2 days to go ... Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
2006-09 (QB #2) ... Four years of huge statistics makes him the all-time SEC leader in total yards, total touchdowns, rushing touchdowns and passing efficiency (170.8). He won the Heisman Trophy in 2007 as well as the Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Award. He won the SEC Player of the Year, Manning and Maxwell Awards the following year in which he led Florida to its second national title in three years. He fell one game shy in 2009 of playing in — and likely winning — three national titles in four years. His speech following the loss to Ole Miss in '08 has been immortalized in Gator football lore.
<tbody>
[TH="colspan: 2"]Personal information[/TH]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Date of birth: August 14, 1987 (age 27)[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Place of birth:
Makati
, Philippines[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | Weight: 236 lb (107 kg) |
<tbody>
</tbody>
[/TD]
[TH="colspan: 2"]Career information[/TH]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
High school
:
Ponte Vedra (FL) Nease
[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
College
:
Florida
[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
NFL Draft
:
2010
/ Round: 1 / Pick: 25[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Debuted in 2010 for the Denver Broncos[/TD]
[TH="colspan: 2"]Career history[/TH]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
<dl><dd>*Offseason and/or practice squad member only</dd></dl>[/TD]
[TH="colspan: 2"]Career highlights and awards[/TH]
[TD="colspan: 2"]
[/TD]
</tbody>
Tim Tebow is the youngest of five children. He and his siblings were all
homeschooled by their parents, who instilled the family's Christian beliefs. In 1996, legislation was passed in Florida allowing home-schooled students to compete in high school sporting events. The law, which later became known as the Tim Tebow law, specifies that home-schooled students may participate on the team of the local high school in the
school district in which they live.
Tebow took advantage of this law when he decided to attend Trinity Christian Academy, the local high school in his hometown of
Jacksonville, where he played tight end. In 2003, he moved into an apartment in nearby
St. Johns County, making him eligible to play for the struggling football program at
Allen D. Nease High School where he could play quarterback. His performance led to a minor controversy regarding the fact that, although home-schooled, he had his choice of school for which to play.
Tebow came to national prominence as a junior at Nease, known for his running and throwing abilities, as well as an intense competitiveness. Later that year, he suffered an injury to his right leg late in the first half of a game. Originally believed to be suffering from a bad cramp, he actually played the entire second half with a broken fibula, at one point rushing for a 29-yard touchdown. After the game the extent of the injury was discovered and he was held out for the remainder of his junior season. Nevertheless he was named Florida's Player of the Year and became a
major college football quarterback prospect.
During his senior season he led the Nease Panthers to a state title, earned All-State honors, was named Florida's Mr. Football and a
Parade magazine high school All-American, and repeated as Florida's Player of the Year. He played in the
U.S. Army All-American Bowl in
San Antonio, Texas which featured the top 78 senior high school football players in the nation and was shown nationally on NBC television.
College statistics and records
At the end of his college career, Tebow held 5
NCAA, 14
Southeastern Conference, and 28 University of Florida statistical records. He was the SEC's all-time leader in career
passing efficiency (170.8),
completion percentage (67.1%), passing touchdown to interception ratio (5.5 to 1), rushing yards by a quarterback (2947), rushing touchdowns (any position) (57), and total touchdowns responsible for (145). Among many mentions in the NCAA Division-I record book, Tebow is ranked second in career passing efficiency, third in career yards per attempt (9.33), 8th in career rushing touchdowns, and also owns the record for most consecutive games in which he both threw at least one touchdown pass and scored at least one rushing touchdown (14).
[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Season[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Team[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Games[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, colspan: 8"]Passing[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, colspan: 3"]Rushing[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Comp[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Att[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Pct[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Yds[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]TD[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]INT[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Rating[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Sacks[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Att[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]Yds[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2"]TD[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2006[/TD]
[TD]
Florida Gators[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]66.7[/TD]
[TD]358[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]201.7[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]89[/TD]
[TD]469[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2007[/TD]
[TD]
Florida Gators[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]234[/TD]
[TD]350[/TD]
[TD]66.9[/TD]
[TD]3,286[/TD]
[TD]32[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]172.5[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]210[/TD]
[TD]895[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2008[/TD]
[TD]
Florida Gators[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]192[/TD]
[TD]298[/TD]
[TD]64.4[/TD]
[TD]2,747[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]172.4[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]176[/TD]
[TD]673[/TD]
[TD]12[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2009[/TD]
[TD]
Florida Gators[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]213[/TD]
[TD]304[/TD]
[TD]70.1[/TD]
[TD]2,895[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]155.6[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]217[/TD]
[TD]910[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, colspan: 2"]Total[/TH]
[TD]
55[/TD]
[TD]
661[/TD]
[TD]
985[/TD]
[TD]
67.1[/TD]
[TD]
9,286[/TD]
[TD]
88[/TD]
[TD]
15[/TD]
[TD]
170.8[/TD]
[TD]
53[/TD]
[TD]
692[/TD]
[TD]
2,947[/TD]
[TD]
57
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
"The Tebow Rule"
In 2010 a new rule for the next NCAA football season banned messages on eye paint. This rule was dubbed "The Tebow Rule"by media because it would have affected him.
During his college football career, he frequently wore references to biblical verses on his
eye black. In the 2009 BCS Championship Game, he wore
John 3:16 on his eye black; the verse was the highest-ranked
Google search term over the next 24 hours, generating over 90 million searches. Additionally, later, when Tebow switched to another verse, there were 3.43 million searches of "Tim Tebow" and "Proverbs 3:5-6" together. Tebow stated of the searches "It just goes to show you the influence and the platform that you have as a student-athlete and as a quarterback at Florida".
Despite the media labeling it as the Tebow rule, the NCAA denies the rule was influenced by Tebow in particular, since many other notable players (
Reggie Bush and
Terrelle Pryor for example) wear or have worn messages on eye black. An NCAA spokesman said: "When this rule was proposed, the committee did not focus on any one team or student athlete. That measure reinforces what the intended use of eye black is, which is to shade the eyes from the sun."
The NFL already had a rule prohibiting players from wearing messages on eye black, so Tebow could not have continued the practice in the NFL.