Question about Tim Tebow

Submitted by TwoFitty on

I know the media loves him, I know he is all they talk about.
But why does everyone on this board hate him?
I believe he is one of the best college football players ever, definitely the best I've seen. even before all the accolades this year, 2 NC's, 1 heisman, maybe one more of each. leading rusher in SEC history, as a QB. But what impresses me most about TT is what kind of a man he is. regardless of your religious views Tim Tebow is one of the most mature, upstanding young men to ever play at the level that he has. As far as I'm concerned the world and the NCAA need more Tim Tebows. He is the kind of man I want as a role model for my children. I just do not understand the anomosity towards him on this board. ?

octal9

November 29th, 2009 at 2:47 AM ^

he's a great player, and a great person. I don't hate him, I hate the media's persistent coverage & donning him the second coming of the son of god.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 3:03 AM ^

I don't hate tebow, I only hate when people crown him the greatest ever, that make me wanna gouge my eyes out. How is he the greatest ever, when he isn't even the greatest qb ever? Have you seen him throw?

Amused

November 29th, 2009 at 10:57 AM ^

Tebow is a winner because he's surrounded by talent and because Florida has an amazing defense to back him up. He's struggled against bad competition this year (remember those two pick-sixes against Mississippi State?). Florida is undefeated because they have the 2nd best defense in the nation, not because Tebow is a "winner".

What is a "winner's attitude" anyway? Doesn't every QB have this?

Beavis

November 29th, 2009 at 12:16 PM ^

Not every QB has a "winner's attitude" - see: Mallett, Ryan.

Did anyone else notice in the game last night, when Mallett threw the go ahead TD, that NO PLAYER on his team would celebrate with him? Then of course all the cuts to him on the sideline with the "I'm going to kill you if we lose this game" look.

ndjames86

November 29th, 2009 at 3:17 AM ^

with him is blown up way to big. Is he a nice guy? Sure. Is he a good QB? Yeah, in a spread offense. Is he the greatest player in college history? Not even close. All the records he's broken seem almost meaningless. When you're on the 2 yard line and your run your QB 3 times to get the TD you're clearly trying to pad the stats. He is a terrible thrower and whats irritating is ESPN's worship (coverage?) of him on all their games. Give me a break, I'm happy that he's graduating just so we can hear about somebody else from now on.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 3:51 AM ^

The media hype is pretty ridiculous -- they've basically turned him into a caricature of himself at this point -- but I've gotta side with the OP on this one. Tebow is one of the best college players of all-time.

He might not be a great passer mechanically, but his career pass efficiency is now 170.37 (for reference, the all-time NCAA record is 176.68). That's EXTREMELY good, and it obviously doesn't include his 54 rushing touchdowns and his ridiculous career win-loss record.

How is he the greatest ever, when he isn't even the greatest qb ever? Have you seen him throw?

There's a big difference between being a great QB and a great passer. Tommie Frazier was an unbelievable QB at Nebraska. Michael Vick was unstoppable at Virginia Tech. You have to take into account everything a guy brings to the table, and just because Florida's offense is usually based more around Tebow's running ability than his passing ability, that doesn't diminish his greatness.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 3:51 AM ^

Im not saying he's not a nice guy, he's a product of the spread offense. The guys numbers are very decieving, he calls his own number inside the 5 yard line & runs over a safety, that's greatness really??? he not explosive, he's not a much watch players. He doesn't make plays that make you say wow.& he doesn't have signature moment(please don't include the jump pass lmao).

Tebow isn't the greatest ever @ all, he had 2 good seasons 2007 & 2008.is that greatness? Most overrated player ever.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 3:55 AM ^

Like I said numbers can be very decieving, just because your numbers look nice on the stat column doesn't make you great. Look @ TTECH qbs for an example, they are not really good players just a product of the system like tim tebow.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:00 AM ^

I guess I don't understand what your definition of "greatness" is. I'm not arguing that he's not playing in the perfect system for his skills -- most good coaches will adjust to make use of a guy's talents, and Urban Meyer has definitely done that.

