Tebow: This Week's Sports Illustrated Cover

Best Ever: Tim Tebow vs. Herschel Walker

The AJC's Mark Bradley says Herschel Walker was a better college football player than Tim Tebow, but he leaves open that Tebow could vault Walker after this upcoming season.

In fact, he already puts Tebow in his all-time Top 5 -- just not ahead of Herschel.

In all this "Greatest Ever" talk, that "already" point often gets lost: The only comparison you can make is Tebow's career thus far (three years) versus everyone else's complete career.

Even by that metric, Tebow is in the Top 10 -- probably the Top 5, as Bradley agrees. (That's greatest college football player ever, not just greatest college QB ever.)

Then consider that -- if everything breaks right this season -- he will, additionally:

(1)Win a 3rd national title (while going unbeaten).

(2) Win a 2nd Heisman (or at least finish in the Top 3 for the 3rd straight season)

(3) Set or extend a slew of statistical records.

(4) Create more "Promise"-like mythology creation.

That would clearly put him over the top as the greatest college football player ever. (Make no mistake: The "GOAT" debate will be HUGE over the next 5 months -- it is one of the reasons that this blog was created; how often do we get to watch Greatest of All Time in real-time?)

That said: Through THREE years? Sure: I will absolutely agree that Herschel Walker is on a VERY short list in the "GOAT" conversation, along with -- I would argue -- Vince Young.

While Tebow enjoys some 21st century myth-making advantages, like ESPN and the Internet and YouTube and HD, Herschel has that way-early-80s, "Whoa, Nellie" factor in strong support of his myth.

If you're under 40, you WANT to love Herschel Walker -- you WISH you had the chance to remember seeing him play live, probably more than any other college football player.

Tim Tebow is college football history in progress; there's something awesome about that. Herschel Walker IS college football history.

VoteGate: Kiffin Says He Voted for Tebow

Perhaps pre-empting a major storyline that would have hounded him at SEC Media Days, Lane Kiffin says he, in fact, DID vote for Tim Tebow as preseason 1st-team All-SEC QB. The mystery continues. (But don't worry: It WILL come out. It always comes out.)

Tebow NFL Draft Status Throwdown

Per Ben Volin's must-read Gator Bytes blog, he breaks down -- "Daily Show"-style -- the competing theories about Tim Tebow's NFL Draft stock.

On one end, Gil Brandt of NFL.com. Brandt pegs Tebow as a Top 10 pick.

On the other end, there is the Todd McShay (and Mel Kiper) wing, which -- at best -- has Tebow as a 2nd- or 3rd-round QB and -- at worst -- has him playing H-back in the NFL.

I think Brandt will end up being more correct, if not entirely correct. Think back to that recent Sporting News mock draft: They had Tebow going No. 13 to the Redskins.

Here is my upshot: Tebow's draft stock will only go up, for a few reasons:

(1) Full season of Scott Loeffler's tutelage, with at least partial emphasis on NFL preparation;

(2) Jon Gruden's promotion on Monday Night Football (don't discount!);

(3) NFL teams WANT to want him -- he'll get the benefit of the doubt;

(4) Drumbeat for Tebow's hometown Jaguars to take him, which -- based on the Jags' season a year ago -- could be Top 10, but will likely be in the teens.

(5) The Shanoff "Tebelichick Theory" that there is no way he slips past the Patriots -- if the Pats don't go so far as to trade UP through the 1st round to get him.

Once it is obvious that Bill Belichick is dying to figure out how to unleash him on the NFL -- even in a limited, Wildcattish role -- the copycat effect will send a dozen teams scrambling for him.

Mel Kiper and Todd McShay may not THINK that Tebow will be an NFL QB, but if they want their mock drafts to reflect market realities, they will have him in their 1st round soon enough.

Winner: Gil Brandt. (I actually worked with Gil briefly while I was at NFL.com in the late-90s, and he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.)

SEC Media Day: "Is Tim Tebow A Virgin?"

