What Would Tebow Do: Florida QB has world by the Gator tail

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow thinks of himself as the new Danny Wuerffel.

Don't expect Tim Tebow to lose his head in the UF limelight. (Getty Images)

Not that Florida's sophomore quarterback will necessarily win the Heisman some day. But the national championship thing already is taken care of. It's more about being Wuerffel the person than Wuerffel the quarterback.

So Tebow signs and signs and signs, just like his hero did for him.

"I got his autograph three times," Florida's current quarterback says of Wuerffel. "I want to treat others like he treated me."

That's part of the problem of being a rock star in shoulder pads. Tebow can't go anywhere without being hit up for his signature, picture or his time. The requests start the moment he leaves the practice field.

Combine Swamp Fever with camera phones and he might be the most photographed Gator in history -- even when he isn't being called onstage by country singer Kenny Chesney.

"A lot of people would like to figure out what we did as parents," said Bob Tebow.

Timmy T. is really that perfect. Tebow doesn't drink, smoke, chew or carouse, but he does abide the fans.

"I'm not burned out," said Tebow, who might as well be the Christian-based, all-around-good-guy reincarnation of Wuerffel. "I'm just having fun."

Still, Urban Meyer is concerned. The Florida coach worried about a lot of things when Tebow enrolled a semester early in 2006 to get a head start on school and football. Getting overrun by Sharpies wasn't one of them.

"He does (get tired)," Meyer said. "He won't ever let you know. We wear him out in recruiting as well. Our coaches have been instructed never to use him."

It has become too easy, Meyer said, to use Tebow as a commodity -- everything from recruiting host to guest reader for the local first graders.

"He's got things he's got to focus on," Meyer said. "Here's Tim, he never gets a chance to go home on Saturday nights and see his family."