But he's probably gonna graduate with two national titles (and a third that he was an important part of), one loss in his final two seasons (in which he was basically the entire offense) and more records than I can even recite. To me, that's greatness.

Being "explosive" or a "must-watch" player, to me, is not necessarily greatness. There's more to it than that.

bjk

November 29th, 2009 at 4:27 AM ^

is the msm. Since they are too well-established to go away, we take pot shots at their sacred cows, the nearest proximate targets.

Once I was residing in a panhandle Florida backwater whose HS team was stopped from a state championship by Tebow's HS team (this arrangement enabled me to claim in-state tuition at, without my having to reside in the same time zone with, FSU). Shortly thereafter, young Tebow was the subject of a loving documentary-cum-fluff-piece which, true to the locale, dwelled with no discernable reticence on the powerful religious influence in his idealized public image. Residing where I did, I was no stranger to fundamentalist superstition. The local bicycle shop, which should be a traditional granola-head hangout if ever there were one, sported an Anne Coulter poster with the words: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and forcibly convert them all to Christianity."

Anyway, when the news came out that Tebow was headed to UF, I knew I hadn't heard the last of him. I suspected there might be a heightened profile for the CCC-FCA subtext to the admittedly God-and-Country culture attached to football while he is around; in the deep south the obvious is slightly more obvious. On this account, I sighed and rolled my eyes when his inevitable ascension to football and media stardom began to play out. Beyond that, I have no malice for the driven and focused young man. Just a case of indigestion for the random disturbances in with the otherwise blandly predictable and empty calories in our industrial civilization's mainstream propaganda diet.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:04 AM ^

If Tebow had come to Michigan and our last four years had mirrored what Florida has done -- coming up on a third national title with one guy carrying 90% of the load -- would there be any debate on this board regarding Tebow being the best college player ever?

Probably not.

I'm not saying necessarily that he's THE GREATEST PLAYER EVER, just that he absolutely has to be in the discussion. Every great player benefits from their team/system and also makes their team/system look better because of their own talents.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:07 AM ^

The MSM love is over-the-top and annoying. I can't even listen to the CBS announcers when Florida is playing.

I was just trying to point out that while we're all sick of hearing Gary Danielson make verbal love to him for three hours every Saturday, that shouldn't take away from his accomplishments on the field.

bjk

November 29th, 2009 at 4:59 AM ^

that some Tebow ideosyncracies would be hard even for some homers completely to ignore, such as the Bible lessons coded into his eyeblack for broadcast into the homes of football audiences. It is hard to say what Mgoblog commentary on his career would look like if he were here, but I think we can take a lesson for future reference from the combination of playful irony and unalloyed joy in the achievements of the Tebow era at EDSB.

bjk

November 29th, 2009 at 3:11 PM ^

TT is just a lot more visible than a lot of other players.

The audience for football is the general public. People in the general public will not know or otherwise care about one's personal opinions concerning cultural debates, controversial or otherwise, until one makes a public show of them. Not everybody in the general public will necessarily affiliate with one's expressed opinions on controversial topics. So naturally one takes a chance and pays a price for taking a public stance with one's private opinions. Ie, some will object to TT using a public forum to advertise his unrelated private opinions. This sort of thing happens all the time, and not just in football. I'm sure Terrelle Pryor could share some observations concerning eyeblack and the media.

BrayBray1

November 29th, 2009 at 4:13 AM ^

and a good football player.

People hate him because:
-He acts like he does no wrong
-The media suckery
-He doesn't play for they're favorite team
-He plays for UF and Urban Meyer
-He wins

I think in this day and age, it is good to have someone like Tebow be in the limelight of college football. Although that damn media can be a little disgusting about it, the dude deserves all of the hoop-la and praise he gets.

Ernis

November 29th, 2009 at 9:11 AM ^

My only contribution to this discussion is that, how the hell do we know he is truly deserving of the hooplah? With regards to his athleticism, that much speaks for itself.

But what about this whole "oh he's such a good man" shtick? OK, so he does charitable work and goes to church regularly. That much is known, and as far as the media is concerned, that = good man.

None of us actually know the guy. We know what the media tells us but that's it. Maybe he gets drunk and beats his girlfriend. Maybe he cries himself to sleep at night. Maybe he's the sort of guy who advocates for unprovoked invasion of weaker nations to exploit their natural resources. Maybe he operates a dog-fighting ring out of his backyard. Maybe he sells dope to teenagers and listens to rap.

Those possibilities have nothing to support them, of course. But the fact is that being highly religious and doing good deeds in public in no way excludes those possibilities. Plenty of charitable, church-going men have done those things listed above. Hell, look at the history of the Church. Countless men who spent their lives in humble devotion to Christ were inspired to rape, pillage, plunder, and raze the cities of their rivals for thousands of years -- which continues to this day (though these days, they are considerably less devoted and, interestingly, less brutal. Hmmm).

I'm not convinced, is all. Not sayin', just sayin'. Y'know?

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 4:14 AM ^

Not exactly if tebow came to ann arbor instead of gainesville & had a little to friendly relationship with rich rod like he does with meyer I would be a penn st fan. I hate when people say that well if tebow was @ your school would love him. Since you agree with me that he's not explosive & must watch & can't throw, then you tell me what is so good about??lemme guess his leadership skills, that's not football.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 4:21 AM ^

What is your favorite tebow moment? The jump pass? He gets to much credit for the talent around him, he hasn't carried the team to a victory all year, the defense has. Chris leak did the same thing that tebow is doing. A lot of decent qbs would look good on that team.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:23 AM ^

To be clear, I don't agree with you that he's not a "must-watch" player and I don't agree with you that he can't throw. Maybe I didn't explain that well in my earlier posts.

Even though I've never liked Florida, I certainly enjoy watching Tebow play, and the numbers pretty clearly state that he's an excellent passer (even if his motion isn't as pleasing to the eye as Jimmy Clausen's or Sam Bradford's).

Also, this makes no sense to me:

lemme guess his leadership skills, that's not football.

If you're telling me that leadership and other intangible qualities are meaningless when it comes to judging athletes, then I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, because we're not on the same page ... for that matter, we're not even in the same book.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:28 AM ^

I've had my fun in this thread, but for the record, this was my favorite Tebow moment.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0113/ncf_tebow_500.jpg

It's not so much a single play -- which I assume is what you'll respond with -- but the picture says it all. I guess that's where we diverge: You want greatness encapsulated in athleticism and exciting plays, whereas I'll settle for national titles.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 4:30 AM ^

I wasn't saying that ladership skills has nothing to do with football. I was saying that that's the only argument, the tebow lovers can make when I ask why is so good. " welll uhhh he screams @ his offensive line". Gimme a break. The dude is decent to say the most, he's been abosolutly horrible all year, excluding today & when he plays charleston southern & troy.

lazarre11

November 29th, 2009 at 4:33 AM ^

Natl titles??? So matt leinart is the 2nd greatest ever.lol I could tell you why america wants tebow to be the greatest but I'll save that discusion for another day. Your mind aint prepared.

UNCWolverine

November 29th, 2009 at 4:38 AM ^

There are roughly 50 major football programs out there. So 98% of college football fans don't give a fuck about Tebow. The media has been out of control on this kid.

Imagine you have a kid. Now imagine your neighbor has a kid the same age and they don't shut up about their kid for 4 years. He's so smart. He's has great balance beyond his age, etc.

I think the term "hate" is a bit strong. But to wonder why people are sick of him makes me wonder about you.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:45 AM ^

Fair enough. I guess we just have different viewpoints of "greatness," which is nothing new. There's a reason people will debate the greatest baseball player/football player/athlete until the end of time.

shorts

November 29th, 2009 at 4:44 AM ^

I'm sick of hearing about him too -- like I said, the MSM love (particularly from CBS) is WAY overdone. I'm just trying to point out that from a pure football standpoint, he's a great player and generally deserving of his accolades.

