Tim Tebow: Over-Hyped Heisman Candidate (So Far)

I like Tim Tebow. He’s good for college football because he possesses good work habits, has good ethics and morals, is tough as nails, and, unlike some of the other “stars” of college football, he isn’t in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

College football needs more Boy Scouts like Tim Tebow.

But I think we’ve had just about enough.

Tim Tebow is a good thing that is starting to get on people’s nerves.

It’s like watching fifty episodes of Barney—those goody-two shoes kids that surround that purple dinosaur tend to get tiresome after a while. There’s just so many over-the-top, sugary-sweet personalities you can take before the reality starts to sink in—this is not real. Normal kids don’t act like this. It’s a scripted fantasy for delusional parents.

The media has latched on to Tim Tebow as some sort of Superman and his fans have promoted him as the second coming of Mother Teresa. He’s the end-all for us mere mortals. We are not worthy.

When Tebow got a concussion in the Kentucky game, we were inundated with four-times-an-hour videos of him barfing in a bag. Then there were the breaking news press conferences showing Meyer announcing, “Tim is doing much better.”

Tebow’s coach spent the night with him in the hospital—even though his parents were also there—and that’s just a little over the top for me. A newborn infant receives less attention than this adult.

Good God, America. Are we seriously in need of this much Tebowism? It’s getting to the point of over-saturation, and sooner or later, the masses will arise and yell, “I need a bad boy in college football.”

Blame the media—they are the fire flamers.

The proverbial line in the sand has to be drawn, however, because Heismanpundit.com, a very accurate predictor of the award winner, and several ESPN analysts have Tebow as the No. 1 candidate for the Heisman.

The questions is, why?

Tebow is currently ranked No. 91 among all college football quarterbacks. No. 91. Granted, the rankings are compiled by number of yards thrown—the more prolific the passer is in terms of total yardage, the higher the ranking.

Still, you would be hard-pressed to award any player who ranks in the bottom tier of quarterbacks on any list.

So what are his numbers?

Tebow has completed 44 of 68 for 643 yards in four games. That comes out to a little over 160 yards per game. He has completed 64.7 percent of his passes, and has a 6-1 TD-INT ratio. Heisman worthy? Sixty-eight attempts? Hardly.

If you compare his stats to Jimmy Clausen, they look even smaller.

Clausen has completed 67.6 percent of his passes—that’s higher than Tebow’s percentage. Clausen has a 12-2 TD-INT ratio, which is an identical radio to Tebow’s but with a much larger sample size, and has completed 100 of 148 throws for 1544 yards—his average is 308.8 yards per game. He has also done it without playing two cupcakes.

If a quarterback has better numbers than a Heisman candidate and has done it by throwing for more than twice as many yards, why isn’t he on everyone’s lips? And why is the lesser quarterback being touted more?

The Tebow love affair is all well and good, but let’s be honest here—Tebow has not won any games by his single-doing—the team has.

Clausen, on the other hand, has done it on his own.

Three (almost four) come-from-behind-drives-for-the-win have solidified Clausen as the best quarterback in college football. So far.

The problem for Clausen is his image—no one was impressed with his entrance in a white Hummer limo on his announcement day in front of the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend. The flashy rings on his fingers further fueled the arrogant moniker.

Clausen has had to repair his image while Tim Tebow has had the inevitable task of trying to live up to his. While both are difficult to do, it’s easier to go into an award competition when the entire world is having a slobbering love affair with you rather than play for a team that is polarizing, to say the least.

Life isn’t fair, but the Heisman is supposed to be, right?

The real issue with Heisman is that it has become a Mr. Congeniality Contest. Or, a “Let’s make it fair award.”

Colt McCoy has been touted as No. 2 on the Heisman watch list, and the reason for him being there is even more alarming—since Bradford and Tebow have already won it, let’s give it to the third Musketeer. A fellowship of Kumbaya will commence afterward.

Since when do players get an award because they are part of a trio and all should get the Heisman? What about players like Jimmy Clausen? Or Cincinnati’s Tony Pike? Mizzou’s Blaine Gabbert? They are shining above the rest of the quarterbacks but have been relegated to a possible third invitee to New York. Or a total snub.

Heisman’s famed statue is now nothing more than a popularity contest, and everyone knows it. While the voters pat themselves on the back for awarding another player that didn’t deserve the statue—and there have been plenty—the rest of America will simply tune out the farce it has become.

Are we all that afraid to say a player isn’t worthy to win the Heisman this year in fear of being sent straight to the fiery depths of Hell?

Admit it, you don’t want to be the one who says it. Let someone else say it and then say, “Finally, someone has the onions to say what I’ve been thinking.”  (You’re welcome, by the way.)

This isn’t an anti-Tebow thing—it’s just speaking the truth. I think he’s a magnificent representative of how young men should conduct themselves. He is the perfect role model for the student-athlete.

He has not, however, played like the best college football player on the field this year, so far. Not even close.

Tell me you're giving it to Tebow because he’s just so likeable. Or because he performed circumcisions in Third World countries during his spring break. Or because he’s still pure and innocent. Tell me you're giving him the award because he apologizes when his performance lets down his minions.

But don’t tell me you're picking him based on his performance so far.

Oh, and God Bless America and Tim Tebow.

Amen.