UF commemorates Tebow's Promise with a plaque

By MIKE McCALL

Florida is making sure no one forgets quarterback Tim Tebow's passionate speech following the Gators' 31-30 loss to Mississippi last season.

A plaque bearing the text of "The Promise," as it has come to be known, now hangs on the wall outside the Heavener football complex attached to The Swamp, conveniently leaving out the detail of losing to the Rebels.

Tebow's speech was definitely a memorable moment in UF sports history and played a part in the Gators' run to a BCS Championship, but do you think it's worthy of such a singling out? CBS commentator Verne Lundquist said it should go down alongside Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper" speech, but I think the real turning point of the season was Tebow's touchdown pass to Percy Harvin early in the fourth quarter of the next game, against Arkansas. (LINK, TD pass is around 2:05)

On the heels of the embarassing Ole Miss loss and Tebow's speech, UF was supposed to come out firing against the lowly Razorbacks, but things didn't really get rolling until Tebow fired that 21-yard strike to start a 21-point fourth quarter and kick off the Gators' incredible 10-game romp to Miami.

What's more, coach Urban Meyer ran onto the field to chest bump Tebow after the pass, and the moment relieved the pressure Tebow had been dealing with since his Heisman Trophy win. From then on, he played more like the Tebow of old, so that's the image I'll always have of this team's turnaround, whether it's on a wall somewhere or not.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Sigh.

[Mike Mike]

That was my reaction exactly.

[Adam S.]

I believe you made a post (sometime around the SEC Championship game) about moments/things we would remember about the 2008/9 season at the end of the year. And I believe I was the one that said, with ridicule, ASIDE FROM possibly winning the championship game (had to win the SEC first at the time), that Tebow's speech would be the defining moment of the season.

Looks like UF agrees with me. Surprise, surprise. :)

[Adam S.]

Ah, you made the post on 01/01/09. Here was one of my comments in the thread:

---

I really think you are minimalizing how off-the-field actions and issues can impact a team on-the-field. Does Tebow's speech or something Urban says to the team specifically make them catch a pass or tackle a player? No. But leadership can breed intensity, accountability and teamwork. Not every player is built like a Tebow with those things engraved into their mind and soul. Some guys are out there for themselves, some guys are more worried about how many snaps they play rather than whether or not they are the best one to be on the field playing those snaps. They started playing better and they started trying harder after that speech. As I said, it is not the REASON for the success after that point...but it was a CATALYST.

And when you are talking about MOMENTS, which is what this list is about, it is No. 3 for me and could potentially be No. 2 at the end of this season. We're not just discussing plays and wins here. That moment will live on in Gator infamy if we pull it out Thursday. