Tim Tebow Zone

College football has been over for 2 months now, but the awards for Tim Tebow just keep rolling in. Tim Tebow is one of 11 finalists for the AAU James Sullivan Memorial Award, presented to the nation’s top amateur athlete.

Fans are supposed to be able to vote on sports.usatoday.com, however I’ve been on that page several times and can’t find the poll. Maybe I’m just missing it. If any of you can find it, please post a comment here and let us know. The fan votes count one-third toward the final tally. Voting ends March 10; the winner will be announced April 1.

Past football champions include Peyton Manning and Charlie Ward. But going back 70 years, there have not been many football players to win the Sullivan Award. So we need to be sure to rally the vote. Tell your friends and family to go vote for Tim Tebow.

Tim Tebow has been approached by several Presidential and local political candidates looking for an endorsement. I can’t recall how many candidates in the past have gone after college athletes for an endorsement. I’m wondering if this is the first time? But if you’re a Tim Tebow fan, then you know why they want his support. Tebow has a MASSIVE following, and his fans will listen to what he has to say.

After much guidance and consideration, Tim Tebow has decided he won’t endorse any specific candidates. “He’s focused on his priorities: God, family, academics and the Gators, and (he) just thought that people should do their research and make their decision with what’s in their heart,” said Zack Higbee, assistant director of UF sports information.

It’s in Tim’s best interest to stay quiet on this subject. You never want to alienate your fans by endorsing a candidate that maybe they don’t like. Tim has a big career ahead of him and is happy just being a college.

But with that said… I’ll take a guess that Tim votes Republican

The follow is an article from the Dallas Morning News about Tim Tebow and his trip to Fort Worth to pick up the Davey O’Brien Award. There’s even a quote from Spurrier in it.

Florida’s Tim Tebow will be receiving his first Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award in Fort Worth today.

It may not be his last.

Tebow dominated the major college awards last season, becoming the first sophomore Heisman Trophy winner and also winning the Maxwell and O’Brien awards.

A quarterback with a fullback’s mindset, Tebow answered any questions about his ability to throw, finishing second nationally in passing efficiency. He finished with 3,286 yards passing, added 895 yards rushing and accounted for 55 touchdowns in 13 games.

The banquet, which is sold out, begins at 7 p.m. today at the Fort Worth Club. A reception starts at 6 p.m.

Tebow will be joined at the banquet by South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, the Legends Award winner.

“I’m looking forward to coming out there,” Spurrier, the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner at Florida, said in a voice mail message “I haven’t received anything from my playing days in a long while.”

Jack Squiers of Irving’s Cistercian Preparatory School will be honored as the high school scholarship recipient.

Some fans coming to this blog might not know that Tim Tebow was home-schooled and didn’t actually attend classes at Nease High School, he only played football there. In Florida, and probably most states, students who are home-schooled still have the option of playing sports at the school in their district.

The Washington Post had a very interesting article in their paper about if home-school students having the right to play sports at a public high school is fair or not. The article specifically targets Tim Tebow, probably because he’s one of the most famous home-schooled students in all of sports. You can read the entire article here. Below a little excerpt from the article.

Parents who choose to home-school do so for a variety of reasons: because their child is ahead or behind academically, religious beliefs, family considerations or dissatisfaction with local schools. Whatever the reason, they have chosen to bypass the extracurricular activities that the local public school offers, including sports.

Public high school uniforms don’t have the names of neighborhoods or school districts on them. They have the names of schools. Being an area resident doesn’t make you a representative of the school. Going to that school makes you a representative.

I don’t have any problem with home-schooled students getting to play sports at a public high school. The parents do pay taxes right? Those taxes go to supporting the schools. In my opinion, that’s the biggest reason why this should be a non-issue.

What do you think about it?

The Christian Post recently named Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as one of the Top 12 Evangelicals. Here’s an excerpt of what they said about him:

Last but not least is up-and-coming Tim Tebow who is not yet in the NFL, but is wowing Florida college fans not only with his athletic ability but also his faith. Tebow is the quarterback for the University of Florida’s Gators and was raised by missionary parents and homeschooled. Tebow is the first homeschooled athlete to win the coveted Heisman Trophy and was the first sophomore to win the Heisman.

You can read the entire article here.

There’s no doubt that Tebow is one of the top evangelicals in sports. He preaches about his faith whenever given a microphone. He’s not scared to hold anything back or worries about what some people might think of him.

