Can the Florida Gators' John Brantley Escape Tim Tebow's Shadow?

As a Tennessee native and Volunteer fan since birth, I couldn't wait for Tim Tebow to graduate.

The first time I saw him, was running a few bone-crunching sneaks so that Chris Leak could catch his breath. I was beginning to think he was just a runner; then he made a few nice completions, and I was like "son-of-a-..." 

I knew he was way more talented than I wanted him to be, and hoped that Eric Berry could be cloned so he could be adequately covered; I didn't get my wish on Berry but, thankfully Tim Tebow couldn't slow down time and his graduation has inevitably arrived, thank God.

I thought everything would be okay, that the universe would finally be back in balance, and then I remembered John Brantley. We all dismissed his existence because we were all too worried about Tim Tebow, but now I'm afraid we might need to chew our nails... just a little. 

Like a bad soap opera memory sequence it all came flooding back like it was last year...wait... it was last...oh, nevermind.

I watched the footage from the Orange and Blue game as he ran over the 20 and scooted in for a touchdown. I watched him drop a pass in Hammonds hands like it magically fell from the sky. I watched him make plays that were all too Tebow-esque, and I said, well that's pretty good. Let's see what this kid does against a real competitor.

Enter the Citadel, same story. Okay he's got some skills, let's see him against a "real" competitor.

Enter Georgia, hey...that was a nice touch, quick release, and damn... is he gonna run into traffic?  Well, here we go again.

Being a Vol, it's pretty much a state requirement to hate the Gators, and now we have yet another reason. Clearly it's visible to all Floridians that John Brantley is no accident.

It's really hard to compare the two, because it's relatively early to start jumping to conclusions as Brantley has not yet had an entire season to prove himself, and a bit unfair I might add. What all college football fans want to know, including myself, is how do you go about replacing Tim Tebow, or can you?

No, you can't just tune into to your favorite recruiting web and pick out Heisman winners, no matter how smart your recruiter is; however, John Brantley certainly seems like an acceptable place to start.

Much like Tebow, he doesn't waste time trying to force an open reciever. If he is unable to locate attractive targets on the field, he will quickly scramble, looking for open real estate, and is fairly evasive and capable of breaking into large gains, whereas Tebow was capable of being evasive but instead chose to run at defenders. Even if he is a mortal enemy, you have to respect the ability, and the competiveness; it's no wonder Gators love him.

As much as I hate to admit it, Brantley has a skillset that is very impressive and vaguely reminiscent of his predecessor, and could very well fill Tim Tebow's shoes, but he will have to shed Tebow's Shadow and never look back.

That's not a bad thing, either; maybe he could punch a mascot, or trot over to the opposing sideline and pat the coach on his head, and reassure him he will make it as painless as possible, or even better; run one in for a TD, smack the mascot again, grab the cheerleader and then lay a big one on her, then finally tell her, "You can cheer now baby!"

I've seen the pilot for the "John Brantley Show", and the rest of the SEC should be grabbing their remotes and trying to change the channel, or at the very least check out the fall lineup so they can see who his co-stars will be. I can just imagine the opening credits.

Their names are: (insert any reciever's name). Cue evil Star Wars music as their profiles pop up and flash evil smirks at the camera, Urban Meyer standing in the background polishing a crystal football like a genie will shoot out, then John Brantley laces his cleats as he kneels by Tebow's memorial, reciting his locker room speech.

To fill Tim Tebow's shoes he will have to be a great leader, he won't have to mimic Tebow, but he could still follow his example and be okay. He seems like a decent sportsman; I hope my Vols can keep him at bay.