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TechnoratiLike many young boys, Tim Tebow had long looked forward to becoming a professional football player.
(Photo: AP Images / Butch Dill)Florida quarterback Tim Tebow talks about his senior year to the media during news conference at the Southeastern Conference football Media Days in Hoover, Ala. on Thursday, July 23, 2009.
(Photo: AP Images / Butch Dill)Florida quarterback Tim Tebow talks about his senior year to the media during news conference at the Southeastern Conference football Media Days in Hoover, Ala. on Thursday, July 23, 2009.
(Photo: AP Images / Butch Dill)Florida quarterback Tim Tebow talks about his senior year at the Southeastern Conference football Media Days in Hoover, Ala. on Thursday, July 23, 2009
And while today, the 21-year-old college football star still looks forward to becoming a quarterback in the NFL, that’s not what he looks forward to most as he and the University of Florida prepare for the start of the new football season.
“[M]ost is just the opportunity to have an impact with my platform and have a chance to minister around the country to boys and girls who look up to football players,” Tebow told reporters recently during a Southeastern Conference (SEC) media day.
And it is mainly for this reason that Tebow decided last year to return to school for his senior year rather than declaring himself eligible for the NFL draft.
“We just talked and talked about the platform that I had at the University of Florida, the opportunity that I had to minister to a lot of kids around the south, and the U.S. for that matter, and just what was going on around the University of Florida, how much I loved it, how I loved being a Gator,” the outspoken Christian quarterback said Thursday when recalling last year’s decision.
“And I also wanted to be loyal,” he continued. “Most people probably would have said ‘I’ve accomplished some things so I’m going to leave.’ But I wanted to be different. I wanted to be loyal.”
Had Tebow decided to declare himself eligible for the NFL draft last year, he would have been a top prospect.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound left-hander led the Gators to a 24-14 victory against Oklahoma in the Bowl Championship Series title game this past January, giving the University of Florida its second national football title in three years.
Tebow is also one of the most popular and respected players in NCAA football, having been the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and the first college football player to both rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a season.
He appears on the front page of the July 27, 2009, edition of Sports Illustrated magazine with the title “Man of Many Missions.”
The title of the story inside: “You Gotta Love Tim Tebow.”
But as Tebow reiterated Thursday, "I wanted to be loyal to my teammates and let them know that I care more about them than going to try to go to the next level and do something else."
"I wanted to be loyal to Coach Meyer and thank him for everything he’s done for me," he added, referring to Florida coach Urban Meyer.
Having decided to stay, Tebow now gives the Gators an excellent chance at snagging their first undefeated season and fourth national title.
Tebow also has a chance to expand his growing platform, something that he was able to the see the impact of earlier this year after Florida’s championship win.
“In the national championship game, the verses I wore underneath my eyes, within the next two days, 94 million people had googled that,” Tebow recalled Thursday, referring to the scripture citations that he is often seen sporting in his black under-eye markings.
“When I heard that you’re like ‘wow.’ The impact that you have is incredible. And it’s truly a blessing. And I wanted to take advantage of that one more year,” he added.
Though Tebow’s father, Bob Tebow, today jokes how God gave him a quarterback for a son when he asked for a preacher, Tebow has been noted for excelling as both. Continue »
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