The Tim Tebow You Don’t Know

People in all walks of life think Tim Tebow is destined for NFL failure. Experts claim that Tebow cannot operate a pro-style offense. They believe offenses need to be run-heavy and dumbed down for Tim to be able to survive.

Before you rush to judge Tim Tebow, you should at least take the time to learn the facts about the man they call Timmy.

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Tim was home-schooled throughout his entire life, but given an exception to play high school football. The first school he played for, Trinity Christian, wouldn’t let him play QB., they wanted him to play tight end and linebacker because of his size. Tim knew he was a quarterback, so he found a way to transfer his playing eligibility to Nease High School.

During one of his games as a Junior at Nease, Tim felt extreme discomfort in one of his legs. His coaches thought it was a cramp, so Tim sucked it up and played through the pain. As it turned out, Tim had played the entire second half of football with a broken leg; that tiny injury didn’t stop him from having a 29 yard rushing TD and leading his team to victory. Unfortunately the leg needed to heal and Tim had to miss the remainder of his Junior season. His senior year, though, he led Nease to an elusive state championship in the ultra-competitive sunshine state, and was named Florida’s Mr. Football.

Despite missing significant time in high school, Tebow broke Florida’s all-time record for career TD passes with 95. He also owns the state HS record for passing yardage (9,940) and pass completions (631). Not bad for a guy who can’t throw. Oh yeah, he also ran for 63 scores and over 3,000 yards.

Despite his achievements, he still flew under the radar as the nation’s 66th rated recruit. People still doubted his accuracy as a passer. As a true freshman at the University of Florida, Tim threw for a TD and ran for another in the BCS National Championship game, leading Florida to an upset victory over the #1 ranked and undefeated Ohio State University.

As a sophomore, Tebow had the 2nd highest passer efficiency rating in the nation at 177.8. He also broke the SEC single season total TD record with 55. During a game against heated rival Florida State, Tebow threw for 3 TD’s in a torrential downpour with a broken hand. He also ran for 2 TD’s that game. Tim became the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman Trophy.

As a Junior, Tim led the Gators to their 2nd National Championship over the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. In the 4th quarter of the SEC and National Championship games that year, not a single pass that Tebow threw hit the ground. He finished 3rd in the Heisman voting that year despite receiving the most 1st place votes.

During his senior season in a game against Tennessee, Tim failed to throw for a TD in a game for the first time since his freshmen year. In a game against Kentucky, Tebow suffered a major concussion; laying motionless for minutes and eventually vomiting on the sideline and being taken to the hospital. He never missed a game. Tim returned two weeks later vs. conference rival LSU. Playing on the road in Death Valley, one of the toughest stadiums to play in in the nation, Tebow led the Gators to a victory over the #4 ranked Tigers.

Timmy played his entire college football career in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The SEC is known for having the best teams, the toughest defenses, and the smartest coaches in the nation. Timmy retired from Florida as the SEC’s all-time leader in passer efficiency with a rating of 176.0. He also finished with the highest completion percentage in SEC history at 67.1%.Less than 1 in 3 of his passes ever hit the Southeastern Conference turf.

Undoubtedly the best part of Timmy’s game was his knack for avoiding mistakes and protecting the football. His 5.5 TD’s to 1 interception thrown was the best in SEC history as well. Tim finished with 88 career TD passes with only 15 interceptions in 3+ years as a starting college QB. Tim’s average pass completion in college went for 14 yards.

The world still didn’t believe that Tim was a passer. Where any other player with his credentials would’ve been the consensus #1 overall pick, Tim dropped all the way to 25th, and even that left draft experts up in arms.

On his first career NFL throw, Tim threw a TD pass to fullback Spencer Larsen. In his 2nd career NFL start, Tebow led the Broncos back from a 17-0 halftime deficit to win by a point against the Houston Texans. He threw for 308 yards that game.

In 14 career NFL regular season starts going into 2012, Tebow had 29 total TDs (17 passing) and only 9 INTs. In 2011, the league consensus was that the Broncos had one of the worst teams in the league, and were destined to ‘earn’ the #1 pick in the draft. After a 1-4 start, Tebow stepped in and led the Broncos to the playoffs in exciting fashion, finishing 7-4 in the regular season. As a starter, Tebow already has 7 career 4th quarter/overtime game winning drives (the record is 48 by Peyton Manning). This miraculous season came despite playing in a run heavy offense that didn’t showcase Tim’s skills as a shotgun passer.

In his first career playoff start on January 8th, 2012, Tebow set a Broncos franchise record for QB rating in a playoff game at 125.6. He also set the NFL record for yards per completion in a playoff game at 31.6. Tebow threw for 316 yards, breaking the rookie single game playoff passing record. If you didn’t already know, these remarkable stats came against what is considered to be one of the greatest defenses of all time, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite all of these accomplishments, people continue to bash Tebow, and shortly after his incredible first season with Denver, he was traded away. The same argument is being made today that Trinity Christian made a decade ago: Timmy is not a QB.

His mechanics aren’t great, but neither were Rich Gannon’s. He’s not the prototypical pocket passer, but neither was Randall Cunningham. He’s not perfect, but there’s no denying the guy can sling the pigskin.

What sets Tim apart are his physical skills and leaderships abilities; undeniably some of the best the league has ever seen. His ability to move around in the pocket opens up passing lanes that few QB’s in the NFL get to enjoy, and you simply cannot ignore his ability to inspire, lead and win.

Now that you know the truth about Tim Tebow, what he’s played through and what he’s accomplished, do you really think he’s going to let what his critics think stop him from succeeding now?

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