Saturday, November 28, 2009 is a day Florida Gator fans will long remember. We may not see the likes of this day again around these parts for some time to come, so hold on to it, squeeze out every drop and remember the details so you can tell your grandchildren.
A legend of the game bows out at his home field after accounting for five touchdowns, leading his team to a 22nd straight victory to hold serve as the nation’s #1 team, setting up a showdown with another undefeated powerhouse in what will be billed as the Game of the Decade.
And how do you say goodbye to Tim Tebow?
There was high expectancy among the spectators and fans who buzzed around Ben Hill Griffin prior to kickoff. Families in large numbers crowded in at the Gator Walk to catch one last glimpse of the football player turned folk hero. Right smack in the middle of the humanity outside the F Club entrance of the stadium, where the line snaked around the block, the entire Tebow family/entourage was strategically stationed. They all knew, as his custom, that #15 would be the last one off the bus.
“It looks like they are waiting on the president,” somebody said.
“He’s [Tebow] more popular than the president,” said another.
Robert and Beth Strack of Stuart posted up early at the Gator Walk to spot Tim Tebow, both sporting eyeblack in the honor of him. Beth wore “Timothy” under one eye and “14: 0” under the other. She was asked to identify the verse.
“You know, Timothy Tebow!” she explained. “Undefeated, fourteen and oh.”
There must have been a thousand #15 blue jerseys in the crowd and they looked like patches of the Atlantic Ocean gleaming in the bright November sunshine. Quite a few homemade “Thank you, Tim” placards were in evidence as sirens became audible, signifying arrival of the team buses.
The entire team had to walk through the human gauntlet — Meyer had insisted that the guardrails be removed — and they meandered through, negotiating their way past the Tebow contingent, which smothered them in hugs. Urban had worried a bit as the buses rolled up near the stadium because he didn’t see as many people and he wanted his seniors to have a good sendoff. And then he realized why. “They were all already there, early,” Meyer said.
Once inside the stadium, it felt somewhat like business as usual in locker room preparation and on field warm-ups. When all the underclassmen came back on the field and seniors were about to be introduced, however, the whole feeling changed to jelly legs and teared-up eyes. Tebow thought he could beat it because he’d been “pretty much in control” until the senior introductions began. But he was in for a surprise.
It started out with the posthumous introduction of the late Michael Guilford, the reserve quarterback who was killed in a scooter accident two years ago. Twenty-two players later, Brandon Spikes came out and kissed the ground, then looked up to the heavens as if manna were descending from it. He had barely hugged his coach when the roar began to ripple through the crowd as the baby-face of Tebow appeared in the tunnel. He carried his white space-age combat helmet in one hand flowers for his mother in the other as he broke into a jog and slowed down to a walk, almost as if he didn’t want to reach the final destination in front of Urban to say this goodbye. Tears welled up in the eyes of player and coach as they embraced and by that time Tebow was bawling.
Neither remembered later what they said as they hugged for a couple of seconds, but Urban says he thinks it was “I love you,” which is what he told most of the seniors. Tebow said he thought he heard the same thing, but wasn’t certain. Emotions were supercharged and Urban would later say, “I don’t want to say goodbye — the good thing is we’re not done yet.” And then Meyer added: “The negative is that we don’t get to do it in this great stadium.”
This “great stadium” was never greater on a day that was going to far exceed the expectations of Tebow in many ways.
The danger of all that pre-game drama is that a team could lose its edge, but given the exceptionally crisp practice on Wednesday, Meyer had a hunch his squad would come out firing on all cylinders. And he was right, because the Gators played like a team focused on finishing up the regular season unbeaten and realizing its goal to make the SEC Championship next week.
In perhaps the most complete victory of the season, the Gators sliced up the Seminoles like they were wielding Veg-O-Matics.
The same could not be said for Florida State, playing uninspired football, like a team with a lame-duck coach and a goal of Shreveport or some other college football hither and yon.
This is how bad it got for FSU: Down 30-0 with three ticks of the third quarter remaining, somebody among the ‘Noles coaching staff made the brilliant decision to take a time out and kick a field goal. KICK A FIELD GOAL! Jimbo Fisher or Bobby Bowden — whoever made that call — should have just waived the white towel instead.
Bowden acknowledged that the 37-10 loss was “a whoppin’,” explaining later that the only thing worse than being down by 30 was “not having any points on the scoreboard.”
Tebow tends to make people want to quit and don’t be surprised if Bowden does just that next week, having said that he wanted to go home and “do some soul searching” before deciding if he wants to coach next year. He may not have a choice. Either way, he will leave the game having gone 0-4 against Tebow.
Bowden also praised Meyer for the manner in which he uses Tebow in the spread offense and that the Tim’s strength made it “like playing with 12 people.”
