Tim Tebow Zone

Joe Cowart broke some news on his radio show this morning in Jacksonville that Tim Tebow may be staying at UF all four years. It’s been widely expected by people close to the Gators that Tebow would in fact stay through his senior year, but all the “draft experts” think he is coming out after his junior year.

At an FCA meeting (last night I think), Tebow and his family were there giving speeches and talking to the members and kids. Tebow allegedly said something like “I want to bring 3 National Championships to Gainesville.” If you read between the lines, he is suggesting that he will stay through his senior year… that is the only way he could get 3 rings since he didn’t get one last season.

It would be awesome for the Gators if Tim Tebow decides to stay all four years. It might piss of Newton or Brantly, but that’s their problem. Tebow is a huge asset to this team and the community. The longer he stays here, the better.

Just a day after writing about how Tim Tebow was a finalist for the Sullivan Award, he is now officially the winner! Was there ever any doubt?

NEW YORK — While the Florida basketball team was losing to Massachusetts in the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday night, Gator quarterback Tim Tebow was winning a couple of miles away.

Continue to 2nd paragraph In the same city where he was named the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy in December, Tebow was named the winner of the Sullivan Award at the New York Athletic Club.

He joins swimmer Tracy Caulkins (1978) as the only UF athlete to win the award, which goes to the nation’s top amateur athlete. Past winners of the award, which is given out by the Amateur Athletic Union, include Bobby Jones, Wilma Rudolph, Nancy Kwan and Peyton Manning.

A 700-member group, including the AAU board of directors, the U.S. Olympic Committee board of directors, the AAU Sullivan Committee, past Sullivan Award winners and select members of the sports media, vote on the winner as well as fans whose Internet votes account for one-third of the total.

The award has been presented annually since 1930.

Congratulations Timmy! He’s joined yet another very exclusive club. I wonder what the opening lines are for him being a two-time winner?

We last reported on the Sullivan Award a month ago. Back then, Tim Tebow was one of the 11 finalists for the Award, which is given to the top Amateur Athlete in the country… across all sports. Today, it was announced that Tim Tebow is one of the 5 finalists.

The Florida Times Union posted a funny article with a transcript of Urban Meyer and a reporter about the Sullivan Award:

Reporter: “Do you know anything about the Sullivan Award?”

Meyer: [shaking his head, “No.”]

Reporter: “Do you know what it is?

Meyer: “No. What is it?”

Reporter: “It goes to the best amateur athlete in the country. Tim [Tebow] is going to win it next week.”

Meyer: “Yeah. I don’t know about it.”

I’m not sure if Meyer was just joshing with the reporter or if he really doesn’t know what the award is. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Tim Tebow’s up against some gymnastic girl and a softball player and some other non-major sports athletes, so he really shouldn’t have any problem crushing the competition.

Is it good news or bad news that Tim Tebow was getting pressured by the defensive ends in Saturday’s practice? Well, not good news for Tebow, but good news for the Gators in general since our defense had a heck of a time last season putting pressure on any quarterbacks.

Here’s what Lindsay Jones from the Palm Beach Post had to say about it:

The defense dominated — and it was the second substantial win for the unit after winning a goal-line scrimmage last Saturday. And it wasn’t just one or two players who excelled. The defensive ends put pressure on Tim Tebow and Cam Newton and the line and linebackers generally bottled up the Florida running backs, while the cornerbacks — perhaps the team’s most maligned group — played aggressively against the receivers, something we didn’t see a lot of last fall. Yes, it is early, but progress is progress.

Not a whole lot of Tim Tebow news, but enough to keep us satisfied. Timmy needed to work on his ability to work under pressure in the pocket anyways. Instead of immediately taking off on the run, he needs to practice staying in the pocket, avoiding the rush and getting the pass off.

Lindsay Jones of the Palm Beach Post, wrote an article of her observations from Spring Practice on Friday. Here is an excerpt of what she had to say about our favorite Gator, Tim Tebow.

The new wrinkles to the Gator offense this year will likely be the addition of a no-huddle offense, and putting quarterback Tim Tebow under center — instead of the shot-gun — at times. Adding the no-huddle should help Florida add to its total of number of plays per game (it averaged about 70 last year, and Mullen said the no-huddle could bump that up to around 80). “We’re not changing the offense,” Mullen said, “its just changing the speed we’re executing it.” Urban Meyer said that adding the no-huddle will hopefully help the team in late-game situations. “We have athletes,” Meyer said. “No-huddle is a chance for us to wear [opposing defenses] out.”

