Tebow Selected As Finalist For Heisman Trophy
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 | Football
Florida junior quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) was named Wednesday as one of three finalists for the prestigious Heisman Trophy. He is seeking to join Ohio State's Archie Griffin (1974-75) as the only repeat winner since the award's inception. The winner will be announced at the Nokia Theatre in New York's Times Square, Saturday, Dec. 13. The Gators' signal-caller is also a finalist for the Maxwell Award presented by Home Depot that will be awarded tomorrow night on ESPN. The other two finalists for the Heisman Trophy are quarterbacks Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Colt McCoy (Texas).
"It's a tremendous honor for Tim to be invited back to the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York City," head coach Urban Meyer said. "This is a great achievement and a reward for the fantastic season he has had in leading his teammates to the Southeastern Conference title and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game."
The 2008 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, in addition to the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Tebow leads the SEC in completion percentage (64.9), touchdowns (28) and passing efficiency (176.7), while also owning the lowest interception percentage in the league (0.7). He is the only player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a season, with 32 passing and 23 rushing scores in 2007, and ranks first in Florida's record book for the most career rushing touchdowns. Tebow has thrown for 6,159 yards and 65 touchdowns in three seasons, while also gaining 1,928 yards on the ground with 43 rushing touchdowns, both school records by a Gator quarterback.
On Tuesday, he was named the winner of the 2008 Wuerffel Trophy by the All Sports Association of Fort Walton Beach. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy Quarterback Danny Wuerffel, the award is presented to the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement. Tebow joined past winners Rudy Niswanger (LSU, 2005), Joel Penton (Ohio State, 2006) and Paul Smith (Tulsa, 2007) as the fourth winner of the prestigious award.
A few weeks ago, Tebow headlined the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Football Team by being named the Academic All-America of the Year winner for the second-straight time. He joined UF basketball standout Matt Bonner (2002, 2003) and fellow Heisman Trophy recipient Wuerffel (1995, 1996) as the only individuals in school history to capture his sport's Academic All-America of the Year award twice. In addition, he collected the 100th Academic All-America honor for the school, as a total of 75 Florida student-athletes have combined to hit the century mark.
Tebow is majoring in Family, Youth and Community Services and has a 3.70 grade point average. He became just the fourth UF football player to achieve Academic All-America recognition in consecutive seasons (Carlos Alvarez, 1969-71; Michael Gilmore, 1993-94; Wuerffel, 1995-96). Thanks to his efforts last year, UF became one of only three schools to have a Heisman winner receive Academic All-American honors in the same year.
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