EZMIKEP

November 29th, 2009 at 5:02 AM ^

I don't hate TT. That is a strong word. I think dislike is a bit more proper for most. But simply put, I find him to have a fake disposition and I am tired of the media etc. going ga ga over his every move like many others have stated. And also to be perfectly honest, knowing that many praise him for it, but I am tired of the religious overtone set forth with everything he says. Its a bit over the top for me. When you blend the 3 together it makes me a bit tiresome of TT. -- Also I have some MAJOR MAJOR problems with him and Florida from a sports fans prospective. 1- I am not taking the entire Heisman thing even remotely serious. He shouldn't have won last year and I don't even think its close. 2nd I am a Michigan fan so when people say hes one of the best college players ever I laugh because I wouldn't even put him in the class of guys like Woodson. And last but not least, FUCK him and Flaaaaaoooooooorrrida for jumping us in the polls just because that hack ass USC team couldn't beat UCLA. No way in hell they should have jumped us when they lost to an unranked opponent or barely beat Ball St. We would have beat them. Period. I don't care what argument you give me I have a rebuttal thats pretty sound in my mind, and thats what matters. And honestly I don't think OSU would have gotten blown out that year had Smith not got hurt. So basically Fuck TT & Florida.

bjk

November 29th, 2009 at 5:26 AM ^

was the year we learned of the dark side of the Urban Meyer Wiener. (When folks ask, "Is RR REALLY a Michigan man," one possible thought experiment would be to ask, if a 2006-like situation came up again, would RR act more like LLoyd or like the Wiener? Despite all of the hate propaganda, I don't get the impression RR is the same kind of unprincipaled opportunist that Meyer is. Soon we might hope to see what RR is like in a MNC situation.) Anyway, our disdain for the Wiener established, there is no need to dwell on possible imaginary outcomes to a UM-UF conflict, because we have already beaten them twice, once during the Tebow era.

It sounds like your disdain for Meyer might be bleeding over into your dislike for TT.

EZMIKEP

November 29th, 2009 at 5:38 AM ^

I can't help it though. I am rooting for anyone but Florida to win it this year but I must say it will be nice to say we are the only team to beat them in a bowl during the TT years.

StephenRKass

November 29th, 2009 at 4:06 PM ^

Tebow is a good qb, with two mnc. He obviously is a Christian. But from what I can tell, he isn't looking for praise or coverage . . . that is more the MSM's fault/responsibility. I guess I would be more suspicious of TT if he was spouting off as some holier than thou kid. At least some fo the SI coverage suggests that he's not looking for praise . . . his service work is something he would do regardless of whether anyone knew or or not, and so praise has come his way. I also think he has dealt very well with the ceaseless media coverage.

ijohnb

November 29th, 2009 at 10:29 AM ^

but who the hell knows if he is a "great young man." He smiles a lot, and says yes sir, but dollars to donuts that a win over
Florida State means a case of Bud, a rip off the pipe, and some freshman co-eds (not reading Bible verses). It is just that Gary Danielson is not around for that part. It just feels like college football fans are expected to accept Tebow for something more than he is.

gobluesasquatch

November 29th, 2009 at 3:08 PM ^

This is yet another post where some pajama-wearing-I-still-live-at-home-with-my-mother jerk says, "Oh but we don't know what he's really like." I ask you to submit your evidence to the contrary? With the scrutiny that Tim Tebow receives because of the media love fest, do you really believe that anything even remotely scandalous could be suppressed? More on this in a moment.

