Tebow Award Watch: Academic All-American of the Year

Tim Tebow was named ESPN the Magazine 2009 Academic All-American of the Year. He becomes the first player to be named Academic All-American of the Year two years in a row. This is his third appearance on the Academic All-America team. Tebow is taking one hour of class this semester. (You have to presume that the award takes into account community service.)

Tebow Award Watch: Most Decorated College Football Player Ever?

An interesting subplot coming into the season related to Tebow's place among the all-time greatest college football players, supported in part by this superlative:

Most Decorated Player Ever.

Postseason hardware is at least one proxy -- not all, but a part -- of the case for Greatest College Football Player Ever.

Tebow has already won one Heisman in 2007, with another Top 3 finish (most 1st-place votes) in 2008 and status as a Top 5 contender this season.

But he is also the two-time winner of the Maxwell Award, which goes to the best all-around player in college football, and the 2007 winner of the Davey O'Brien Award, which goes to the best QB in the country. He has made plenty of All-America teams, too.

That's just what's on the resume already -- now, for what he is up for THIS year. Just announced yesterday, Tebow is a finalist for:

*The Maxwell, for best all-around player (he is competing with Colt McCoy and Mark Ingram). Tebow is a three-time finalist and two-time defending award winner -- the first two-time winner since Notre Dame's John Lattner in the early 1950s.

*The Davey O'Brien, for best QB (he is competing with McCoy and Houston's Case Keenum). Tebow won the O'Brien in 2007 and was a finalist in 2008.

It's hard to predict: The odds would probably favor McCoy in both, but don't count out Tebow, particularly given his history with these awards.

Tebow is already one of the most decorated college football players of all time. Being a finalist for the Maxwell and O'Brien -- and perhaps the Heisman -- will only bolster his final legacy as THE most decorated college football player of all time.

Update: SEC Coach Mystery Dis of Tebow

Saturday (07/18) Update: The New York Times' excellent "Quad" blog weighs in. (If you don't have the Quad bookmarked or in your RSS Reader, you're missing out.)

Updating: Clay Travis has a terrific analysis of the insanity that is the notion that an SEC coach would not -- DID not -- put Tim Tebow as his 1st-team preseason all-SEC QB. (via AOL FanHouse)

Ranking the Top 25 CFB Players of '09

1. Tim Tebow

(per Sporting News)

Tebow Turns Down Playboy A-A Team

Totally consistent with his moral compass -- plus Danny Wuerffel did it, too.