Posted on 12/06/2005 5:44:37 AM PST by tutstar
DAN: Before the game on Friday night a nice honor for you, you'll play in San Antonio, Texas in the US Army All-American bowl in January...
TIM TEBOW: It's very exciting, we've known for a while but they didn't want us to let anyone know..its a huge honor and I am looking forward to it...
DAN: I've heard that you may be making an announcement about your college intentions December 14th...
TIM TEBOW: Yes sir, that's when ESPN wants me to do it..and they're doing this series thing too, so we're looking at that...but it's a good possibility we'll announce on Dec. 14th...
Here's one of many articles on Tim. They say the trip to the Phillipines each summer is a family tradition. It's not just a tradition, it's their life. Tim's Dad is a missionary to the Phillipines and has served there for many many years. God has blessed their ministry and they have a staff now which allows for Dad to be here more than he used to.
Cool in the Spotlight :: Florida phenom shrugs off the hype.
http://www.sparqtraining.com/page.asp?sid=1&page=88
Your eyes keep floating back to the numbers. “Can’t be right,” you mutter to yourself. “Gotta be a typo. Seventy touchdowns in one season? As a junior?” But there they are, leaving opposing coaches to scratch their collective heads: 46 through the air, 24 on the ground, plus single-season state records for total passing yards (4,304) and total offense (5,576).
Yep, Nease QB Tim Tebow is a bona fide phenom. He’s the chiseled prize of a pitched recruiting battle, the prophet for a rising power in North Florida program, and a poster-boy for gym rats everywhere. He’s earned the privilege of Big Man On Campus, but there’s just one problem: He’s not on campus.
In fact, he couldn’t be much further from living “the life”: Right now, he’s in the Phillipines. The two-week trek is a summer-vacation tradition for the Tebows. Some families go to Disneyworld, the Tebows care for abandoned children at a third-world orphanage.
In addition to the missionary work, Tebow stays grounded because he is home-schooled. (A Florida rule allows him to play for his local school.) In their tidy Jacksonville home, his deeply religious parents have raised a young man immune from the hype, unfazed by the glare.
Still, it’s all a bit breathless as signing day approaches: Check out Tebow-mania on the recruiting websites: Will he or won’t he? Did he wear Michigan blue to the gym today, or ‘Bama crimson? Little-known fact: Tebow hasn’t even settled on a team when he plays video games; He’s scouting several. Eventually, though, “He will make one lucky school very proud," said Nease head coach Craig Howard.
Tim Tebow 02“He makes everyone around him better; he is like a coach on the football field,” Howard said. He’ll go over and encourage them or say something motivating. He befriends the underclassmen, and makes them feel welcome. He’s also the type player you have to kick out of the weight room. “He stays late after practice everyday. Week in and week out, he is the hardest worker on the football field,” said his coach. “That carries over to a lot of our younger players.”
It carries over to Tebow’s athleticism, too. At the Nike Training Camp in Tallahassee, he smoked the combine, posting the highest-ever SPARQ Rating for a QB: a 96.92. Ironically, most wags didn’t expect him to show — he was in the middle of summer workouts and didn’t try to peak for the camp. Tebow (6-3, 217) gave a typically modest assessment: "I wanted to attend the camp and see what things I might need to improve on at quarterback.”
And improve he has. Just three years ago, the Nease program was struggling to find an identity: Howard jokes that Nease used to be every team’s homecoming-game patsy. But the coach saw then-freshman linebacker Tim chucking the ball around after practice, and moved him to the other side of the ball. Since then, the Panthers have become one of the top schools in North Florida. In their leader’s senior year, the Panthers will gear up for arguably the program’s biggest opportunity: A nationally televised match-up on ESPN Aug. 27th against No. 3 on the FAB 50, Hoover, AL.
“We are so excited to have a chance to play against Hoover,” Tebow said. “We know they are one of the best teams in the nation. For me personally, I always want to go against the best. It will be a very good test for our team.”