"Is Tim Tebow a virgin?" That's not my question -- it's from Fanhouse's Clay Travis, who gets a jump on SEC Media Day by offering up 10 intriguing questions for the event (which has 800 credentialed media folks attending. 800.) I do think he missed the biggest mystery of the offseason: "Who didn't vote for Tim Tebow for 1st-team all-SEC QB?"

More questions that should be asked, entirely framed around Tim Tebow, naturally, listed in order of scheduled appearances:

Wednesday July 22
Arkansas' Bobby Petrino (8:30 a.m.): "Coach, you know QBs as well as any coach. What kind of offense could you run if you had Tebow?"

Vanderbilt's Bobby Johnson (9:30): "You're a pretty good defensive coach. What's the best way to defend Tim Tebow?"

Mississippi State's Dan Mullen (10:30): "Coach, you used to coach Tim Tebow. How would YOU stop him?"

Kentucky's Rich Brooks (11:30): "You get the Gators in their first road SEC game of the season. Got any clever sign ideas or chants for your fans to get in Tebow's head?"

Thursday July 23
Alabama's Nick Saban (8:30): "Admit it coach: You didn't vote Tim Tebow as 1st-team all-SEC QB this season, did you? Is it because of the whole 4th quarter of the SEC Championship Game thing?"

Georgia's Mark Richt (9:30): "Ooh, Coach Saban, I take it back. It was YOU, Richt, wasn't it?"

Ole Miss' Houston Nutt (10:30): "Yeah, yeah, keep smiling."

Florida's Urban Meyer (11:30): "Greatest college QB of all time... or greatest college PLAYER of all time?"

Friday July 24
Auburn's Gene Chizik (8:30): "Isn't it true that your biggest win of your season is that Florida is off your schedule?"

South Carolina's Steve Spurrier (9:30): "Your protege Danny Wuerffel already surpassed you as the greatest QB in Florida history. Does it irk you at all that Tebow has passed Danny?"

LSU's Les Miles (10:30): "Florida-LSU is going to be the biggest game of the college football season. Think your student section will give out Tebow's home phone number again this year?"

Tennessee's Lane Kiffin (11:30): "Is there a reason that the SEC saved you for last? No, no: That's not my question. The question is: Anything to say about Tim Tebow? There's not much room left on the bulletin board, but we can always squeeze in another quote."

Tim Tebow at the 2009 ESPYs

If Sarah Palin and Jim Tressel had a love-child...



(I've seen the tweets and the posts from the haters, but I think he actually pulls it off. Glasses: Who knew?)

Book Your Lunch Plan Now: SEC Media Day

The Gators reps -- including Tim Tebow -- are scheduled to appear for media interviews on Thursday, July 23 between 10:30 and 12:30 p.m. Book your lunch "meeting" now, appropriately.

(Cool helmet-graphic scheduling info courtesy of the SEC.)

What Does ESPN's Push Into Local Online Media Have To Do With Tim Tebow?

Sorry for the navel-gazing, but the answer is here, toward the bottom. (Heads-up: Only of interest if you like this sort of inside-baseball media-wonky stuff. Promise it's then back to strict TT analysis.)

Gainesville Sun: Tebow No. 1 Player in SEC

This is not surprising, on any number of levels: The Gainesville Sun, counting down the Top 25 players in the SEC this season, has tabbed Tim Tebow as No. 1.

That the hometown paper puts Tebow at the top is obvious; what is less obvious is how anyone across the country could put anyone BUT Tebow as the No. 1 player in the SEC.

(Yes, you can make the case for Eric Berry, but Berry doesn't have nearly the direct impact that Tebow has. I would also argue that Julio Jones -- the Sun's No. 3 talent -- is ridiculously good.)

The larger question, of course, is where Tebow should rank among ALL players in the country, not just the Ess-Eee-See. Let's leave it here for now: He is on the short-list discussion for No. 1.

Quote of the Day: Arnold Tucker

"He's a horse. He would have done great back when I was playing, too."

-- Newly enshrined College Football Hall of Famer Arnold Tucker (Army '46) on Tim Tebow.

