Gator Country

Florida redshirt sophomore quarterback John Brantley looks to pass during the fourth quarter of the Gators' 41-7 win against Kentucky on Sept. 26 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky. / Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

Johnny Brantley will be ready if his chance comes.Tim Tebow will start. Tim Tebow won’t start. John Brantley is ready to go, has been taking most of the snaps and will be in the lineup. Tim, John. Tim, John.

Everybody’s in the know—or, a least, claims to have an inside scoop.

The truth is that nobody knows, including the head coach and the two players.

The country’s most famous concussion has the sports world abuzz and somewhat befuddled.

Despite the inference that Urban Meyer is playing a cat-and-mouse game and at least one ESPN comment that coaches and players know who’s playing but are keeping it secret, everything said about Florida’s starting quarterback for Saturday night is speculation.

Inquiring minds want to know: Who will be taking the snaps in college football’s regular-season Game of the Year, and maybe even one of the most memorable matchups in SEC history between the two team which have won all the BCS titles for the last three seasons?

The other day I asked Urban Meyer how many times he’d been asked about Tebow’s condition. “I’ve been asked a lot by people who matter – my family and the football team,” said Meyer.

The drama has already heightened this scenario into a theatrical mega moment. Will No. 15 come trotting out onto the field before the massive crowd, pumping his fist? Or will announcer Mick Hubert be mimicking the late Ed McMahon with his famous, “Heeerrrrrreeee’s Johnny!” when Brantley starts?

Meyer said Wednesday that after Tuesday’s practice he was told by physicians to “game plan with the chance that Tim could play.”

According to one source, “Tim ran the plays and threw the ball and looked pretty good.” The two quarterbacks shared snaps on Wednesday.

You can book this right now, however: Until 8 p.m. Saturday we’re not going to have the answer.

The feeling among the coaches is that if doctors clear Tebow and Tim looks Meyer in the eye and says he’s ready to go, then he will go. However, doctors have made it clear that if any symptoms recur, Tebow is done.

It is my opinion – yes, I’ve got one, too—that Meyer has moved forward since last week with the idea that Brantley would be the starter against LSU, unless there was a breakthrough on Tebow’s condition. Therefore Brantley has been prepped for the job. That way, both quarterbacks are ready.

Meyer made it a point to say that he has total confidence in Brantley – “and not a false confidence” – if the redshirt sophomore receives the nod.

For all the football talk and the importance of the game, consider the human side. The butterflies in Johnny Brantley’s stomach don’t know whether to flutter or go to sleep. As a competitor, he wants to show what he can do and display the talents that made him the Gatorade High School Player of the Year. Not at the expense of Tebow and the team, of course, but it has to be a little stressful for him to have one foot on the field and another on the sideline.

“Johnny has been bred and trained for just this moment,” said Whit Palmer Jr., long-time Gator fan and friend of the Brantley family.

Chopped liver he is not. We’re talking about a player with NFL first-round potential and maybe the best arm anybody has seen since the days of Haywood Sullivan or John Reaves.

For a quarterback with as much talent as Brantley, this is the gray zone: Waiting in limbo for your chance to show what you can do, while knowing that no matter how great you perform, the job isn’t going to be yours this season.

Success for an understudy is measured in practice reps and game cleanup duty. Someday, though, the starring role will belong to Brantley. And his first step in that direction could
come Saturday night on college football’s version of Broadway, the SEC stage under the bright lights of Baton Rouge.

Even though Tebow gives Florida a better chance of winning, there are lots of Gator fans anxious to see what Brantley can do under these kinds of conditions. Not the least of these is his football-coaching father, who home-schooled his son to play quarterback (football, not class) for Trinity Catholic of Ocala.

I’m rooting for Brantley and his family, who have waited so patiently without grousing, realizing full well this was going to happen when Johnny chose to de-commit to Texas and sign with his father’s and uncle’s alma mater. But not at the expense of Tebow.

It’s certainly not like Johnny B. hasn’t earned the shot, with more than two years as an apprentice and a quantum leap beginning with last year’s spring game which caused Urban to dub him “a real Florida quarterback.”

The Brantleys have handled this whole situation with class. I will never forget that night in Miami prior to the BCS title game when we were all speculating about whether Tebow would return for his senior year. John The Father took the microphone at a Gator Country Pre-Game party and said to the crowd of some 200: “I hope Timmy does come back for another season.”

Those of us who have known John The Father for a long time, however, know that while as a coach he realizes parents shouldn’t interfere, he understandably yearns for the day when his son gets to the field for meaningful minutes and proves that he’s the quarterback everybody thinks he is.

John The Father and wife Karen have learned not to get their hopes up. From time to time over the last year, Meyer has indicated Johnny would play “meaningful minutes.” The intensity of the game, however, always seemed to get into the way and except for stints against Charleston Southern and Troy, plus the final quarter of Kentucky, Brantley hasn’t seen action. So they maintain a low-key approach.

Understandably, Meyer must first be concerned with putting his best players on the field to win the game and not worry about keeping egos soothed. In no way do we suggest that. Any time No. 15 is well and wants to be on the field he should be there.

At the same time, you know the Brantleys get tired of hearing people say Johnny is “maybe the third best quarterback in the SEC” behind Tebow and Mississippi’s Jevan Snead.

Maybe we are about to find out.

If he starts Saturday night and beats LSU, then Johnny Brantley might overtake Snead. As he already knows, there is no shame being behind one of the greatest college football players in history. 

About the author

BuddyShow

Buddy Martin is the author of seven books, including Urban Meyer's authorized biography, and was a recipient of an Emmy while working for CBS Sports on "The NFL Today." The native son of Ocala and Florida-educated journalist is the former sports editor of the New York Daily News, Denver Post, St. Petersburg Times and Florida Today. He has won more than 165 state and national awards for writing and editing. "Urban's Way" (St. Martin's Press) is now out in paperback. It can be purchased at all major book stores or by writing Buddy at buddyshow@aol.com.

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