Gator fans who love to whine about the Tebow-haters and the jealousy need to take a minute to read this excellent post at HeismanPundit on the subject of Tebow fatigue.
I doubt I need to remind anyone of this execrable moment, but it’s worth referring to in this context.
As bad as Danielson was, he held no candle to Fox’s Thom Brenneman, who famously said during the BCS title game:
“If you are fortunate enough to spend five minutes around Tim Tebow, your life is better for it.”
Cringe worthy. And as HP points out, probably counterproductive in terms of how he’s perceived.
It’s the difference between Tim Tebow and the GPOOE™. The former is an admirable young man and a fantastic football player who has a real shot at being remembered as the college football player of the decade. The latter is this artificial persona fawned over by the media to such an extent that mockery becomes inevitable.
To be fair, Tebow didn’t ask for this. But he’s stuck with it, nevertheless. Although I suspect that most of the people offended by the Tebow hatin’ are flat-out thrilled every time folks like Brenneman, Danielson, Uncle Verne, Dennis Dodd and a certain head coach open their mouths or type another word about the GPOOE™.
Nothing like having it both ways, people.
Get The Picture 
It’s not only Tebow fans who try to have it both ways; its the media who fawn over him. Speculate on the coverage you’d see if Tim fell off the straight & narrow. A-Rod was a saint for years, now he’s a sinner. Either way he sells advertising for SI & ESPN. Granted it’s the media’s job to report it both ways, but the for profit sports media is two faced when it assumes the ‘guardian of sports purity’ mode to cry scandal.
Image management by UF contributes to this issue too. Corch Irving Meyers throws gas on the fire whenever he gets a chance.
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I think this is how the rest of the SEC felt with the Davids playing pee-wee ball together, roomies etc. Times a million.
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Maybe some fellow Gators could take Tebow under their wings and school him in the art of firing semi-automatic rifles, committing fraud with stolen credit cards, or resisting arrest and withstanding a shot from a taser. I’m sure that would take the edge off of the love-fest and give Tim more of an everyman quality.
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This too shall pass
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Senator, with all due respect, it’s still garbage. That people wouldn’t vote for someone otherwise worthy of winning the Heisman to send the message that they’re tired of the admittedly over the top exposure isn’t a reflection of Tebow, but a reflection of their own pettiness. I don’t disagree that it may (or did) happen, but it doesn’t or wouldn’t make it right. Same goes for fans. I don’t think Gator fans expect fans of other SEC schools to root for the guy, but calling him Teblow, Teebag, Glorified Fullback, etc. when all he does is the right thing on and off the field says more about the fans than it does him.
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Of course it doesn’t say anything about the guy…but calling players from rival teams names is a time honored tradition. Knowshon did everything right and still got called Noshow Moreno by fans after the Bama, UF, and Tech games.
Wearing bible verses on your eye black doesn’t preclude one from name calling by opposing fans…regardless of how unfounded it may be.
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You can crunch the numbers last year any way you want. At the time they voted for the Heisman, Bradford, McCoy and TT’s QB had better numbers and their team had the same record.
If it’s about the team performance and leadership, Tebow shouldn’t have won it the year before. No one should be whining about the vote last year. Totally ridiculous.
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I’ll leave the same comment I left on HP’s site.
I take a little bit of exception to your point that Tebow didn’t ask for this.
When he made the Gators’ most recent title celebration all about himself by feigning early-draft entry, only to declare that he’d be back, it was all self-aggrandizement.
He followed that beauty up by appearing at halftime of a UF basketball game in an arm sling, which he proceeded to rip off, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
I realize these were the actions of a kid on his own campus playing to his own fans. However, they are signs that Tebow isn’t the humble role model that some make him out to be.
Oh, and the jumping jacks after 4-yard gains on 2nd and 10 can’t be helping the backlash either.
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Hobnail, you beat me to it.
+1, brother
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Said it before and I’ll say it again, he is not humble at all. He is also one of the worst losers (not that he has much experience at it) in college football. I have never seen him willingly shake the hand of an opposing player after he loses. He also celebrates the winning of a game in a really Christ like way by running up and down his sideline and cheer leading. In short he has a slight personality disorder when it comes to believing he is Superman. To quote the Bible to the GPOOE “Pride goeth before a fall.” Also Karma’s a bitch.
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As a Gator fan I am _not_ thrilled when commentators make over-the-top statements. I literally groaned when Brenneman made that “five-minutes” comment.
Tebow is a great player and fine young man, but he, too, is human (and I challenge anyone to be humble when you worshiped the way he is.)
The backlash is all too real.
Good blog.
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