Don’t get me wrong about Tim Tebow. He is the greatest player in Florida football history and the most popular. However, let’s be honest: Some of us are getting a little weary of this guessing game about where he’ll wind up going in the NFL Draft.
For that reason, lots of folks will be glad when it’s over, either on Thursday night or, if he’s not chosen in the first round, Friday night.
Naturally, all Gators are rooting for him to be picked in the first round. I’ve been on that bandwagon from Day One, contending that Tebow is such an impressive person and intense competitor that some coach is going to fall in love with him. And a few people have come around to that thinking.
Tim being a hometown hero, Jack Del Rio being such a close friend of Urban Meyer and the economics being so fantastic for the sagging Jaguars franchise, Tebow to Jacksonville simply must come under serious discussion in the Jaguar war room. If, in fact, he’s still around at 10.
So I could see him winding up in Buffalo at No. 9. Jacksonville at 10, New England at 22 or New Orleans at 32, but like everybody else, I’ve just got an opinion without anything to back it up. I would not be shocked if he went high in the second round either.
There is even one report on ESPN that the Bills consider trading up to get Tebow higher than ninth, and another that the Oakland Raiders might take Tebow at No. 8. Talk about a misfit! Tim Tebow as a Raider? Somehow I don’t see him as an Al Davis disciple.
Mike Shanahan says he could see Tebow getting on the field right away as a special teams player with his Redskins.
And so on …
Already some of the ex-coaches have been chirping pro-Tebow sentiment. Asked what player in the draft he liked, former Falcons and Broncos coach Dan Reeves immediately mentioned Tebow. Having coached both Roger Staubach and John Elway, Reeves does have some expertise.
You could tell in the Jon Gruden ESPN piece on the top four quarterbacks in the draft that he’s high on Tebow, and has said as much. “You could play for me,” Gruden told Tebow earlier this year. Unfortunately, Gruden doesn’t have a team right now.
The question is, what does that translate into where he’ll be picked?
To be honest, except for the money and the pride, it doesn’t matter if Tebow is the ninth player chosen or 39th. Some of the critics have tried to turn this into some kind of commentary about Meyer’s quarterback coaching acumen, but that won’t be played out until Tim is well into his formative years. There’s no question that Tebow has improved his mechanics and proven that he’s wiling to listen and learn, however.
If a team is looking for a pure-passing quarterback to step in as a rookie and play early, it will go for Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen or maybe even Colt McCoy.
If it is looking for a model locker-room guy, the consummate teammate, a fiery competitor, a versatile performer and somebody who will elevate the character of the room significantly, Tim Tebow is the man.
What Gator fans fear is that their heroic quarterback might be subjected to the dreaded Brady Quinn plummet that the Notre Dame quarterback did when he fell 20 spots and wound up in Cleveland. Quinn had been projected as a top-three choice. That was the most painful day ever at the draft.
Of course, since Tebow isn’t projected to go that high by the “experts,” he won’t have as far to fall.
I can’t wait to see the faces of ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay and hear their immediate comments if Tebow does go in the first around. Crow anyone?
Quickies about Tebow
1. A columnist in Minneapolis says the prediction that the Vikings will take him at No. 30 “is not going to happen.” Given the prediction record of most columnists – including this one—I figure that means there’s a good chance it might. Also, remember Minnesota wasn’t going to sign Brett Favre, either.
2. Tim says although he hasn’t seen the video of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a drunken state, saying the Heisman winner “could never get on the field” for his team, he took no offense at the remarks. “He was just having fun,” said Tebow. Yeah, Tim, but at the expense of both you and Bill Parcells. I have to give it up to Parcells, however, when he told a New Jersey newspaper: “I have always operated under the axiom a friend is someone who knows all about you and likes you anyway. That’s how I feel about Jerry. And being a little less than perfect myself, I am pretty sure that’s how he feels about me.”
3. According to USA Today, when Tebow and Johnny Brantley went out to eat at a restaurant, Brantley often went to the table and waited 10 minutes for his famous teammate to be seated. ”He kept telling me, ‘It’s going to happen to you,’” Brantley said, “and I’d say, ‘It ain’t going to happen to me like that, not to your level.’” Johnny is right about that, but there’s no question he’s going to be very popular. JBIV just won’t be taking victory laps after the game or signing autographs after practice for 30 minutes (something even Tim stopped doing his senior year).
Tebow Snapshots
Finally, what’s your favorite Tim Tebow moment, on or off the field?
Off the field, mine is the story told by strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti, who recalled the night of Friday Night Lights when he and Tim went down to the weight room with a couple of burgers just to chat. Tebow was still in high school, but he got to wondering about the most reps any player had ever done on this particular lift. Marotti just made up a number like 18, “which was about three more than anybody had done.” When they finished their burgers, Tebow went over and did one more than Marotti’s number.
On the field, I think the two fourth-quarter drives he engineered to beat Alabama for the SEC Championship is right up there along with the fourth-quarter comeback against Oklahoma to win the BCS National Championship. However, my all-time favorite on-field moment will always be Florida’s 45-15 victory over Florida State in Tallahassee—the rain, the scrum touchdown and the “Braveheart” face.
And you?