As time ticks on Tebow's career, appreciate what we've got before it's gone
Those who have covered Tim Tebow the past four years ran out of adjectives a long time ago. But here is what you need to know as Florida's senior quarterback prepares to play his final home game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka, The Swamp:
• At the very least, he will leave the University of Florida with two SEC championships, two national championships, a Heisman Trophy (2007) and too many SEC records to name. But there is one particular record to think about. Consider all of the great running backs who have played in the 76-year history of the SEC: Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Emmitt Smith, Darren McFadden, just to name a few. Tim Tebow has scored more rushing touchdowns (54) than any of them.
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| Tim Tebow will play his final game at The Swamp on Saturday vs. rival Florida State. (Getty Images) |
• For Tebow, the past four years have gone by in the blink of an eye. He has yet to get his arms around the fact that Saturday will be his last game in The Swamp, a stadium where there is already a plaque honoring his now-famous speech after last year's 31-30 loss to Ole Miss. That speech and the subsequent play with which he backed it up, sparked Florida to the 2008 national championship.
"I was out there the other night with a few receivers, doing a little conditioning work and throwing it around," Tebow said. "And I realized that I was down to my final couple of games in The Swamp. I just can't believe it."
• Saturday is going to be emotional -- big time. Meyer got choked up just talking about Tebow and the rest of this senior class during Monday's news conference. Meyer's first season as Florida's head coach was 2005, so the 2006 recruiting class was the first full one that he and his staff had a chance to recruit. That class is 46-6 with a chance to leave with a record of 49-6.
"Not a bad class," Meyer said.
Meyer was asked if Senior Day is tougher on players or coaches. "You'll have to ask them," he said. "This will be a tough one. It's going to be a tough week."
• Expect there to be lots of fan participation on Saturday at the Swamp. One fan has even started a Facebook page asking fans to wear Tebow's trademark black patches under their eyes. Among Tebow's greatest memories as a college football player was the night that John 3:16, the Bible verse he wore under his eyes, got 93 million hits on Google.
Seemingly everybody has a most memorable Tebow moment over the past four years:
• For some it is the first jump-pass for a touchdown he ever threw, as a true freshman against LSU in 2006. Tebow didn't start as a true freshman but played a complimentary role to senior Chris Leak. But Tebow did have an impact on that first national championship team and he gave us a pretty good glimpse of what was to come.
• In 2007, Florida went to South Carolina with absolutely no running game other than Tebow. He accounted for seven touchdowns and 424 yards of total offense as the Gators dominated the Gamecocks 51-31. Steve Spurrier, the former Gators coach, could only shake his head in admiration. Meyer, who all season didn't want to utter the "H" word, finally relented. Tebow went on to become the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy.
• It seems like a lifetime ago (it was actually Sept. 26) that Tebow lay on the turf of Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky. He was taken away in an ambulance after suffering a concussion. Two weeks later, with the entire sports world speculating on whether or not he should play, Tebow helped Florida take a 13-3 victory over No. 4 LSU in Baton Rouge.
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| Tebow's presence has gone well beyond the field. (Getty Images) |
Tebow's image is so squeaky clean that we eventually had what became known as the "Tebow backlash." Some grew tired of what they believed was the media fawning over Tebow. They could not believe that Tebow was that good. But he was -- and is.
I became convinced that Tebow is one of the greatest players in college football history with his performance in the 2008 SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Alabama. Before the game, a couple of Alabama defensive coaches gave me some insight as to what they had planned for Tebow. "We're going to show him some things he hasn't seen and it will probably confuse him for a while," one coach told me. "The only question is how long it will take him to figure it out."
When the fourth quarter of that game began, Alabama was right where Nick Saban wanted to be. The Crimson Tide had kept the Florida defense on the field way too long with two long drives (one of 15 plays, the other of 10 plays) in the third quarter and had a 20-17 lead at the end of three. I turned to Tim Brando, my CBS colleague, and said: "Alabama is ready to deliver the knockout punch."
What I didn't know until after the game was that during the third quarter, Tebow finally figured out what the Alabama defense was doing. He was magnificent in the fourth quarter, leading Florida to a pair of touchdowns and a 31-20 victory. With the Alabama defense turning up the heat, hoping to rattle him, Tebow made one big play after another.
"I don't want to hear that the son of a [bleep] can't throw," an Alabama coach told me later. "Every time he needed to make a big throw against us, he made it. There really isn't anyone else like him."
"I wouldn't bet against No. 15 [Tebow]," Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong told me not long ago. "If he is on the field you have a good chance to win. Our guys know it and the guys on the other sideline know it. I'm glad he's on our side."
Now some say that Tebow is the Tyler Hansbrough of college football -- a guy who was the very best in college but whose skill set doesn't translate to the pros. That may eventually turn out to be true, but I ask you: Given everything we have seen the past four years, are you going to bet against this guy?
All I know is that Tim Tebow has three games left as a college football player. And there may come a day when we call him the greatest player of all. So just enjoy it.
Watch The Tony Barnhart Show every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS College Sports Network.
