
Former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow is being inducted into the team's Ring of Honor on Saturday. (File photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications).
Gators' Tebow Returns for a Special Saturday at Swamp.
Friday, October 5, 2018 | Football
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators announced on Friday morning the first sellout of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since 2015.
While UF is coming off back-to-back SEC road wins, is back in the Associated Press poll and faces No. 5 LSU on Saturday, having No. 15 back in town certainly boosted ticket sales.
Gator Great Tim Tebow's return to UF is multifaceted. He is being inducted into the UF Football Ring of Honor, taking part in the 2008 national championship team's reunion, and serving in his analyst role on the SEC Network's traveling pregame show, SEC Nation, which will broadcast live from the Plaza of the Americas on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
On Friday afternoon, Tebow, along with fellow analyst Marcus Spears and host Laura Rutledge, stopped by to speak with reporters about Tebow's induction, the reunion and the top-25 showdown.
Tebow's induction is scheduled for the break between the first and second quarters. He said he will have a bunch of family members, friends and former teammates in attendance. He said the honor has sunken in partially, but he won't fully appreciate it until years down the road.
"The honor isn't just really for tomorrow," Tebow said. "It's later on years from now, bringing my kids back to it as well. I think that will be really special."
Tebow, who won two national championships and a Heisman Trophy, said one of his proudest accomplishments was his teams' record against rivals. From 2006-09, UF went 11-1 against Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State.
"I think that's something that was special," he said. "You could count on us beating our rivals, and then hopefully we won them all. But, those were more special. They just were, and I grew up that way. Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State were just more special growing up. You could lose other ones, but those you had to win."
Of course, he was asked about his "Promise" speech, with Sept. 27 being the 10-year anniversary of the day he uttered the famous words that are now emblazoned and glorified forever on a plaque outside the stadium.
"I think a lot of [my teammates] were impacted by it, but really what was more special about it is the next day we had a meeting," he said. "And then we went out and had the most intense practice that I've been a part of. We knew at the end of that practice that we were going to have a different team, and that this team was going to be special. I believe that that point was a big turning point. We knew that this team wasn't going to lose again, and that was special."
Said Rutledge, who attended UF from 2007-11 and covered the team: "We were all kind of like, 'What just happened?' He kind of dropped the mic, and that was before drop the mic was really a thing. We all just kind of looked at each other and thought, 'Wow! He's made a legit promise that if he doesn't keep that up, then this whole season's going to be disastrous.' "
Speaking of the 2008 Gators, Tebow said the team clearly had elite talent. However, what made the team special was camaraderie and ultra competitiveness.
"[Brandon] Spikes would be talking to me the whole practice, and we'd be back and forth," he said. "Joe Haden's going to talk trash to Percy [Harvin] the whole practice. Defense made the offense great, and the offense made the defense great and vice versa. I think that competitiveness led into the games. We just had a whole team of guys that in big moments, they played their best. In second halves and when the lights were on, we didn't hesitate, we didn't shy away from big moments. I think we embraced it, we loved it, and we rallied in those moments, and we definitely had each other's back."
Added Rutledge: "It was truly an example of a team that felt like we would never forget them. You had these great teams and people talk about them, and they're important, and we remember them for a year, a couple years. But, that team was different."
As for the game on Saturday, Tebow sees two evenly matched teams. Florida and LSU each have a top-notch defense, a solid corps of running backs and a quarterback who has avoided disastrous plays and provided just enough big plays to win games. The Gators' Feleipe Franks has thrown 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions, while the Tigers' Joe Burrow has fired six touchdown passes and has yet to throw a pick.
This game could come down to which quarterback cracks first.
"One of these guys, I think it's going to propel their career," Tebow said. "I think a win like this, it gives you the opportunity where, hey, you're kind of building your legacy, or 'Ah, it was just not enough.' I think it's going to be true for one of these guys in this game. I think one of them, you'll see their career start to change because games like this do that with the hype, with the momentum."
The scene was spectacular on Friday. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fans gathered around the SEC Network set to catch a glimpse of Tebow walking off the bus and doing his segment on the Paul Finebaum Show alongside Gators head coach Dan Mullen. Kids not even old enough to remember watching Tebow play held up signs and screamed his name.
Why does he still draw such a crowd a decade later?
"I think it's his whole persona, and he's somebody who truly is what he says he is and what everyone thinks that he is," Rutledge said. "I think that's sort of rare, sadly, in our society that somebody is that true to their core and true to their values. He's always been the same. He's always been reliable. He's very convicted in his faith, and he puts that out there and wears it, certainly proudly, on his sleeve.
"A lot of failure too and somehow has always been this example of somebody who can bounce back from that. So, I think we all find great hope in that. It's something that I don't think will ever stop for him. He's always going to be a big deal, specifically to Florida fans."
When Mullen was UF's offensive coordinator from 2005 to 2008, Tebow's name was synonymous with Florida football. Perhaps it's fitting then that in the biggest home game of Mullen's brief tenure as the Gators' head coach that Tebow's name is going on a display above the north end zone forever.
Tebow is joining Steve Spurrier, Jack Youngblood, Wilber Marshall, Emmitt Smith and Danny Wuerffel in the exclusive Ring of Honor club.
However, Tebow is clear that he doesn't want Saturday to be only about him.
