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 Tebow with the Broncos in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | August 14, 1987 Makati, Philippines | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Nease (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida) | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | Florida (2006–2009) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 25 | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||||||
Timothy Richard Tebow (/ˈtiːboʊ/; born August 14, 1987) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for the Florida Gators, where he became the first underclassman to win the Heisman Trophy and helped lead the team to two BCS National Championship titles in 2006 and 2008.[3] At the conclusion of his collegiate career, he held the Southeastern Conference's records for career passing efficiency and rushing touchdowns.[4] He was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Tebow became the Broncos' starter during the 2011 season and revitalized a struggling team, bringing them to the franchise's first division title and playoff victory since 2005.[5] His frequent comeback victories and outspoken Christian faith made him a cultural phenomenon, with his habit of dropping to one knee in prayer on the field becoming known as "Tebowing". Due to questions over Tebow's potential as an NFL quarterback, he was traded after the season to the New York Jets, where he spent one year as a backup.[6]
After failing to make the regular season roster of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, Tebow pursued a minor league baseball career with the New York Mets organization from 2016 to 2021.[7] The same year he retired from baseball, he returned to the NFL as a tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was released after one preseason game. Since 2017, he has been a regular contributor and co-host for college football programming on SEC Network and ESPN. Tebow was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Early life
Tebow was born in the Philippines to American parents. In the late 1960s, Tebow's parents – Pamela Elaine (née Pemberton) and Robert Ramsey Tebow II – met while attending the University of Florida.[8][9] During that time, his mother was a freshman and his father was a sophomore. The couple married on June 12, 1971, before Pamela's graduation from the university.[10] In 1985, the family moved to the Philippines where they served as Baptist missionaries and built a ministry.[10] During the Tebows' stay, Pamela contracted amoebic dysentery and fell into a coma. While recovering, she discovered that she was pregnant. The medications used to treat Pamela caused a severe placental abruption.[10] Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion, which was illegal in the Philippines even in severe cases; the Tebows decided against it. On August 14, 1987, Pamela Tebow gave birth to Tim Tebow in Manila.[10] When Tim was three years old, his family moved from the Philippines to Jacksonville, Florida.[11]
Tebow is the youngest of five children.[10] He is of Belgian (Walloon) origin. His ancestor Andries Tebow sailed to America from Bruges in the 1680s.[12][13] He and his siblings were all homeschooled by their parents, who instilled the family's Christian beliefs.[14] Tebow is dyslexic and believes in his uniqueness as a gift from God.[15] He began his high school football career as a tight end for Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. Before the 2003 season, he moved to nearby St. Johns County, making him eligible to play for the struggling football program at Allen D. Nease High School where he could play quarterback. He never enrolled at either school, however: his parents chose to home-school him. Florida law allows homeschooled students to participate on the team of the local high school in the school district in which they live, and private schools such as Trinity Christian Academy are also allowed to let homeschooled students play on their teams.[16][17]
Tebow came to national prominence as a junior at Nease, known for his running and throwing abilities, as well as an intense competitiveness. Later that year, he suffered an injury to his right leg late in the first half of a game. At first believed to be suffering from a bad cramp, he actually played the entire second half with a broken fibula, at one point rushing for a 29-yard touchdown. After the game the extent of the injury was discovered and he was held out for the remainder of his junior season.[18] Nevertheless, he was named Florida's Player of the Year and became a major college football quarterback prospect.[19]
During his senior season, he led the Nease Panthers to a state title, earned All-State honors, was named Florida's Mr. Football and a Parade magazine high school All-American, and repeated as Florida's Player of the Year.[19][20] He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas which featured the top 78 senior high school football players in the nation and was shown nationally on NBC television.[21]
Tebow was the subject of an ESPN Faces in Sports documentary. The segment was titled "Tim Tebow: The Chosen One", and focused on Tebow's home schooling and missionary work in the Philippines, his athletic exploits, and the college recruiting process.[22] Tebow was also featured in Sports Illustrated on the "Faces in the Crowd" page.[23] In 2007, he was named to the Florida State Athletic Association's All-Century Team that listed the Top 33 football players in the state of Florida's 100-year history of high school football.[24] Despite family ties to the University of Florida, where his parents met as students,[14] Tebow considered other schools, including the University of Alabama.[25]