Blutarsky's Sunday Tebow Matinee

This, from one of the best college football bloggers out there, the venerable Blutarsky of Get the Picture:

If the GPOOE™ has to use not being a unanimous pick in the SEC preseason coaches’ vote to motivate himself, Florida’s in worse shape than I thought.

(GPOOE -- Trademarked to Blutarsky -- stands for "Greatest Player Of Our Era," a mocking reference to the description Urban Meyer, among others, have bestowed on Tebow.)

Blutarsky doubles down with this, from Meyer's Huntsville talk:

Speaking of Tebow, how’s this for a creepy comment from his head coach? “He’s my Vitamin B-12. If I’m not there with him, I call him every day.”

Put Blutarsky's blog on your Reader list for terrific college football commentary -- and not just pro-Georgia stuff, either.

Countdown: Practice Starts August 6

Per Joe Goodman at the Herald, Gators practice starts August 6. Around here, expect a ton of fun lead-up/countdown-type stuff between the end of SEC Media Days and 8/6.

TimTeblog.com on GatorEnvy.com Boards

Thanks to whomever started this TimTeblog thread on the Gator Envy message boards. (What: No comments yet? Come on!)

For the record, I'm a longtime reader -- though not a participant -- on GatorsSports, GatorBait and GatorCountry's message boards. Maybe I'll have to change that...

Quote of the Day: Meyer on Tebow

"I get to be known as Tim Tebow's coach for four more months. And I'm going to enjoy every freakin' minute of it."

-- Urban Meyer on Tim Tebow, from Meyer's trip to Huntsville, Alabama earlier this week for a clinic:

Gator Report on Why TimTeblog.com?

With the launch of the blog last week, several local and national college football writers have picked up on it, including Holly Anderson from Yahoo's must-read Dr. Saturday, ESPN's terrific Bruce Feldman and the PB Post's sharp Gators beat reporter Ben Volin.

You can find the links collected on the right side under "Coverage of TimTeblog."

The St. Pete Times' Antonya English had a post about the blog right out of the gate -- framed interestingly around the potential for the "Tebacklash" (per AOL Fanhouse's MDS, covered here earlier this week).

She circled back with me to get a little more context for why I started the blog -- the launch post of the site on Wednesday said a lot, but I elaborate on it for her here.

This gist, and it's not like you haven't seen it before:

There is no bigger story in sports this fall than Tim Tebow and Florida, and I think that kind of interesting story merits my (mostly) journalistic coverage as a stand-alone "beat."

Role Model Showdown: Tim Tebow vs Myron Rolle

I was going to put together this really fun post comparing and contrasting Tim Tebow and Myron Rolle -- not the least of which is the Florida-Florida State rivalry.

A lot of people hold up Tebow as an ultimate role model. Myron Rolle is his equal, if not superior -- it's stupid to compare. It's simply worth marveling at the absoluteness of Rolle's awesomeness.

Read this post from Yahoo's "Dr. Saturday," Matt Hinton, and you'll see why.

While I'm no FSU fan, I couldn't admire Rolle more* -- his biggest claim to fame is the Rhodes Scholarship, but his life seems destined for astonishing greatness, especially off the field.

(* - Like many Gator fans, I was stunned when Rolle -- a fantastic student -- picked FSU over Florida "for the academics." I am thrilled that Rolle's life has worked out so well.)

Weekly Wrap (Next Week: SEC Media Days)

For a slow week in sports, it was plenty busy around here. This week's Top 5 Tebow storylines:

(5) Season Preview Magazine mania
(4) TMZ confirms that Tebow is single.
(3) Tebow wins ESPY for "Best Male College Athlete"
(2) Preseason all-SEC mini-drama
(1) Launch of TimTeblog.com (naturally)

If you haven't looked at the right side of the site yet, there is plenty of extra coverage, including links to the Top 10 most important Tebow videos, a list of places that have covered the launch of this blog and a preseason ranking of the Top 10 "Poor Man's Tim Tebow" contenders.

