Tebow excited to prove himself at Senior Bowl

By Adam Silverstein
January 25, 2010

Never one to shy away from doubters and skeptics, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has a prime opportunity to increase his value to NFL brass during practices this week for the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL. It is a challenge he is neither taking lightly nor backing down from. Head coach Urban Meyer is confident that Tebow will face the NFL challenge head-on and be immensely successful but still provided some words of advice.

“Coach Meyer called me last night and he said, ‘Promise me one thing: Just be you and you’ll be fine,'” Tebow told reporters Sunday during a pre-Senior Bowl press conference. “I’m just going to be me. I’m going to be excited, I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to have fun. I’m going to love playing the game out there, just like I always have. Hopefully the coaching staffs and the owners and general managers will just like me.”

It is hard to imagine anyone not liking Tebow, as a football player, that is. One of the most prolific and arguably the best player in the history of college football, Tebow’s accomplishments seem to have fallen by the wayside in recent weeks while some of his attributes like throwing motion, arm speed and footwork have been picked on.

Find out what Tebow thinks of his many critics (and more) after the jump!

Now he has an opportunity to prove those doubters wrong, and it all starts with weigh-ins and the first day of practice with the Miami Dolphins coaching staff in front of hundreds of NFL personnel on Monday. He will likely be the most scrutinized player on the field throughout the week, something that will be taken in stride by the former Heisman Trophy winner and two-time National Champion.

“I look at myself as a pretty self-motivated person, so I don’t really need to listen to all the critics,” Tebow said. “But if I need a little extra motivation, they’re all there. Maybe just throw them on the top to get a little extra motivation.”

Asked if he will be practicing at any other positions, like tight end or H-back, Tebow was blunt in his reply. “I’m here to be an NFL quarterback,” he said. “I really try to pride myself in being a very coachable person. I will do whatever the coaches ask me, any time, any place, anywhere. If they don’t like how I do something, they can coach me on it.” He is not worried about NFL personnel initially not believing in his ability to be a signal-caller; all Tebow cares about is doing his best every time he steps out on the field.

“I’m going to be playing with a lot of the best players around the country,” he said. “Also it’s an opportunity for me to compete, and that’s never been anything I shied away from.” Tebow made a similar statement to Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King.

“I want to show, number one, that I’m a competitor and I’m not afraid for teams to see everything about me,” he said. “My goal is to find just one team, one out of 32, to believe in me as a quarterback. I’m not just the guy who can play in the spread offense, or throw a jump pass or run the triple option. I’m a football junkie. I study it all the time. I’ve studied every type of offense — pro style, West Coast. Just because I haven’t played every kind of offense, why can’t I? Why can’t I run the West Coast? My coaches at Florida didn’t just teach us a system. They taught us football. So I want the NFL people to put me through everything. Grind on me, test me. I feel I’ve worked my whole life to prepare for this.”

Note: Working with the Dolphins staff will provide Tebow with the opportunity to practice under QB coach David Lee. The offensive coordinator of the Arkansas Razorbacks during the proliferation of the WildHog offense that would, in some ways, morph into Miami’s Wildcat, Lee is in a unique position to showcase Tebow as both a pocket passer and a guy who can make plays with his legs in the run-heavy formation.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

3 Comments

  1. O-town Gator says:

    I made a brief mention of this in my blog over at GE. Another high-five to Timmy for standing by his convictions and remaining true to his faith, as well as allowing himself to remain unfazed by all the punditry and other critics. His willingnesas to learn and adapt should be a strong selling point to NFL temas interested in him (myself, I’d love to see him wind up in Jax). Compared with a few of the prospects, negative conduct and character won’t be an issue for him at the Combine.

    I just hope one of the networks will broadcast the game; I’ve heard that it’ll be televised on NFL Network which, unfortunately, my cable provider doesn’t offer.

  2. Daniel M. says:

    Holy crap Silverstein! I didn’t see your audio clip before today. Great job man. Yeah the clip was all old news but I still listened to your chops bro. You sounded very organized and informative. Were you provided with a topic list prior to the interview?

  3. Nope. Just “Sugar Bowl, Urban Meyer.”

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux