I have a secret that I am ready to tell the world.This has been burning deep inside of my soul for the past three and a half years and has been hidden from the public because of my objectivity regarding college athletics because of my profession.But I hate Tim Tebow.There, I said it. I hate Tim Tebow. I can’t stand him and his jort wearing, gator chomping, jump passing, baby circumcising, lame pep-talk giving ways. And don’t tell my mother I said this, but I even smiled a little on the inside when I saw him lying on the turf in Kentucky.OK, I was just kidding about that last part. I actually threw up in my mouth a little bit when I saw him lying on the turf against Kentucky.Is it because I am worried about the health of the Sunshine State’s most beloved player of all-time?Nah, it’s not. It’s because I was worried that I’d miss my opportunity to see Chad Jones knock Tebow into next week this Saturday when the Tigers take on Florida. I’m not trying to say that I hate Tim Tebow as a person. I don’t know the guy. I don’t care to know the guy. But what I absolutely don’t like is how he’s made out to be God’s gift to college football and the best thing since a box combo with Cane’s sauce, and he’s really … not. Sure, the dude can play. Hell, he has a Heisman Trophy and might even get another one this season — even though the best player in college football is Texas senior quarterback Colt McCoy — but that’s beside the point.What I don’t like is how the kid is made out to be a hero because of his strong desire to win and his humanitarian and religious volunteer efforts when the reality is every college football team in America has dozens of legitimate good people who also have a passion for winning.How many of those players get talked about, and why is Tebow the media-proclaimed chosen one? OK, so he gave a big, angry speech to the media following Florida’s loss last season to Ole Miss.He also gave an energetic speech at halftime of the 2009 BCS National Championship Game between Florida and Oklahoma — a speech that should have sounded familiar to most sports fans across the world. Why?Because it was ripped almost word-for-word from the 1999 movie “Varsity Blues,” where quarterback Jonathon Moxon says the team has 24 minutes for the rest of their lives.C’mon, Timmy. You’d think a college education would allow you to think of something more creative. Heck, you’ve taken pilgrimages to play with sick children in several countries. You should be able to do better than that in languages other than English, too. All I’m saying is in three years when he’s out of the NFL because of the lack of demand for hybrid quarterback/fullbacks at the next level, he will be just like Josh Harris, Alex Smith and other Urban Meyer-coached quarterbacks — failures at the next level.Yep, that’s right. By age 30, Florida’s savior will be a modern-day Uncle Rico, sitting around and reminiscing to kids and really anyone who will be willing to listen about the glory days — the days when he was actually still relevant to anyone outside of the minds of Florida fans and college-football purists.So apparently one of the biggest reasons Tebow came back to college after winning the national championship was to win at LSU — a place that left Mr. America in tears two years ago in LSU’s 28-24 win. Get your Kleenex ready Mr. Superman, because I have a good feeling you will need them again this Saturday. Tebow would probably respond to my claims and say his usual line, “It’s great to be a Florida Gator.” But after this weekend’s beatdown and his future NFL failures, “It will be great to be a Tebow hater.”Hey, that’s a thought. Maybe I should leave that as a message on his cellphone’s voice mailbox. It’s apparently not that difficult to get a hold of it anyway, right?- – – -Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]
Rocket Man: I hate jort-wearing, gator-chomping Tim Tebow and his ways
October 8, 2009