Tim Tebow's 20 Greatest Moments

It was the year of our Lord, two-thousand-and-Tebow. The country was Tebowica. All across Tebowica, fans of Tebowball couldn't stop talking about the performance of the quarterback from the Denver Tebows, Tim Tebow.

Fans mimicked the quarterback by Tebowing. Friends called one another "Tebro" and "Shebow." Some thought he would lead the Tebows to the most important Tebowball game of the year, Super Tebowl XLVI.

And in this time of great reflection upon Tim Tebow, one man decided to look back at all of Tim Tebow's finest Tebowball moments, dating back to his time playing for the University of Florida Tebows, and post those moments on the sports website Tebow Report.

This is that list, in chronological order.

20. The Jump Pass

This pass from 2006 against LSU became one of trademark Tebow moves from his college days, and also helped lead the fifth-ranked Gators past ninth-ranked LSU.

Tebow did more than just throw jump passes, however—he also rushed nine times for 35 yards and a touchdown and threw a second touchdown pass in the game.

Not too shabby for a frosh.

19. Florida Wins the 2007 BCS National Championship Game

Tebow scored Florida's last two touchdowns in the 41-14 route of Ohio State, throwing for a touchdown and rushing for another. He would finish the game with only one pass, but also ran 10 times for 39 yards.

18. Tebow Rushes for Five Against South Carolina

If there was a signature game during Tebow's 2007 season that Heisman voters could look back to when determining their vote, his performance against South Carolina that year was probably it. From ESPN:

"

Tim Tebow is keeping Florida in the hunt for a Southeastern Conference title and making quite a case to become the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.

Tebow accounted for seven touchdowns, five rushing, and 424 total yards as the Gators (No. 15 BCS, No. 17 AP) defeated South Carolina 51-31 on Saturday night.

"

Tebow finished the game 22-of-32 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 26 times for 120 yards and five freaking touchdowns.

17. Tebow Wins the 2007 Heisman

Tebow became the first sophomore to win the trophy, in large part because he was also the first player to ever run for 20 or more touchdowns and throw for more than 20 touchdowns in the same season.

He led Florida in 2007 with 838 yards rushing and added an SEC record 22 rushing touchdowns to boot. He also completed 68 percent of his passes, finishing with 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns through the air.

Florida finished 9-3 that season, but Tebow's performance in 2007 was a hint of Florida's success to come.

16. The Ole Miss Press Conference

After a shocking loss to Ole Miss in 2008, Tebow famously delivered the following message at his postgame press conference.

15. Tebow Beats Florida State in 2008

This game gave us one of the enduring images of Tebow you see at the beginning of the video, pumping his fist while covered in red paint, or mud, or something that makes him look like a badass warrior.

Tebow was particularly good, going 12-of-21 in the air for 185 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 80 yards and another touchdown.

The win was huge, essentially guaranteeing that the winner of the SEC Championship game between Alabama and Florida would play in the BCS Championship game.

14. 2008 SEC Championship

Tebow took the Gators into the Georgia Dome to face top-ranked Alabama with a berth at the National Championship Game on the line.

He didn't disappoint.

He finished 14-of-22 with 216 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and rushed 17 times for another 57 yards. He and Florida didn't turn the ball over once, defeating Alabama 31-20.

13. The Halftime Speech to End All Halftime Speeches

Despite the loss to Ole Miss, Florida found themselves in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game against Sam Bradford and Oklahoma.

With the game tied 7-7 at the half, Tebow decided to inspire his team, becoming a YouTube legend along the way.

12. Florida Wins the 2009 BCS National Championship Game

Tebow and Urban Meyer won their second National Championship together, overcoming the rare two-interception game from Tebow and solidifying the quarterback's place as one of, if not the greatest college football players of all time.

11. The Commercial

It may not have been his finest moment (all dependent upon your beliefs, of course), but it was one of his most controversial: The airing of Tebow and his mother's commercial during the Super Bowl in 2010 for Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization, was widely debated leading up to the game that year.

From ABC News:

"

The major television networks have previously declined to air polarizing advocacy ads. In 2004, CBS and its competitors rejected an ad by the United Church of Christ, welcoming gays and others who may have felt felt snubbed by more conservative churches. At the time, CBS was heavily criticized. It says that in recent months, it has run more issue-oriented advertising, such as ones for health care.

"

While the ad is not explicitly an anti-abortion ad, it's pretty clear what the implication of the spot is, especially given the beliefs of Focus on the Family and all of the hoopla leading up to the airing of the commercial.

Of course, money talks.

