Posted on 12/06/2007 9:31:40 AM PST by cinives
The December 3rd 2007 issue of Sports Illustrated will be of special interest to education reformers.
Next to the cover photo of Chase Daniel, the University of Missouri’s plucky quarterback, is a smaller photo of Tim Tebow.
Tebow is also a QB, but he conducts his business, not on the plains but in “the Swamp,” the football stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville. All of 20 years old, he is a serious contender for this year’s coveted Heisman Trophy, the annual award given to the most outstanding collegiate football player in the nation.
If the strapping 6’3” 235 lb. lad wins the Heisman, he’ll be making history on several counts. First, he’s only a sophomore. Second, he is the only player in NCAA history to run and pass for at least twenty touchdowns each in one season. Third, this son of missionaries to the Philippines was homeschooled in grades K through12. The last fact, no doubt, prompted Sports Illustrated to opine that Tebow is “hardly the typical college athlete.”
Delightfully, so. Of his unique educational background, Tebow states, "I come from a large family (last of 5 children), and all my brothers and sisters were home schooled. My parents were tremendous role models throughout the process, and there were never discipline issues for us. By the time I came to the University of Florida, I felt I had great study habits and felt comfortable making the transition to classes. I think that being home schooled offered me an opportunity to also learn some life lessons, and those experiences help me while I'm on the field."
Those role models - Pam and Bob Tebow - encouraged athletics and combined farm chores with Scripture memory in their household. Mom and Dad are former University of Florida students, yet one wonders what they make of the monikers that the baby of the family (who was recruited by 80 schools) has been saddled with - “chosen one,” “the great white hope,” “Tom Cruise,” “a walking freight truck,” and “Superman.” There is even a ‘Tim Tebow Bill’ in the Alabama legislature which would afford home scholars equal access to public school sports programs and extracurricular activities.
Admittedly, the 1950s television series “Adventures of Superman” does seem to capture the spirit of Tebow Nation. Off the field, he’s the mild-mannered Clark Kent who says “Yes, Sir” to reporters, smilingly poses with orphans, talks to prison inmates, wears jorts (jean shorts), and maintains a high GPA.
But put him in a Gator uniform, sans cape, and watch out Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Florida State. During a memorable gridiron confrontation with the Seminoles, Florida’s archrival, the left-handed Tebow even played with a broken right hand. A broken hand! Superman indeed.
Whenever he appears on television, sophisticated commentators gush like groupies when the camera zooms in on the T-Man, and his legion of fans are fast becoming famous for their creativity. One fella painted himself gold, sporting a #15 on his chest (Tebow’s jersey number), and struck a Heisman-like pose at a game, and the Miami Herald couldn’t help but notice the “Tim Tebow Can Stop Global Warming” sign.
Which goes to show – and without downplaying the physical stamina, commitment, and world-class talent needed to compete in Division I sports – it’s all thoroughly ridiculous. Hype in high def. But Americans have always been rather ridiculous about their football heroes, crowning those who can throw and run and catch with god-like status, and just as casually marginalizing, to the sidelines, the stars who end up in rehab or who run a dog fighting ring in their spare time.
For Tebow and his ilk, the kryptonite is hubris. From all reports, the accolades – which also include a Manning Award finalist, Davey O’Brien finalist, Academic All-American, SEC offensive player of the week – haven’t gone to Tebow’s head. But this young man, like others before him and others after him, will have to guard against the temptations that Fame dispenses like tic-tac mints. Fortunately, his parents remain involved in his life, as do his siblings, including a sister who ministers in Bangladesh. As the Rattler Gator blogger J.B. White sagely observed last year, “Luckily, he's (Tebow) the product of some fantastic home training, because his premature celebrity could have been a disastrous distraction ... ”
Since he’s a professing Christian, Tebow may have to frequently turn to another missionary - the Apostle Paul – for a pep talk. Paul, writing to another Timothy, his disciple, advised: “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” Try fitting that on a placard.
Meanwhile, Tebow’s Bunyanesque accomplishments are just another feather in the cap of the modern home education movement which, by now, has a headdress of phenomenally accomplished graduates. But if there was one canard about homeschoolers left standing, despite the plethora of evidence to the contrary, it’s the one about them being non-athletic nerds.
Tim Tebow has sacked that stereotype with Samson-like gusto.
Come to think of it, he’s also given that collegiate athlete party animal thing a rest, too.
McFadden is a great one, no doubt, but I think Tebow deserves the Heisman. His NFL prospects are not supposed to have anything to do with; after all, they gave the Heisman to Jason White in 2003 while all the time acknowledging that he wasn't good enough to go pro. Utterly stupid IMHO; if you're not good enough to go pro, how can you possibly be the best collegiate football player?
Waxing nostalgic, Herschel Walker remains the most incredible college running back I've ever personally watched live.
MM (in TX)
I hope to be their first born.
I noticed it said “We” are Florida State :0)
Tebow is a 9-3 quarterback of the #12 ranked BCS team. UF played the 8th toughest schedule in the country according to the NCAA. Tebow, a sophomore and first year starter; was the #2 ranked passer in the country while becoming the first quarterback in 138 years of college football to score over 20 TD's rushing & 20 TD's passing
Like I guess that question was a valid one, regardless if you think so or not.
Yes, she does, but on the bright side, it would seem impossible for her to ever drown. Those are some water wings.
Yes, that's why he's the next to last on my list at post 84.
Oh pullleeezzzzz.
See my post 92. What records did McFadden tie or break during the football season?
LOL
Thanks for posting that!
Everyone has a favorite. We’ll see tonight...
I've said the same thing about many previous Florida QBs who were touted as being fantastic (eg. Grossman) when in fact the Florida offensive machine was such that any mediocre QB would look great in it. Tebow, however, is different. VERY different. He is the kind of talent that comes along once every ten years or so, and he may be even rarer than that. When he started the year his first instinct was to run. Over the season he has turned into an excellent passer. He's a freakish talent with the brainpower to be an outstanding mental QB, as well.
He is incredibly special, and if he doesn't win the Heisman it will be because he's a sophomore and the voters will think he can win it as a junior or senior, thus leaving it open this year for someone else.
All that said, the Heisman is the penultimate manifestation of herd thinking and is often nothing more than a popularity contest.
MM (in TX)
That’s a lot to pick out from a single picture. Lolz
That’s too bad! NC needs to “think outside the 1960’s box” and get in line with what most progressive States are doing and allow homeschoolers to participate in public school activities as the parents choose.
Adrian Peterson is a bad mofo.
Tebow in the SEC Total Offense (330.8) 1st Passing Efficiency (177.85) 1st Completion Rate (68.5) 1st Total Scoring (130) 1st Scoring (TD’s) (11.0) 1st Rushing Touchdowns (22) 1st Touchdown Accountability (51) 1st Rushing (69.8) 9th Passing (261.0) 2nd
Tebow in the National Rankings
Rushing Touchdowns (22) 3rd Touchdown Accountability (51) 1st Total Offense (330.8) 7th Passing Efficiency (177.85) 2nd Points Responsible For (25.50) 2nd Completion Rate (68.5) 5th Scoring (TD’s) (11.0) T 3rd Rushing among QB’s (69.8) T5th Passing Yards Per Game (261.0) 22nd
Ah, but saline is more dense than fresh water, so in a pool (where the “testing” was done), they don’t.
Who knew a show about answers to guys questions could be so...relevant?
(C8
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