So they want to play Tebow more under center instead of in the shotgun. This obviously tells us they run be running Tebow as much anymore, at least not in the open field where he is exposed to injury. Meyer must be confident about his backfield if they want to reduce Tebow’s involvement in the running game. I’m excited about seeing Tebow use his arm a lot more this year and prove the NFL scouts that he can throw the ball far and accurate.

I also like the addition of the no-huddle offense. The Gators sucked last year in the 2-minute drill at the end of the game. If they put in a lot of time this Spring working on that, I know that Tebow can close out those close games.

The Gators took the practice field for the first time in 2008 yesterday. Emotions were high, players were amped and ready to put the pads on after coming off a disappointing 2007 season (can I really call a Heisman year for Tim Tebow a disappointing season?). GatorBait.net posted a list of their Hit or Miss players from yesterday’s practice and to my surprise…Tebow was on the Miss list! Blasphemy! Here’s what they had to say:

Last year Tim Tebow turned in an incredible spring. Though he wasn’t terrible, he wasn’t quite as sharp today.

Not quite an in-depth observation of his practice, but it will have to do since I was not able to attend. Gator bait did however give Tim Tebow the “Mr. Popularity” award for the day. I knew all you Tebow fans would go out there and show your support!

I hope this was enough info to hold you over until we have more reports. Keep checking back for more Tebow news!

Tim Tebow was named to the AP All-American team the other day. Another high honor for our beloved Gator Quarterback. It just goes to show that the support for Tebow is nation wide, and not limited to the regional fans in the south that get to watch him every Saturday.

In addition to the AP All-American honor, Tebow was also honored at the Swamp by having his jersey put up in the stadium.  The following snip is from the Gainesville Sun:

When told last Saturday night after winning the Heisman he would have his name and number placed on the wall nearest the Gator tunnel, the sophomore quarterback said “That’s awesome. To have that up there at The Swamp… That’s something that you’ll come back and see the rest of your life.”

That’s just awesome. The picture below shows what it looks like for those of who you can’t make it to Gainesville. BTW, I wonder what it would take for them to retire his number?

Photo copyright Brandon Kruse/The Gainesville Sun

Tune in to ESPN tonight at 8:00 PM EST for the Heisman Award Show. Tebow is the hands down favorite to win, but that doesn’t mean he’s free from competition. June Jones has been pushing Colt Brennan really hard the past few weeks. Tebow is also up against Chase Daniel and Darren McFadden or Arkansas (who many say is the best player in college football).

It’s important to remember that the Heisman award goes to the most outstanding player of the year. Not the most NFL ready player. Not the most electrifying player for 3 games. And not the player with the best win-loss record. If the voters hold true to what the award really stands for, then it should be Tebows.

Tune in tonight and cheer on our favorite Gator. Even if Tebow doesn’t win, he still has 2 more years to do it.

Go Gators!

So I’m reading some Palm Beach papers to see what FAU is saying about the Gators and Tebow, and I came across an article that is titled “Defense Doesn’t Fear Tebow.” How appropriate I thought. I just had to open it up and read it.

Right at the beginning of the article it says:

“My game plan - and I heard other people downstairs talking about it - is to get him out of the game,” FAU senior safety Taheem Acevedo said when asked how to stop Tebow. “I don’t care how it happens, we just have to get him out of the game. He carries that team.”

Acevedo said he wants Tebow to remember him each time he is tackled.

“Whenever I see big guys like that, I’m not going to go low,” Acevedo said. “My first thought is to go high and hit where it will hurt him more than anything.”

This quote makes it seem like they’re trying to hurt Tebow. Show some class FAU! Since when do players say they’re trying to “get him out of the game.” That is clear indication that FAU players are aiming to hurt Tebow. I wonder if their coaches told them to do it?

I hope Meyer prints this article out and posts it on Tebow’s locker. I would love to see the fire in his eyes when he meets Acevedo on the field. Tebow will make him wish he never played football. If Acevedo tries to go high on Tebow, he’ll just get stiff armed in the face and pushed to the side like everyone else.

From GatorZone.com

Gainesville, FL University of Florida sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) earned a selection on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All- District III First Team Thursday. Tebow was a member of the first team and advances to the national ballot for academic All-American accolades.

Tebow has a 3.76 GPA while majoring in Family, Youth and Community Service at Florida. The sophomore signal-caller has earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this year following his efforts against Ole Miss and Troy. He was recently named as a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards.

That’s a great honor for Timmy. For a football player to manage a 3.76 GPA while having to practice everyday and travel all the time is so impressive. Congrats to Tebow on the honor!