Homeschooling
On January 7, 2007, Tebow was featured prominently in an ESPN Outside The Lines feature on home-schooled athletes seeking equal access to high school athletics in other states. Because a home-schooler's access to public and private school athletic functions varies by state, Tebow and former defensive end Jason Taylor (who was allowed to play at his local high school in Pennsylvania) argued in favor of extending the right to play for local teams to more states.[26] Upon becoming the first home-schooled athlete to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy, he remarked, "That's really cool. A lot of times people have this stereotype of home-schoolers as not very athletic – it's like, go win a spelling bee or something like that – it's an honor for me to be the first one to do that."[27] Tebow received the 2008 Quaqua Protégé Award as outstanding home-education graduate.[28]
College football career
Tebow was heavily recruited by many college programs and almost accepted a scholarship offer from Mike Shula, then coach at Alabama.[29] Instead, he chose to attend the University of Florida and play for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators.[30] He was a key backup on Florida's 2006 national championship team, won the starting quarterback job and the Heisman Trophy in 2007, led the Gators to another BCS championship in 2008, and quarterbacked them to a 13–1 season in 2009. He served as team captain in 2008 and 2009, and he is the only three-time recipient of the Florida's most valuable player award, having been chosen by his teammates in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[31]
2006 season
Despite a strong showing in his first inter-squad scrimmage, head coach Urban Meyer named Tebow second-string behind Chris Leak.[32] A backup throughout the season, Tebow was a significant contributor to the Gators' 2006 success. He made his college debut coming off the bench in a goal line situation against Southern Miss. He rushed for a touchdown on a designed quarterback scramble on his first play.[33] In his next game, he led the team in rushing yards against UCF.[34]
Tebow's biggest game in the season came against LSU on October 7, where he accounted for all three of the Gators' touchdowns, passing for two and rushing for another.[35] Tebow played a role in the Gators' victory in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game against Ohio State. He threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, finishing with 39 rushing yards.[36] He finished 2006 with the second-most rushing yards on the Gator team.[37][38]
2007 season
Although questions about his passing skill loomed, Tebow was named the Florida Gators starting quarterback for the 2007 season.[39] He opened the year 13-of-17 for 300 yards and three touchdowns in his starting debut against Western Kentucky.[40] Tebow finished the regular season with the second highest passing efficiency in the nation with 177.8. Additionally, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry on the ground.[41]
Tebow set numerous personal, school, and national records in the 2007 season, including:
- University of Florida single-game quarterback rushing yards, 166, week 4[42]
- SEC season rushing touchdown record, 20[43]
- Career high single-game rushing touchdowns, 5, November 10
- SEC season total touchdowns (passing and rushing), 55[44]
On November 24, against Florida State, Tebow threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two in a 45–12 rout of the Seminoles. It was later revealed that Tebow fractured his right hand during the third quarter but played the rest of the game. He had to wear a cast for the next three weeks.[45] He led the SEC in pass completion percentage and rushing touchdowns.[46]
After the 2007 season, Tebow was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American.[47][48] He won the Heisman Trophy, given to the most outstanding college football player of the year. Tebow also received the Davey O'Brien Award, annually given to the best quarterback in the nation, on February 18 in Fort Worth, Texas.[49] In addition, he won the Maxwell Award and AP Player of the Year.[50][51]
Heisman Trophy
On December 8, 2007, Tebow was awarded the Heisman Trophy, finishing ahead of Arkansas's Darren McFadden, Hawaii's Colt Brennan, and Missouri's Chase Daniel. He was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.[18] He garnered 462 first-place votes and 1,957 points, 254 points ahead of the runner-up, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.[52][53] He finished the regular season as the only player in FBS history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in both categories in the same season.[54] He had 32 passing touchdowns, 23 rushing touchdowns, and became the third Florida player to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel.[55]
2008 season
Before the 2007 season had even come to a close, Florida coach Urban Meyer stated that he would likely use two quarterbacks during the 2008 season to take some of the workload off of Tebow's shoulders.[56] Tebow led the Gators in rushing in 2007[57] but also had to play through a bruised shoulder and broken non-throwing hand.[56] Before the 2008 season even started, Tebow had his name pulled from consideration for the Playboy Preseason All-American team because it conflicted with his Christian beliefs.[58]