Yes, Tim Tebow has had a talented supporting cast. Can anyone name for me a dominant college football player who hasn't had a great supporting cast around him. Did Woodson plan on a defense with eleven stiffs? Did Tommy Frasier have a sieve for offensive lineman? Here's a list of Heisman trophy winners - http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/heisman/heisman_trophy_winners.htm. Go through the list and ask yourself when you come across the first name who didn't play on good teams with talent surrounding them.

The guy has the SEC TD rushing record!! And yes, he's played more games than Hershel Walker did and he does call his own number from inside the 5 many times, but guess what, if it didn't work, he wouldn't have the touchdowns nor would he be starting. Do you really think that Vince Dooley never called Hershel's number on three straight plays from the goal line? If you do, you're just plain ignorant. Besides, he's a QB, and as one post already mentioned - he runs over the other team's safety. That's right, there safety. Not bad for a QB.

Is his throwing a thing of beauty. No it isn't and that is why they went and got Scott Loeffler this year (okay, stop laughing ... no really, I get it, you can stop laughing now). He is the most accurate QB ever - probably not. Did he have Percy Harvin - sure did. And Peyton Manning had Marvin Harrison for much of his career in Indianapolis, and Joe Montana and Steve Young had Jerry Rice ... all good players usually have other good players around them. Besides, Peyton Manning was a very good passing college quarterback who couldn't beat Florida or win a big game in college ... and got beat by a Nebraska team who played Scott Frost at QB. In the college game, I'd take Pat White or Tommy Frasier or Tony Rice or Eric Crouch for that matter over Peyton Manning any day.

Yes, Tim Tebow is open about his Christian faith. And so was Danny Wuerffel. And yet look at what Danny does now. He runs a ministry that provides real help to some of the most impoverished communities in New Orleans. I've never heard anything negative about the guy in the media. No one has come out and accused Tim Tebow of anything negative. But I understand, he's from the south where they like their ol' time superstitious religion because they are ignorant, inbred and stupid. I get it. Of course, us northern liberal elites are so far beyond that. We are well educated and realize that religious people just hate and hate and hate ... just like many of you have done towards Tim Tebow. If you don't like his faith, then don't listen to him talk. Many "celebrities" take advantage of position to evangelize some cause. Heck, at work I usually have to listen to other peoples opinions about all sorts of crap. It happens in all areas of life. Get over yourself and your bitterness that exists for whatever stupid reason you have. He's a Christian and blunt about his faith. I think there are worse things he could be.

In summary, Tim Tebow plays hard, he wins games, he puts up good statistics, he appreciates the fans, he is respectful to the media, and from all outward appearances appears to be an outstanding young man and example of what a student athlete should be. Does that mean he's perfect - no. Has he ever claimed to be perfect, far from it. In fact, in an age of self-absorbed athletes, I've never noticed a hint of arrogance out of him. Confidence, yes, but not arrogance. I would sooner accuse Tate Forcier of arrogance than Tim Tebow (NOTE: I'm not saying he is arrogant either).

If you are reading these posts, and you have some issue with the media, then lets start of new post on the media coverage of Tim Tebow. If you have evidence of him being hypocritical, then please, do share it. But if you hate Tim Tebow because of the media attention, because of his open faith, because of Urban Meyer, because he's a Gator and not a Wolverine, or whatever other reason you might have that really doesn't involve him as a person or player, get over yourself, put some clothes on, get a job, move out of your momma's basement and get a life.

Heisman212

November 29th, 2009 at 10:40 AM ^

Yes the media coverage is crazy. We all have to agree that he is a GREAT QB in the spread. He is the QB Rich Rod needs in the offense. There is no difference in Tebow or Pat White except one thing. Tebow is in the SEC and has won a NC. Put him on a pro style attack and he would never have gathered this much attention.

Brodie

November 29th, 2009 at 12:18 PM ^

HOLY SHIT ARE THERE PEOPLE SAYING THE SPREAD OFFENSE INFLATES NUMBERS... WHO ARE FANS OF A SPREAD TEAM?

NO I CAN'T STOP SHOUTING, THAT'S HOW I TALK!