With every passing day, I am more amazed at what we have here in Tim Tebow.  I'm not sure a recruit has ever been more hyped.  Between watching his performance in one of ESPN's very first televised HS games to the nationally broadcast documentary The Chosen One, I came to the same conclusion every one else in Gator Nation did.  I hoped Tim Tebow was the Next Great Thing to happen to the University of Florida.  But I also thought about the national media, the hype machine and the near impossibility of a kid coming close to such high expectations.  Just who is this kid?

      Three things about Tim Tebow stuck out to me before he stepped foot on campus.  The first was the kid's demeanor and apparently humble family life.  I was impressed with his parents.  Much of his story reminded me of Danny Wuerffel.  The second was the intensity Tebow had both in the weight room and in the huddle during games for all the marbles. I had never seen a Quarterback act like that.  Screaming and pulsing and throwing ungodly heavy weights around while lineman watched?  Using the sheer force of his passion to convince his team that when they broke the huddle they were going to impose their will on the other team?  I was struck that he might have a heart attack first.  And yet, somehow, he seemed oddly assured if that can be said of a kid whose head appears close to exploding.  This kid is a freak, I thought.  A humble freak?   The third thing was my wife's reaction when she walked by as I watched the ESPN show.  She saw Tebow, watched for a few minutes, then finally sat down and said "Who is that?" 

      Tebow proceeded to graduate early and arrived at UF in the Spring.  I liked that.  He'll be ahead of the game I thought and it shows he and his family have their act together.  When this fall came around, people in Gator Nation were beginning to talk about Tim Tebow and talk about him a lot.  Urban Meyer stated flatly that Tim Tebow was ready to be the Quarterback at the University of Florida.  In April.

     Then, he played.  When the coaches let him run that 4th down ball against Tennessee, I realized that people far smarter than me knew Tim Tebow was something special.  When he got the first down, I knew I was witnessing a milestone moment in the growth of Tim Tebow as a featured player on the most hostile of stages.  I knew dividends were coming.  So, I imagine, did the other 108,000 people in attendance. Tebow got some more press and more folks outside the Gator Nation were introduced to the subject matter of their future conversations.

      After several games, the whole nation knew.  Tim Tebow was a bad ass. The best linebackers and safeties in the conference could not bring him down.  He hit would-be tacklers before they hit him.  People began to expect Tebow to announce to the defense "I'm going to take the snap and then I am going to run over the left tackle.  I'll see you in seven yards."   I could picture him pointing down the field a little before he ran like the Babe pointing into the bleachers in left field from the plate.  Was this our freshman QB or Paul Bunyan?

      The collective non-Gator Nation was admittedly intrigued by the time Tebow ran bodily over two LSU safeties.  But in the back of their minds, Gator Haters everywhere assured themselves of something else:  Tim Tebow could run alright.  But he was a fullback who lined up behind center, nothing else.  He couldn't pass the ball.  Surely he couldn't pass the ball.  Could he?

       I suppose it is easy when you're not a Gator fan or from the state of Florida to overlook Tim Tebow's track record for throwing the ball.  On second thought, I don't suppose that at all. A football fan would know better.  The reality is that people around the conference and elsewhere were whistling through the proverbial grave yard.   Tebow was the all time pass leader in Florida highschool history.  He threw for nearly ten thousand yards in four years.  Gator fans certainly knew Tim Tebow could throw.  Urban Meyer knew he could throw.  And Tim knew he could throw.  As we enter into the meat of this season, cornerbacks from Knoxville to Columbia, from Athens to Oxford, from Troy to Tallahassee will learn that Tim Tebow can, indeed, throw.  And make defensive backs look foolish in doing it.

      I walked into the bank this morning to handle some routine business with the lady that takes care of me there.  As soon as I walked in, I could see my banker sitting behind his desk, waving me in.  He's a diehard Auburn man.  An alum and a football fan.  Every time I come in, we end up talking football for an hour.  This morning he didn't want to talk about Auburn or South Florida or Notre Dame or Michigan or how good a rate he could get me on an IRA.  He wanted to talk about Tim Tebow.  He said he couldn't wait to watch him play against Tennessee this week.  He said how fun it was to watch him run over linebackers.  He said he liked the way the kid seemed so humble yet played with such aggression.  Said he'd never seen a quarterback like that.  I told him I hadn't either.  Twenty minutes later, he'd gotten out everything he wanted to say about Tebow and said he'd see me later but had to make a call.  Last thing he said was "He goes from being on ESPN as a highschool kid to a freshman with a National Championship ring to the face of the Florida Gators on whose back the entire offense is built. How good is it to be Tim Tebow right now?"  I grinned the whole way out to the car.

      For now, there aren't any #badword#s.  Tim Tebow's armour is fully intact.  He won't make every play and he'll make a rookie move one day but for now, the kid has not only risen to the hype, he's played above it.  We have a guy playing quarterback who is stronger and more physical than most teams' best linemen and backers.  A kid who can drop back or sprint down the line and then throw the prettiest pass this side of Jeff George but with better touch. 

      Best of all, every time you see Tim Tebow, he is lifting up his teammates.  Like his roundball brother in arms Corey Brewer, he always seems to be smiling.  Have you ever stopped looking at Tim Tebow's arms and legs and chest and just looked at his smile?   You can't get a smile like that on the cheap.  That is an honest-to-goodness LOOK HOW MUCH FUN THIS IS!  LOOK DAD!  WATCH THIS!  CAN WE DO IT AGAIN? smile.  It's the smile of a kid you can't help but root for. 

      If the University of Florida goes on to do the nearly impossible, to re-write the record books over the next few years, it won't be because of Tim Tebow's arm or his legs or his bench press. 

      It'll be because of his smile.