On September 27, 2008, in the fourth week of the season, the undefeated No. 4 Gators lost to unranked Ole Miss at home, despite being 22-point favorites. After the game, Tebow delivered a speech to the media, later known as "The Promise" and later regarded as one of the most iconic speeches in college football history. In this speech, Tebow apologized for the loss and promised he and the team would do better. He would keep good on this promise, as the Gators would not lose another game for the rest of the season.[59][60][61][62]
On November 1, 2008, playing against Georgia, Tebow ran for his 37th rushing touchdown, breaking the school record previously held by former Florida running back Emmitt Smith. Tebow helped lead the Gators to a 12–1 record in 2008. After clinching the SEC East title, the team played for and won the SEC title in the 2008 SEC Championship Game against Alabama. The win secured the #2 ranking in the final BCS standings, which earned the Gators the chance to play #1 ranked Oklahoma in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, which they won 24–14.[63] He led the SEC in pass completion percentage and passing touchdowns.[64]
Tebow finished third in the 2008 Heisman Trophy voting, with Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford taking the top spot followed by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, despite Tebow receiving the most first-place votes.[65][66] He won the Maxwell Award in 2008, only the second player to ever win the award twice.[67] He won the Manning Award, Maxwell Award, and SEC Offensive Player of the Year.[68][69][70]
On January 11, 2009, at a national championship celebration held at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium,[71] Tebow announced that he would not make himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft, but would instead return for his senior season at Florida.[72] A day later, he had surgery on his right shoulder to remove a bone spur in an effort to reduce chronic inflammation.[73]
| Finalist | First place votes (3 pts. each) |
Second place votes (2 pts. each) |
Third place votes (1 pt. each) |
Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 300 | 315 | 196 | 1,726 |
| Colt McCoy | 266 | 288 | 230 | 1,604 |
| Tim Tebow | 309 | 207 | 234 | 1,575 |
| Source:[74] | ||||
2009 season
Tebow opened the 2009 season continuing a streak of throwing and running for a touchdown in blowout wins over Charleston Southern and Troy.[75][76] He ran for a touchdown in the third game, a win against Tennessee, but failed to throw for a touchdown for the first time since his freshman season.[77] In answer to an interview question, Tebow stated he was a virgin.[78] The statement was subject to much discussion about whether the question was necessary, including criticism of the reporter who originally asked.[79][80][81]
Tebow started against Kentucky despite suffering from a respiratory illness and taking two bags of intravenous fluids before the game.[82] He ran for two touchdowns to put him in 2nd place on the all-time SEC touchdown list and he also threw for a touchdown.[83] Late in the third quarter, he was hit in the chest by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham, fell backwards, and hit the back of his head on the knee of Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert.[82] He lay motionless for several minutes before being helped to the sidelines, where he appeared to vomit.[84] He was taken by ambulance to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.[84][82] A CT scan showed no bleeding in the brain, with the injury described as a mild concussion.[85] Coach Urban Meyer stayed the night in the hospital with Tebow, who was discharged in the morning.[86] Coincidentally, Florida did not have a game scheduled for the following Saturday, and Tebow was cleared to play in the Gators' next contest at LSU on October 10, two weeks after the incident.[87]
On October 31, 2009, while playing against Georgia, Tebow ran for his 50th and 51st rushing touchdowns, breaking the SEC career record previously held by former Georgia running back Herschel Walker.[88] His penultimate collegiate game, the 2009 SEC Championship, saw him once again facing the University of Alabama. Tebow threw for 245 yards and a touchdown and led the team with 63 yards rushing, but the Gators fell 32–13 and lost their chance to play for a second consecutive national title.[89] Florida beat Cincinnati 51–24 in the 2010 Sugar Bowl the following January. In what was Tebow's last college game, he completed 31-of-35 passes for 482 yards and three touchdowns and accounted for four total touchdowns and 533 yards of total offense, which set a record for a Bowl Championship Series game.[90] He graduated from the University of Florida in December 2009.[91]
College statistics and records
At the end of his college career, Tebow held five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), 14 Southeastern Conference (SEC), and 28 University of Florida statistical records.[92] He was the SEC's all-time leader in career passing efficiency (170.8), completion percentage (67.1%), passing touchdown to interception ratio (5.5 to 1), rushing yards by a quarterback (2,947), rushing touchdowns (any position) (57), and total touchdowns responsible for (145).[4][93] Among many mentions in the NCAA Division-I record book, Tebow is ranked second in career passing efficiency, third in career yards per attempt (9.33), 8th in career rushing touchdowns, and also owns the record for most consecutive games in which he both threw at least one touchdown pass and scored at least one rushing touchdown (14).[94]