For four years and through 22 straight victories, on the greatest run in modern college football history, Tebow has shredded teams with both his arms and his legs. Saturday was no different, as Tebow passed for three touchdowns and rang up his SEC record 55th and 56th scores on the ground.
Tebow’s five-touchdown game put him back in the Heisman picture, where Colt McCoy appears to have taken the lead after his big night in the Texas win over Texas A&M and Stanford’s Toby Gerhart stayed in the conversation with four touchdowns against Notre Dame. If it did nothing else, however, Tebow’s performance certainly thrilled the record crowd of 90,907 in The Swamp.
The sense of history was not lost on the Gator faithful, either, as could be seen by the surreal explosion of flashes from cameras and cell phones on each snap of the ball by Florida in the fourth quarter. The crowd chanted “Tebow! Tebow! Tebow!” as the Gators marched for their fifth touchdown of the night, right toward the very spot where the first of his 81 career touchdown tosses was unveiled with the jump pass to Tate Casey in 2006. Could it have actually been four years ago?
The perfect symmetry would be for Tebow to wind up the way he started: With a jump pass for his final score on Florida Field.
The crowd knew it, Tebow knew it — and he was hoping the coaching staff knew it. In fact, Tim even dropped a little sign to Brantley in hopes he would radio it up the line on the headset. The jump pass was, indeed, the call and Tebow took that step into the line — except this time his receiver, tight end Aaron Hernandez, got mugged by a defender but it drew no yellow flag.
That left only one other option: Let Tebow take the ball in for the score, which is what happened with just over 10 minutes to play as the right side opened up and #15 struck that familiar pose in the end zone one last time — seemingly his rightful place in this arena.
In a moment or so, Tebow was back on the field for one final snap to make a curtain call, with Brantley temporarily stepping into the shoes he will fill permanently next year. When the game went final, Tebow did as Tebow always does, shaking hands with some, hugging others.
Among those hugged was Bowden, a man Tebow admires, and he and the embattled FSU coach shared a few spiritual thoughts with each other.
Then it was on to sing the traditional school songs in celebration of yet another Florida football win.
This pretty much perfect-fall-day-turned-evening wound up just like all his other home victories have: With Tebow pressing the flesh on his celebrated victory lap one more time—only Tim did not want to see it end. Nor did the fans, or the Florida players and coaches. It was coming down to The Last Roundup, that trademarked victory lap. It began in the West stands, with Tim’s entourage of escorts trailing, surrounded by still cameramen and videographers. Everybody was a fan tonight, however, as cops and reporters whipped out their cell phones to photograph the occasion.
Then an odd thing happened. As Tebow moved clockwise around the West stands, he encountered Brandon Spikes and the group of seniors moving the other way, having decided to take their own victory lap. Tebow passed them and continued on around the north end zone, where he stepped on the foot of a Florida cheerleader, who “went down hard — I picked her up and hugged her” and said he was sorry. A few yards later he hugged a little 10-year-old girl in a pink hoodie who began weeping openly as he walked away. Tebow turned back, hugged her again and reassured the girl: “It’s okay, I’ll be around.”
Now he was in the home stretch, but as he reached the southeast corner Tebow stopped, turned around and fired off a few Gator chomps in response to some Seminole Choppers and to salute those who had waited around to savor just such delectable morsels. Then it was over into the stands of the end zone, several rows up, and back to the tunnel where he re-chomped before disappearing.
At his press conference, Tebow talked about what a long day it had been that everything seemed “in slow motion;” how surprised he was that he wasn’t able to keep his emotions in check; how much fun it had been; and how none of the seniors really wanted to leave the field.
Then there was the final trip back on the field for the interview with Chris Fowler of ESPN Game Day, where several hundred more fans lingered to watch and listen.
When the interview ended, Fowler uncharacteristically reached in for his press credential and a Sharpie pen, handing it to Tebow to sign, which Tim gladly obliged. Having seen that, ESPN cohort Desmond Howard, himself a fellow Heisman winner, walked over and asked for the same favor. Which prompted a fan to yell how:
“OK, Desmond, but you’ve got to promise you’ll vote for him!”
Everybody turns into a fan in the presence of Tim Tebow.
Tebow’s last day on Florida Field was almost over, but there was one more task: He walked over and hi-fived the remaining fans who were leaning over the rail.
Urban Meyer was asked if he’d every seen a player like Tebow who enjoyed such a close relationship with the fans.
“No, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Meyer confessed. “I’ve only been a part of college athletics for 20 years and I’ve never seen it. I hope we get to see that again. And I hope it’s here.”
Good luck on that Urban, and we’re with you. But I’m pretty sure you know that that odds are that nobody like Tim Tebow will pass this way again.
Oh yes, and one more thing. Tebow rolled up 311 yards of offense, putting him ahead of Chris Leak as the Southeastern Conference’s all-time leader, adding one final exclamation point to the Last Tebow Show at “this great stadium.”