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No Place Like Home: Why Tim Tebow Must Stay

Posted 01/28/2009 by Sam Thomas

Tim Tebow is coming back for a senior year what does this mean for Gator Nation fans across the country.

samtebow_smallAt the end of the 2008-2009 season the Florida Gator fans sat sad with the rumors that their leader, Tim Tebow, would not return for a third season as the gators quarterback and captain.

After ending his junior year with BCS National Championship everyone knew with a high level of certainty that Tebow would enter the NFL draft and start a new journey in his life. Well, to the astonishment of the loyal gator fans and the rest of the nation Tim Tebow stood before a semi-packed Gator Stadium celebrating a National Championship and told the whole world that that draft could wait till next year, saying, “Oh yeah let’s do it again next year, cause I’m coming back.”

With a stunning college record like Tebow’s, what more could he accomplishment in a senior year? Well, not much except if he were to win the Heisman again making him the only college athlete to win two Heisman trophies and two National Championships.

During his two years as the starting quarterback at Florida, Tim Tebow has put up ungodly numbers. In his sophomore year Tebow overwhelmed the nation scoring 55 touchdowns, 32 through the air and 23 on the ground. He won the Heisman, making him the only underclassman to win the Heisman in the history of college football, to go along with the National Championship that he helped win the year before.

When the Gators came back for the 2008 season they were highly ranked and were picked as one of the teams to win it all. Tebow didn’t disappoint, leading Florida to an eleven and one season, an SEC Championship, and a National Championship. Although the stats weren’t as high as the year before for Tebow, he became a more well-rounded athlete and helped the gators play in the final game of the year. He still had an astounding junior year scoring 42 touchdowns, 30 in the air and 12 on the ground.

With all these honors connected Tim Tebow’s name why would he return for a senior season when he was predicted to be a first round draft pick? The answer is easy: Tim Tebow is a college quarterback, and for him to be a quarterback in the NFL he has some work to do. Most football analyses believe that Tebow isn’t the caliber passer that he needs to be for the NFL. Tebow has to make a statement with his senior season, showing without a doubt that he is a quarterback, not a fullback, tight end, or line backer which many NFL prospectors believe he will play instead of quarterback. He needs to make a statement to all NFL teams that he isn’t and Eric Crouch or Alex Smith who were major college quarterbacks but never accounted for anything in the NFL. Crouch was a Heisman Award winning quarterback like Tebow. He was a run first quarterback similar to Tebow, but lacked in size when comparing the two. He was drafted and turned into a wide receiver where he accomplished nothing in his three years in the NFL. More like Tebow in size and athleticism, he went first in the draft to the San Francisco 49ers where he is still to today and hasn’t earned a starting position. Tebow has to prove that he isn’t one of these players and can play the quarterback position at the highest level.

Tim Tebow is a great quarterback and is considered to be the second best all time college quarterbacks behind the one and only Joe Montana. So the future has a lot of question marks for the 6’3” 240 pound Gator. I look forward to what the future has in store on the college level and in the NFL, because Tim Tebow is going to play on Sundays in his position for one very lucky team.