coaching at the NFL level has come out and said Tebow can play the position and doesn’t have to convert to a TE.

What will Tim Tebow fans think of next? A chainsaw artist is Gainesville carved a 7 and 1/2 foot tall statue of Tim Tebow from a tree. Complete with a Superman cape and the Bible verse John 3:16 written on his face, Knowles said it took him five days to carve the sculpture with a chainsaw and paint the tribute to the Gator legend.

“I feel like I know him,” he said. “I’ve been staring at him for so long.”

Knowles said he doesn’t do many sculptures of specific people.

“When I first found out that I was going to be carving this tree, I drew up a lighthouse and seagulls, things that would go really well with the restaurant,” he said. “But Chris wanted Tim Tebow.”

Chris Fragale, Ballyhoo Grill’s owner, said he picked Tebow mainly for the children who eat at his restaurant.

“I couldn’t think of a better role model for the kids,” Fragale said. “Tim Tebow is a part of Gator Nation for life.”

This is a great publicity move by Ballyhoo’s. I’m sure a ton of people in Gainesville are going to go eat there just so they can get a glimpse of Tim Treebow.

On Thursday, Tim Tebow was named the recipient of the fifth annual Manning Award, which was created by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning to recognize the top quarterback in college football. It is the only postseason college award that takes into consideration bowl performances. If other awards, like the Heisman, were awarded after the bowl games… Tebow might need a bigger trophy room.

“It’s a great award,” Tebow said on a teleconference Thursday afternoon. “It’s one of the best because it
takes in their bowl play, which is probably the biggest game of the year. They do the award after the season, and that’s something that really makes the award special. And it’s coming from the Mannings, who go down as some of the greatest quarterbacks in football history. It’s very special for me.”

“Tim is one of the greatest football players I’ve ever seen,” Archie Manning said. “He’s developed every year. He’s developed so much as a player, as a quarterback, as a passer. When you look at him as an overall
football player and his ability to lead his team, and will his team to win, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody do it better.”

Past winners of the award are Vince Young (Texas), Matt Leinart (Southern Cal), JaMarcus Russell (LSU) and Matt Ryan (Boston College).

There isn’t a team in the country that wouldn’t want Tim Tebow on their roster… but at the right tackle position? Tim’s a strong guy, but I can’t see him packing 320+ pounds.

During the Orange Bowl yesterday, Fox screwed up and put Tim Tebow’s picture in place of senior right tackle Khalil El-Amin of the Cincinnati Bearcats.

No word yet on how many sacks he gave up…

It was released the other day that Tim Tebow was left off many of the Heisman voter’s ballots completely. That shows a complete lack of class by some voters. It’s fine if voters don’t want to put Tim Tebow 1st, 2nd or even 3rd… but to leave him off the ballot completely is a disgrace. The Heisman Committee prides itself on the integrity of the Award and the voting class. They supposedly work hard to get the best unbiased voters in the country. If you ask me, things need a little shake up at the Heisman headquarters.

Florida coach Urban Meyer questioned the number of voters who left Tim Tebow off their Heisman ballots and wondered if those voters actually watched football. “It was 190 ballots, I heard,” Meyer said after Tuesday’s practice.

Asked if it boggled his mind that so many voters didn’t put Tebow on their ballot, Meyer said: “Uh, yeah. I could go on and on about that. Can you imagine? Think about that for a minute. Maybe you don’t watch football and you’ve got a ballot. I’d like to meet them and say, what? The Heisman goes to the best college football player.”

Asked if too many people had ballots, Meyer took a shot at those who didn’t pick Tebow among their top three. “I don’t know enough about it, but I know there’s 190-some too many. If there’s 194 that left him off, there’s 194 too many ballots out there,” Meyer said.

I love the way Meyer conducts himself with the media and isn’t afraid to step up and protect his players. It shows a lot about him and does wonders in the recruiting world.