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Thursday, January 15, 2009

THE TWO BEST STORIES IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL


Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s eye-black patches remind him: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

TIM TEBOW - YOU ARE SO RIGHT TIM!! PHIL 4:13 INDEED

I was glad to hear the Gators beat the Sooners for the national title just for Mr. Tebow to be recognized for who he is: the best "football player" in college football. And he may also be the best all-around person to come out of college football in quite some time.

He may not be the best QB. Maybe not the Heisman winner this year. He may not be atop Mel Kiper or Todd McShay's draft list. But as far as his impact in life after football, there may not be too many better prospects.

I simply have one piece of advice for all those cynics who seem to lie in wait for something bad to come out of the Tim Tebow story: Please, please hold your breath waiting.

FROM THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES:
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/article956080.ece

Tim Tebow had watched and admired Texas quarterback Colt McCoy from afar for quite some time, so when the two finally met last month, Tebow was excited about the opportunity. But their first conversation wasn't about which country music star each has on his iPod (although that came later) or who plays on the better team. It was about God and the profound faith each publicly professes on a regular basis. "No. 1 what I like about him is his strength to show his faith and not be ashamed of that," Tebow said. "We're very similar in that way. And I wanted to compliment him on his beliefs and how he's not ashamed to show it."

A few days after that awards show at Lake Buena Vista, Tebow, McCoy and Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford were getting ready to step into the auditorium at the Nokia Theatre in New York before the Heisman Trophy ceremony began. McCoy and Bradford were nervous. They hadn't been there before. Tebow, who won the Heisman last season, calmed them both by telling them to enjoy the moment. And if they should win, he reminded them, remember to give thanks to who deserved most of the credit.

"I just said give credit to God and represent for him," the Florida quarterback said. "I really tried to (stress) that the whole time. I talked to them two or three times about it."

And so when Bradford stepped onto the stage to accept his Heisman, one of the first things out of his mouth was giving thanks to God.

"He doesn't fear anything," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "A lot of people take their heart out, rip it out of their chest and lay it on the table. I'm not willing to do that, and certainly not my family. But Bob (his father) is that way, and Pam (his mother) and their whole family. They have such a strong faith. In this world of hypocrisy, there's none (with them)."

Meyer admits he had heard about Tebow's strong beliefs, and when he first met him, he was skeptical.

"I was like okay, come on, the Philippines, c'mon give me the real gig here," Meyer said. "You want a hat? What's the deal? But it's true. It's all from the heart. I love that guy. I've never met one like him."

Tebow understands that being the starting quarterback at Florida has given him a platform to tell others about his faith in a unique way. His high profile is what got him into Florida state prisons last summer to talk about Jesus. Talk of his faith is what caused a large group of men to convert.

"For me, I just want to be a good role model, like (former UF quarterback) Danny Wuerffel was for me and several other guys that I looked up to," Tebow said. "I want to be someone that kids can look up to in today's society."

In his rare off-time, Tebow isn't standing on a corner waving a Bible and a sign condemning nonbelievers to hell. But he is working prison ministries, traveling to foreign countries to give his testimony and volunteering for those less fortunate. He holds Bible studies and participates in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Former roommate Tony Joiner often participated in the Bible study, which he admitted even surprised him. Tebow listens to Kenny Chesney and tells jokes like everyone else.


I was particularly impressed by Tebow's philosophy and approach to his celebrity and opportunity as articulated in this column:

FROM ESPN.COM - Pat Forde
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3812762&sportCat=ncf

"You know, everybody, they can look and say how easy it is. But it's definitely not that easy. The difference is 'cause not many people want to wake up at 5, go through workouts, go speak to young kids, go back, eat lunch, go to class, go to tutoring, go speak at a prison at night, come back. I mean, more people would do those things; they just don't want to sacrifice.

"You know, there's a lot of leaders out there. But, unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good ones. So that's always been my dream and my goal, is to be someone like Danny Wuerffel was to me, to be someone that a parent can say, 'Hey, this kid did it the right way.' That's always been my dream and my goal more so than winning a trophy or winning a championship.