And if they pull off the upset? “I just don’t feel you really need to change much even if you have success,” Tebow said. “You know the people that have been there all your life for you.”
When you hear him speak — quiet and humble, team and family — you start talking to yourself again. Like the eye-popping stats, you wonder “Is this for real? What 17-year-old is this grounded?”
But Tim Tebow’s not too worried about what you think — he’s too busy preparing for the football season and, seemingly, life.
This is a fine young man of impeccable character. A light in the darkness.
homeschool ping...
"Please welcome another Florida Gator"
It's great... to be... a Flooooooorrrrrida Gator!
Tebow's situation may be the most intriguing among the top prospects. He plays for Nease High School in Jacksonville, Fla., but is home-schooled.
"It's a unique thing," Nease coach Craig Howard said. "I've never had a home-schooled player. His father is a Baptist missionary and their family has five children and Timmy is the baby. All of them have gone through the home-schooling from the time they started school until they graduated. All of them have gone on to college and graduated from college with honors, so it's a system that's worked for that family."
Tebow, a 6-foot-3, 217-pounder who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds and passed or ran for 70 touchdowns last season, started playing at Nease when he was a sophomore. Despite not attending school with his teammates, he became an integral part of the team from the beginning.
"That's part of that charisma factor that he's got," Howard said. "From day one, when he came in as a sophomore, they welcomed him with open arms and totally accepted him.
"He has all the physical tools. He's a great runner and a great passer. He has such competitive instincts. He's such a winner, such a competitor. The thing about him, and I've coached more than 30 years, I've never had a boy with such leadership.
"He's a missionary in the summertime to the Philippines with his father. He just has character above reproach. That balance in his life is so tremendous. You can look at the height and weight on a roster but you don't see the mind of this guy or the way he treats the worst, youngest kids on the team, the freshmen boys who are just struggling. He's putting an arm around those guys. He's a complete package. I've never had one like him."
Tebow lists eight schools as prospective suitors but Alabama seems to be emerging as a possible favorite. A former teammate, wide receiver Will Oakley, is a sophomore in Tuscaloosa, while current teammate Charlie Kirschman committed to the Crimson Tide last week. Kirschman, a 6-3, 225-pound linebacker, is not on the Super Southeast 120.
Alabama's interest in Tebow has had a ripple effect on Smelley, a two-sport star who has passed for more than 3,000 yards at Class 1A American Christian in Tuscaloosa.
"There's no doubt in my mind that if Tim Tebow decides he's going to go to Florida or wherever -- I really, honestly think he's going to go to Alabama -- then I think (Alabama) will offer Smelley immediately," Patterson said.
If Tebow commits to Alabama, however, Smelley is expected to go with either LSU or Ole Miss.
http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/sports/1123406116131170.xml&coll=3
Two words.....Brock Berlin.
OH I would love to see Tim play for the gators. I'm biased, what can I say?
Baptist Ping.
As Rita Cosby would say "My Sources"
tell me this young man is a fine young Southern Baptist.
I sure hope he doesn't pick Notre Dame.:>)(JK)
Are you saying he's going to pick Baylor?
I was hoping Ole Miss was on his radar screen.
We need the help.
And as a So. Baptist, Baylor!!!!
Oh my! I don't think we have to worry about that though I'm sure any school would be glad to have him.
Noooooo
Isn't OM a SB school?
SB being "Spolied Brats"
As nice as it would be to land Tebow, I would rather see UF focusing on getting in better offensive linemen. That has been our achilles heel for the last 5 years.
Steve Spurrier must be very interested in this young man. Many recruiters will be camped outside his front door.
It is good to hear about such a fine example of the youth of today.
You're right about that!
Laugh... well I don't know a lot about Notre Dame these days - but at least in years past it was a tad more conservative than other schools... I wonder how much his faith will play into his choice?
It will be interesting to see where he goes! Sounds like a fine young man!
So public schools are ok when you want something from them I guess.
I'll bet he chooses his school based on what he wants to do with his life and not necessarily on the football program.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.