For the first time in Tim Tebow’s career, his name Is being cast in a negative light. Newspapers, radio stations and websites on the internet are all talking about a possible recruiting scandal involving Coach Meyer and Tim Tebow.

Rumor has it that shortly after winning the Heisman Trohpy, Coach Meyer gave a cell phone to Timmy with recruit Carl Moore on the other line. Tebow allegedly said “I just won the Heisman. Now come on down to Florida and win a national championship with me.” Carl Moore is an outstanding junior college wide receiver from California. Every school in the nation wanted him.

Some of you may wonder what the problem is. Can’t Tim talk to someone on the phone? Well, surprising the answer is no. Players are not allowed to recruit other players, as stupid as that sounds. It gives and unfair advantage to schools that do have not superstars. Of course everything you’re reading is just allegations.  There is no proof that Tebow actually talked to Moore that night on the phone.

UF is currently conducting an internal investigation. But really if they find anything there likely won’t be any repercussions. Nothing would happen to Tebow at all.

I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted as the story develops.

I think it’s safe to say that the #15 Gator jersey is probably the most sold Gator jersey in history. I don’t have the numbers to back it up, but just by looking around… there is hardly a fan in the stadium not wearing one.

Darren Rovell of CNBC wrote an interesting article today on whether or not Tebow and other collegiate athletes should get a cut of the profit for jersey sales. Here’s a quick excerpt:

After Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy, the University of Florida sent out cease-and-desist letters to at least seven web sites trying to profit off Tebow name. The university was interested of course, because they didn’t want anything to compromise his eligibility.

But then why is the University of Florida able to profit off Tebow’s name? Yes, I know, they gave him a scholarship. And, yes, I know, it’s always hard to say how much the play of one player contributes to the athletic department’s bottom line.

Apparently UF made $7 million from Tebow jersey sales in 2007, yet he’ll never see a dime of it.

This argument has been going on for years… and not just among football players. Basketball players want a cut too. There are many reasons why college athletes won’t get a percentage of jersey sales, but one of the main ones I can think of is what if there are multiple players with the same number (Grossman and Harvin both wore #8 at one point), how do you determine which athlete gets the money?

What do you think of this? Should Tebow get paid for #15 jersey sales?

Darren McFadden won’t be on Tim Tebow’s Christmas list this year. Just the other day, Tebow was named the AP Player of the year…with second place going to McFadden again. The AP Player of the Year award is a big honor. Not as big as the Heisman, but definitely up there. Tebow received 31 of a possible 58 votes for the award.

“That’s cool,”Tebow said Tuesday. “Again, it’s a huge honor. It’s a cool thing. Any time you’re honored for an individual award, it goes back to the team. Without those guys and their support, you can’t accomplish something like that on your own.”

Congratulations to Timmy. Once again, he’s had an amazing 2007 season. One that will probably never be duplicated again… that is unless he repeats in 2008

This shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone, but Tim Tebow was officially invited to New York for the Heisman presentation on Saturday night. He leads all major Heisman polls and is the hands down favorite to win. If he doesn’t… there could be a massive uproar.

First Coast News sports director Dan Hicken, talked to Tebow one-on-one yesterday. You can watch the video on their website here.

Tebow basically said he’s still excited about everything and it’s all fun for him. He’s never been to New York and can’t wait to check out the city, including Ellis Island and Central Park. He’s really upbeat in the interview and just further shows what a great player and person he is.

June Jones, the coach for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, thinks Tim Tebow is a ’system quarterback’. He’s jealous that his QB Colt Brennan always gets labeled as a system quarterback and doesn’t get half the exposure that Tebow does.

“My quarterback has been labeled a ’system quarterback’ for three years,” Jones said. “He is the best passer in college history. He is. There is no question about it. Tim Tebow is in a system.”

Jones thinks Brennan is more NFL ready while Tebow, “a lot of his stuff comes off little dives, fades, things he is not going to do in the National Football League. That’s my point.”

I really don’t know what to think of June Jones. Is he really taking shots at Tebow and the Gators? Hawaii has a good team and they’re headed to a BCS game, why can’t he just be happy with that? Tebow, nor anyone at UF, ever said anything about Colt Brennan being a system quarterback.

I think if you polled all the coaches in NCAA Div-I football, that majority would take Tebow ahead of Brennan to run their offense.