"

However, CBS will not be counting on its usually reliable sponsors, with big companies such as General Motors, Pepsico and Fedex staying away from the Super Bowl, according to a study by ad researcher TNS Media Intelligence.

"CBS is doing this for the money," said Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein School of Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. "It will indicate that a policy has changed. The networks have traditionally not put these kinds of ads on during the Super Bowl. This has been an area that has been kept relatively squeaky-clean of highly-polarizing politics. There is no way to be putting in an anti-abortion ad without prompting the pro-abortion side of the debate to get their message across. This may be a new profit center."

"

10. Josh McDaniels Drafts Tebow in the First Round

Many people were shocked when Denver selected Tim Tebow with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

It would be just another polarizing discussion across America when the topic of Tebow arose.

9. Tebow's First NFL Win

In his second NFL start, Tebow led the Broncos back from a 17-0 halftime deficit, defeating the Texans, 24-23.

Yup, Tebow led a second-half comeback. That's the theme of his short NFL career, as you're about to see.

8. Tebow Is Named the Starting Quarterback

After starting the season 1-4, the Broncos made the switch to Tebow. It was the logical decision, given the team's putrid start and the fact that the decision was made during the bye week, allowing Tebow an extra week to prepare with the first-team offense.

It was finally Tebow time.

7. Tebow's Comeback Against the Dolphins

It wasn't pretty for most of the game. Hell, it was downright ugly. But in Tebow's first start of the year, he nonetheless got the job done.

Trailing the Dolphins 15-0 with 5:23 left and the ball at their own 20, the Broncos—led by Tebow, of course, though assisted by a successful onside kick—came back, improbably tying the game at 15 apiece heading to overtime.

The Broncos would win the game in overtime, and the 2011 Tebow hype began in full force.

6. Tebowing

It inspired a website. It inspired memes. It inspired a nation.

Damnit, it inspired the world.

It is Tebowing, the latest fad that doesn't really make any sense but people do it because other people started doing it. How does it work? Why, you drop down to a knee, raise your fist to your head and mimic Tebow's ritual of praying after a game.

And if someone takes your picture in your obviously clever moment of mimicry, well, bonus points for you.

And hooray for America.

5. Tebow Goes 2-8, Still Wins

Tim Tebow went 2-of-8 for 69 yards passing and a touchdown against the Chiefs on November 13, 2011.

Oh, and the Broncos won, 17-10.

Hold on, let me repeat that—Tebow, the starting quarterback for the Broncos, went 2-of-8 passing in a game and the Broncos still won, 17-10.

Sheesh.

4. "The Drive" (Against the Jets)

The Broncos were trailing the Jets 13-10 with just under six minutes to play when they got the ball on their own five-yard line. Things weren't looking promising—they had punted on their previous eight possessions and Tebow only had 11 rushing yards in the game—but Tebow led the Broncos down the field for what turned out to be the game-winning score.

Sure, the Broncos defense kept them in the game—once again—while the Broncos offense sputtered early. Sure, the real MVP of the game was Von Miller, who finished with 10 tackles (three tackles for loss), 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

But with the chips down, Tebow delivered once again.

3. Skip Bayless Interviews Tebow

ESPN's Skip Bayless has been one of the loudest and most adamant supporters of Tebow throughout his 2011 season. But that didn't stop him from asking some tough questions of Tebow and delivering on an excellent interview when he had the chance to speak to the polarizing quarterback.

Skip may play the annoying villain for ESPN well, but his interview with Tebow was nothing short of professional and illuminating.

2. Tebow Outduels the Vikings

Holy high-scoring affair, Batman—Tim Tebow led the Broncos to victory in a shootout!

From Yahoo!:

"

On a day when the normally stout Broncos defense was eating Harvin’s dust, Tebow did what he does best—led his team back from an early deficit. Denver trailed 15-7 at halftime and 29-21 with less than 10 minutes to go.

Demaryius Thomas had four catches for 144 yards and two scores in the third quarter, Tebow ran for a 2-point conversion that tied the game at 29 in the fourth and Willis McGahee rushed for 111 yards and a TD to help the Broncos (7-5) forge a first-place tie in the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders, who lost to Miami.

"

After Christian Ponder through a terrible interception deep in Minnesota territory with only 1:33 to play, reliable Matt Prater nailed another game-winning field goal as time expired.

1. An Improbable Comeback Against the Bears

The Broncos were trailing 10-0 with just 2:08 remaining in the game. Then they went ahead and won 13-10 in overtime behind Matt Prater's 59- and 51-yard field goals.

Oh, and some more Tebow magic. Just watch the video.