"So if it's cynical or whatnot, that's fine. If people don't believe it, that's fine. There's always going to be naysayers, people that are going to say it's fake. But that's fine because you can't control everybody. But I can control what I do, my attitude, how I approach the situation. So how I approach the situation is I want to do everything in my power that football gives me to influence as many people as I can for the good because that's gonna mean so much more when it's all said and done than just playing football and winning championships."

That's a lot of wisdom and perspective from a 21-year-old football hero. Even though he represents everything we say we want our athletes to be, he understands a segment of society instead will be probing for flaws and looking for proof that public persona is a sham. Sometimes good people make us uncomfortable with ourselves.

Tebow has quarterbacked Florida to its second BCS National Championship Game in his three years at the school. He nearly won the Heisman for a second straight season. If the Gators beat Oklahoma on Thursday and he comes back for his senior year, he has a chance to become the most decorated college football player of all time.

Yet none of those are the most important statistics or milestones in Tebow's life. These are: 11 prison visits to preach Christianity to inmates; annual trips to the country of his birth, the Philippines, to assist his father's missionary work there;


As I've said before, this is a kid that clearly gets "it". I'm glad he's going to be back next year to try and become the most decorated and successful college football player of all time. It's nice to see the good guys win once in awhile. And maybe take some of the sports pages away from the Pac Man's and T.O.'s of the world.
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MYRON ROLLE - RHODES SCHOLAR AND NFL PROSPECT - IN THAT ORDER

That the young man even knows who Bill Bradley is makes him cool as hell and wise beyond both his years and his prodigious GPA. That he is literally following in the Senator's footsteps athletically and academically makes him one of the top stories of the year.

I was glad to hear that he had the wisdom to accept the scholarship and defer the NFL. All he had to do is look at how a growing number of top-notch athletes have been able to juggle world class level academic talent with the chance to compete at the highest level athletically.

A brief glimpse at the career of Bill Bradley or Roger Staubach would provide perfect examples of what we may have to look forward to from Myron Rolle in the future.

FROM ESPN.COM - Jermele Hill's column:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/090115


"It's a great opportunity," Rolle told ESPN.com. "I'm going to get the chance to study at Oxford and read some incredible books and be among scholars. The whole culture in England is just very appealing. It will make me a better person and a stronger advocate."


A once in a lifetime opportunity that the NFL cannot come close to matching. And the NFL will likely be there for him after he does his academic tour of England. I'm not so sure that the reverse would be true.


"My family was very supportive," Rolle said. "They wanted me to go to Oxford because they taught me to always put education first. It was the most important thing for me besides God and family. Some of my teammates and frat brothers were like, 'Man, that's a lot of money to pass up.' I was definitely getting mixed input."

"Studying at Oxford is more than about the acclaim and the power," Rolle said. "It's about the people you meet. Yes, the NFL can give you financial stability, but I feel that's just temporary."


Family, good. Frat brothers and teammates, knuckleheads. If you're scoring at home.


Rolle created a program called Our Way To Health for Seminole Indian children to help educate them about the importance of physical fitness. He studied comparative politics and holistic medicine for six weeks in London, and was awarded a $4,000 grant for cancer research.

Rolle would rather be a neurosurgeon than a Pro Bowler. He'd rather work for the World Health Organization, the leading think tank in global health, than be the next Ed Reed. His idol is Benjamin Carson, a doctor and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, not FSU alum Deion Sanders.

Unbelievably, Rolle once was criticized by FSU defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, who complained that Rolle was spending too much time studying and not enough time preparing as a football player.


WOW!! Are you kidding me. Sounds like Coach Andrews needs to be in the same coaching timeout corner as Connecticut women's basketball coach Gino Auriemma (creep) as far as choosing priorities and proper perspectives for young adults.

With all due respect to Mr. Andrews' coaching abilities, it sounds as if Mr. Rolle had his priorities, his perspective and his time management skills in perfectly good working order. It sounds like you need to go back to your X's and O's and spend more time figuring out how to beat the Gators and the Hurricanes.

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