More posts this weekend, with a ton to come next week as the Tebow hysteria comes to SEC Media Days, which has become sort of like ComiCon for SEC football junkies.

Thanks very much for your time, attention and instant approval this week. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop an email if you have any feedback.

"My Life As A Kid" Meets Tebow? Almost.

This is really cute (particularly if you have kids who own their own Tebow jerseys). I especially like the part where the cameraman actually catches Tebow on tape, then... well, you'll see:

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)

Mystery: Which Coach Dissed Tebow?

The SEC coaches' preseason all-conference teams came out today. Unsurprisingly, Tim Tebow was the 1st-team QB. Very surprisingly, he was not a unanimous selection.

Any guesses as to which coach (or, I guess, coaches) left Tebow off their ballot?

I would have guessed Houston Nutt, but coaches can't pick their own players, so it's not like he could have picked Jevan Snead.

I am going to go out on a limb and say it was Lane Kiffin. His reasoning? Just because. Extra points for the first media type at Media Day to ask him directly which QB he voted for.

Here's the thing: These things will come out. They always do. A good beat reporter will ask his SEC coach if he did/didn't vote for Tebow. Coach better hope he's not on Florida's schedule.

All of this could be avoided if the SEC actually made their coaches' ballots public, right from the start. Why the secrecy? What's the point?

(FWIW: Unanimous 1st-teamers: Ciron Black, Eric Berry, Julio Jones.)

Tebow to TMZ: "I Don't Have a Girlfriend"

Tebow was in LA yesterday for the ESPYs and, while being hit up by fans for his autograph, he was hit up by TMZ for details about his lovelife. (Maybe we should call it "TTMZ?")

Tebow's modest answer: "I don't have a girlfriend."

And yet the Google trend "Tim Tebow Girlfriend" continues. (TT really seemed to take the TMZ paparazzi ambush in stride, don't you think? When you've been hit by Greg Hardy, TMZ is easy.)

AOL Fanhouse on the Tebow Backlash

AOL Fanhouse's Michael David Smith (disclaimer: someone who I consider a friend and whose work I admire) does not like the Brennamanization of Tebow coverage, so dubbed for the absurdly fawning coverage by Thom Brennaman during the most recent BCS title game.

Agreed. If anything is going to trigger a Tebow backlash (aka "Tebacklash" -- ooh, that's mine), it will be that kind of gag-inducing fawning. The ESPY red-carpet interview that MDS specifically points to is particularly egregious -- although interviewing on red carpets, sports or otherwise, has never been like the late John Callaway on "Chicago Tonight."

I will stick with my original theory on the Tebacklash, which I repeated again yesterday when asked about the chance of a Tebow backlash by Steve Russell, Sports Director of WRUF in Gainesville:

It's not going to happen. The on-field performances and the walk-the-talk life he lives off the field (even when we only see it filtered through the media) will continue to make even the toughest critics fume with "begrudging respect," rather than haterade.

It's a good thing that Tebow seems to take this fawning in stride and defuse it with humility. It makes it a lot easier to dismiss the media, rather than dismiss the player.

Tebow Wins Back-to-Back ESPY Award

Tim Tebow won his second straight ESPY Award for "Best Male College Athlete," repeating from his 2008 award.

There's this open question about "Tebow fatigue" that I've touched on before. But no matter what you think about the ESPYs as some sort of contrived schtick, I like them for one very significant reason: They let the fans vote on the awards.

It's not some Academy. It's not some weird BCS-style hybrid of coaches, experts and media types. It's the fans.

And the fans -- nationwide, mind you -- like and respect Tebow an awful lot. Do they love him? Maybe, maybe not.

But fans respect him -- maybe it's begrudging respect, but respect all the same. And they like that he is a likeable personality who plays great on the field and appears to walk the talk off the field.

And, in his acceptance speech, Tebow threw that "like and respect" right back at them:

“It truly is an honor to even be invited to an event like the ESPYs and be able to be in the same room with many athletes that I have the utmost respect for. And then to be named the Best Male College Athlete, which was decided by the fans makes this night even more memorable. I want to thank my teammates and coaches, but a special thank you goes out to the entire Gator Nation, the best fans in the country.”