"It's about what this Florida team has done this year and the improvements they've made, and it's about the 2008 team and how special we were and all of those young men," he said. "It will be an honor, but I think there's a lot of things that the fans get to celebrate."
While UF is coming off back-to-back SEC road wins, is back in the Associated Press poll and faces No. 5 LSU on Saturday, having No. 15 back in town certainly boosted ticket sales.
Gator Great Tim Tebow's return to UF is multifaceted. He is being inducted into the UF Football Ring of Honor, taking part in the 2008 national championship team's reunion, and serving in his analyst role on the SEC Network's traveling pregame show, SEC Nation, which will broadcast live from the Plaza of the Americas on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
On Friday afternoon, Tebow, along with fellow analyst Marcus Spears and host Laura Rutledge, stopped by to speak with reporters about Tebow's induction, the reunion and the top-25 showdown.
Tebow's induction is scheduled for the break between the first and second quarters. He said he will have a bunch of family members, friends and former teammates in attendance. He said the honor has sunken in partially, but he won't fully appreciate it until years down the road.
"The honor isn't just really for tomorrow," Tebow said. "It's later on years from now, bringing my kids back to it as well. I think that will be really special."
Tebow, who won two national championships and a Heisman Trophy, said one of his proudest accomplishments was his teams' record against rivals. From 2006-09, UF went 11-1 against Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State.
"I think that's something that was special," he said. "You could count on us beating our rivals, and then hopefully we won them all. But, those were more special. They just were, and I grew up that way. Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State were just more special growing up. You could lose other ones, but those you had to win."
Of course, he was asked about his "Promise" speech, with Sept. 27 being the 10-year anniversary of the day he uttered the famous words that are now emblazoned and glorified forever on a plaque outside the stadium.
"I think a lot of [my teammates] were impacted by it, but really what was more special about it is the next day we had a meeting," he said. "And then we went out and had the most intense practice that I've been a part of. We knew at the end of that practice that we were going to have a different team, and that this team was going to be special. I believe that that point was a big turning point. We knew that this team wasn't going to lose again, and that was special."
Said Rutledge, who attended UF from 2007-11 and covered the team: "We were all kind of like, 'What just happened?' He kind of dropped the mic, and that was before drop the mic was really a thing. We all just kind of looked at each other and thought, 'Wow! He's made a legit promise that if he doesn't keep that up, then this whole season's going to be disastrous.' "
Speaking of the 2008 Gators, Tebow said the team clearly had elite talent. However, what made the team special was camaraderie and ultra competitiveness.
"[Brandon] Spikes would be talking to me the whole practice, and we'd be back and forth," he said. "Joe Haden's going to talk trash to Percy [Harvin] the whole practice. Defense made the offense great, and the offense made the defense great and vice versa. I think that competitiveness led into the games. We just had a whole team of guys that in big moments, they played their best. In second halves and when the lights were on, we didn't hesitate, we didn't shy away from big moments. I think we embraced it, we loved it, and we rallied in those moments, and we definitely had each other's back."
Added Rutledge: "It was truly an example of a team that felt like we would never forget them. You had these great teams and people talk about them, and they're important, and we remember them for a year, a couple years. But, that team was different."
As for the game on Saturday, Tebow sees two evenly matched teams. Florida and LSU each have a top-notch defense, a solid corps of running backs and a quarterback who has avoided disastrous plays and provided just enough big plays to win games. The Gators' Feleipe Franks has thrown 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions, while the Tigers' Joe Burrow has fired six touchdown passes and has yet to throw a pick.
This game could come down to which quarterback cracks first.
"One of these guys, I think it's going to propel their career," Tebow said. "I think a win like this, it gives you the opportunity where, hey, you're kind of building your legacy, or 'Ah, it was just not enough.' I think it's going to be true for one of these guys in this game. I think one of them, you'll see their career start to change because games like this do that with the hype, with the momentum."
The scene was spectacular on Friday. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fans gathered around the SEC Network set to catch a glimpse of Tebow walking off the bus and doing his segment on the Paul Finebaum Show alongside Gators head coach Dan Mullen. Kids not even old enough to remember watching Tebow play held up signs and screamed his name.
Why does he still draw such a crowd a decade later?
"I think it's his whole persona, and he's somebody who truly is what he says he is and what everyone thinks that he is," Rutledge said. "I think that's sort of rare, sadly, in our society that somebody is that true to their core and true to their values. He's always been the same. He's always been reliable. He's very convicted in his faith, and he puts that out there and wears it, certainly proudly, on his sleeve.
"A lot of failure too and somehow has always been this example of somebody who can bounce back from that. So, I think we all find great hope in that. It's something that I don't think will ever stop for him. He's always going to be a big deal, specifically to Florida fans."
When Mullen was UF's offensive coordinator from 2005 to 2008, Tebow's name was synonymous with Florida football. Perhaps it's fitting then that in the biggest home game of Mullen's brief tenure as the Gators' head coach that Tebow's name is going on a display above the north end zone forever.
Tebow is joining Steve Spurrier, Jack Youngblood, Wilber Marshall, Emmitt Smith and Danny Wuerffel in the exclusive Ring of Honor club.
However, Tebow is clear that he doesn't want Saturday to be only about him.
"It's about what this Florida team has done this year and the improvements they've made, and it's about the 2008 team and how special we were and all of those young men," he said. "It will be an honor, but I think there's a lot of things that the fans get to celebrate."
Players Mentioned
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