Florida Gators Football: Tim Tebow Has a Big Fan Watching Him from Above

After watching Tim Tebow lead the Denver Broncos from 10 points down to an overtime victory last week against the Chicago Bears, I kind of shrugged my shoulders.

That's not because I wasn't impressed—I certainly was—but after having covered five or six of his games at Ponte Vedra Beach Nease High School and the majority of his work while he was a Florida Gator, nothing No. 15 does really surprises me that much any more.

Instead, my thoughts drifted off to a friend (and Tebow supporter) who was taken far too early.

Sean Jared Bender was a Gator fan. A serious Gator fan. One of those people who takes losses very personally and celebrates wins until the sun comes up. Shoot, his fantasy football nickname was "The Gatormeister."

As the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Insurance Operations for The Madison Group, Inc. in Greenwood Village, Col., his professional success was something that, in my eyes, rivaled Tebow's.

Oh yeah, and being located not far from Denver, Sean also was able to have an up-close view of the start of Tebow's NFL career. No doubt that was as nice as a perk for him and his football-loving wife, Maria, as were the mountains he loved to ski and hike.

I know many orange- and blue-bloods who would envy that set-up.

Before he got to Colorado, Sean grew up in Altamonte Springs (Fla.) and attended the University of Florida.

I met him there in August of 1990 when we both were freshmen living in Rawlings Hall. Sean was the smartest kid in the building because while the rest of us dealt with the sweltering heat of a non-air-conditioned dorm, he broke the rules and put an AC vent in his window (got away with it, too).

So, his room, just around the corner from the suite, was a cool hang-out spot.

A few summers later, I moved in to apartment K-55 in "The Laurels", where Sean and our mutual friends/former TFR (third-floor Rawlings) dwellers, Scott Gerber and Greg McEachern, resided.

Those ended up being some of the best years of my life.

In addition to being a huge Gator fan, Sean loved the outdoors, evidenced in part by the poolside tanning contests he and Scott would have from May-October (hey, it was Florida).

And if we weren't out looking for a party (easy to find in Gainesville), we were throwing one. A security guard at the complex estimated we had more than 1,000 "guests" show up during the span of seven hours one Saturday night/Sunday morning.

But Sean was more than just football, sunshine and entertainment, he also was quite responsible. And I don't just mean for a guy in his early 20s—for anyone.

While in school, he worked at Chili's, starting as a server and ultimately becoming a manager. It was there he met Maria O'Hearn, a student/waitress who was a lovely, witty and easy-to-like young woman with a deep-rooted love of the Green Bay Packers.

It didn't take long for them to realize that together they laughed at things nobody else got, finished one another's sentences and, essentially, found themselves to be footballs without laces the rare times they were apart.

Thirteen years ago they got married. It was my honor to be one of the groomsmen that day.

Sean and Maria lived in the mountains of Colorado, and for a decade focused on each other while establishing themselves financially. Sometimes, it wasn't easy, but they stayed strong.

They also went to at least one Broncos game (evidenced by a picture on Facebook), and I know he was thrilled when Denver drafted Tebow.

Then, in 2010 Sean and Maria welcomed an adorable daughter, Francesca, into the world.

She and Maria were the loves of Sean's life and his first priority (though "The Gatormeister" did continue to be the trash-talking commissioner of our fantasy football league).

They were going to have everything they ever wanted. Sean wouldn't allow anything else.

Life was as good as Sean himself.

But then, the worst of tragedies struck on Jan. 2, 2011.

I remember it was a Sunday, and I had been working when I got back to the house and there was a message from Scott. He sounded somber and at a loss for words. Before I had the chance to call him back, the phone rang.

Greg was on the other end, and he told me Sean had been killed in a skiing accident late that morning.

Even now, it hurts to type those words.

At 38, he was gone, leaving behind heartbroken, but remarkably strong Maria, 9-month-old Francesca, younger brother Seth, parents Mort and Linda, as well as hundreds (maybe thousands) of the rest of us who he had impacted in such a positive manner.

Though not intentionally, Sean helped me better myself with one single sentence he said to me the night before his wedding. I'll keep what he told me private, but I do feel fortunate I was able to let him know how much his words had affected and changed me about a year before he was taken from us.

Now, the day Florida will take on Ohio State in the Gator Bowl will mark the one-year anniversary of Sean's passing. It will come 24 hours after Tebow and the Broncos host former quarterback Kyle Orton and Kansas City.

There are people who have said that meeting Tim Tebow makes someone want to be a finer person. Having first spoken to him before he had a drivers license, I can tell you his morals and values as a man are the same as they were when he was a teenager.

Just like Sean.

As far as I know, they never met. But I do have a pretty good idea that whenever Timmy points to the sky after a touchdown my friend is pointing right back at him.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the Francesca Bender Educational Fund can do so by following the instructions at this link.