Tim Tebow and Gemma Spofforth Honored as Ben Hill Griffin Award Winners
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
University of Florida student-athletes senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) and senior swimmer Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) were named the 2009 recipients of the Ben Hill Griffin Award, announced Tuesday by the University Athletic Association.
The award, established by Gator Boosters, Inc., and the UAA, recognizes and honors the top male and female student-athletes who excel in both athletic and academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement. Tebow is the first three-time winner while Spofforth is being honored for the first time.
Tebow finished his career with five NCAA, 14 Southeastern Conference and 28 Florida records. He was the first sophomore in NCAA history to collect the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and is a two-time recipient of the Maxwell Award. This past season, he was the winner of the 20th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy, along with Lowe's Senior CLASS award. He was also named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year for a second consecutive year, marking the first time a scholar-athlete was named the Academic All-American of the Year for University Division Football in two straight years.
In 2009, Tebow was named first-team All-SEC by the AP and the league's coaches, while also being named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy for the third time, the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Maxwell Award and the Manning Award.
The quarterback threw a touchdown in 39 of his 41 career starts. In his final game in the Orange & Blue, Tebow set career records with 31 completions (35 attempts), 482 passing yards and a career-long 80-yard touchdown to classmate Riley Cooper. He also passed for three scores and tallied 51 yards on 14 carries in the 51-24 victory over No. 4 Cincinnati in the AllState Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. He also set Sugar Bowl and BCS Bowl records for total offense (533 yards), passing yards and completion percentage (.886). His 31 completions was a new Sugar Bowl record, while he tied a previously set mark for touchdown responsibility (four) and his 80-yard TD was the second-longest pass in the bowl's history.
Off the field, Tebow has dedicated himself to helping those in the Gainesville community and around the world. Through his father's foundation, the Bob Tebow Evangelical Association, he has spent almost every summer of his life preaching and providing support. He additionally spent his entire 2008 and 2009 spring breaks abroad preaching his beliefs on mission trips.
Tebow has made an impact in many children's lives through his work with Make-A-Wish Foundation, Uncle Dick's House, visits to Shands Hospital and his work with Goodwill Gators. Last spring, he fulfilled the wish of a child dying of Hodgkins Lymphoma to meet and play catch with Tebow, while spending quality one-on-one time with him. This past fall, Tebow escorted a young lady who had a brain tumor removed down the red carpet at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show.
Uncle Dick's Home is an orphanage located in the Philippines that takes children in who have lost their parents and provides them with a caring and nurturing environment. Tebow regularly visits and helps raise money that goes towards improving various components of the village, including new generators, water tanks and a school bus. Tebow also regularly pays visits to Shands Hospital in Gainesville. He was associated with a week-long student-government run event which raised money, both for Uncle Dick's House and the Shands Pediatric Oncology Unit.
Through Goodwill Gators, the UF Athletic Association's community outreach organization, Tebow and the entire football team donate their time throughout the season to over 45 different local organizations. The mission of Goodwill Gators is to foster citizenship between administration, coaches, student-athletes and the greater Gainesville community through volunteerism.
Spofforth has not only shined as a Gator on the national stage, but as a representative of her country, Great Britain, reaching international glory. She became a World Champion and world record holder after winning the 100-meter backstroke at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome. Already the British record holder in the 100-meter back, she then took the 50 and 200-meter back British records at the 2009 Scottish Nationals (Britain's World Trials).
Spofforth became the first female Gator to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, doing so in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke and went on to record a career-best time and finish fourth in the 100-meter race. She also broke the British Commonwealth and European records with her 100-yard backstroke split as a member of the fourth-place British 400-meter medley relay team at the 2008 Olympic Games.
As a Gator, Spofforth is a five-time NCAA champion and a national record holder. In 2009, she broke open the UF and national record books by picking up her fourth and fifth NCAA titles in the 100 and 200-yard back events, defending her 2007 and 2008 titles. She was the first-place winner in the part of two Gator sweeps in the 200 back at the 2009 SEC and NCAA Championships and she shattered the NCAA record in the same event with her winning time at the 2009 SEC Championships to win the event for the third consecutive year. She was also only the second woman to swim under the 1:50 mark in the 200 back, joining U.S. Olympian Natalie Coughlin.
The senior has collected 18 All-America selections in her three seasons at Florida and eight All-SEC honors. She also set the Florida record in the 200-yard IM at the 2009 NCAA Championships and holds four SEC records. She is a four-time SEC Champion and was named the 2009 SEC Female Swimmer of the Year.
Out of the pool, Spofforth works within the Gainesville community to better the lives of those around her. She puts in countless hours at the Alachua County Crisis Center taking phone calls and counseling people in need. She also spearheded the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's (SAAC) inaugural Golden Gators Award ceremony and worked with Goodwill Gators delivering sneakers to local students through the Gator Tracks program and participated in Climb for Cancer Sports Camp, which allows children with cancer the chance to interact with Gator student-athletes.
The award is named after Ben Hill Griffin and his family, who have been long-time, avid supporters and fans of Gator athletics. The selection committee was comprised of UAA administrators, appointed by athletics director Jeremy Foley. Each coach is allowed one submission.
Tebow and Spofforth will be presented with their awards at the Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, April 9. For information about attending the Hall of Fame Banquet, please call Gator Boosters at (352) 375-4683 ext. 5000.