Make no mistake: The ESPYs are a popularity contest -- by that metric, Tebow is and remains very popular.

Tim Tebow's Top SEC Player: Eric Berry

Who does Tim Tebow think is the best player in the SEC? Tennessee safety Eric Berry.

It's not a bad pick. At a minimum, Berry is the best defensive player in the SEC. (With all of the injuries to Tennessee's WRs, who doesn't want to see Berry get a bunch of reps on offense, too?)

And, no question, he is the SEC's No. 1 NFL Draft prospect.

Here was Berry's response:

“If he is Superman - make that Batman, then I am Robin. That’s a big compliment coming from him. He’s a Heisman trophy winner, has won (two) national championships. What more can you say?”

Yes, but will Tebow put Berry on his Heisman ballot somewhere?

On a radio interview today, the host asked me if there was going to be some sort of Tebow backlash this season. I think it's stuff like this that makes him very very hard to hate.

The way I phrased it was this: At worst, there is begrudging respect from opposing players and fans alike. It would be really hard to actually HATE him.

UPDATE: The Berry quote originally came from a Q&A Tebow did with Athlon's. Here's the source material. There's a lot in there. I'll have some pull-quotes later.

Announcing TimTeblog.com:Why Launch a Blog About Tim Tebow?

Why launch a blog about Tim Tebow?

Start here: This is not a fawning fanboy blog – although I am nominally recognized as a huge Tebow fan – but clear-eyed, credible, reliable and comprehensive coverage of a “beat” that happens to be a single athlete: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

Can’t deny the news value: Tebow is THE biggest name in college football – if not all of sports this fall. Not only does he lead the defending national champs but Florida is the plurality pick to win this year’s title, too. Add the Heisman intrigue to the championship potential and it makes for the fall’s best debate: Greatest college player of all time?

Plus, consider this blog an experiment in online programming: Everyone has heard of the growth of “hyper-local” blogs dedicated to covering very specific geographic areas. This is an experiment in “hyper-topical” blogging – one very specific (if well-known) topic – covered comprehensively. If successful, it could be a template for more “hyper-topical” blogs.

How to measure success of that experiment? First: If this blog’s community and readers are satisfied. But more quantitatively, based on: (1) Audience reach, (2) distribution – including links from other blogs, “passed links” through Twitter and Facebook and accessibility through search – and (3) signals of traction as a self-sustaining business.

What can you expect here? Consider it THE curated, credible, comprehensive resource for all things Tebow, always covered with a fan’s enthusiasm but also with a professional’s filter. While I am transparently (and proudly) biased, I am always interested in as many points of view as possible, along with strong storylines.

There will be original content (daily), links to the best Tebow content on the Web, video clips and photos, game and stats analysis, interviews with and folks who can contribute to the discussion, guest-posts from colleagues, Heisman race-tracking, the best Tebow-related commentary from Twitter and – of course – your comments and contributions.

And, while we’re at it, let’s set an end date: April 23, the day after the 1st round of the 2010 NFL Draft. It will be the end of what will be a two-act drama for Tebow over the next nine months: Act I runs from now until the national championship game – with or without Tebow and the Gators. Act II continues from the end of the college football season until the NFL Draft, where Tebow’s status will be the biggest X-factor of the year.

Take a look through the site archive on the right – you will find more than 50 posts already in place, covering everything from Tebow’s career-defining “Promise” to his invitation to perform my son’s circumcision, from the lead-up into the new college football season to his Heisman chances, from Tebow's place in college football history to his NFL draft stock, from his Google-juicing girlfriends to season-preview magazine porn, from his on-field talents to his off-field beliefs.

As with any great blog, the experience is only as good as its community: Your comments, your contributions and your tips will all make this blog a successful and worthwhile one for everyone.

I make no promises – that’s Tebow’s job – but at the very least, this should be fun.

-- Dan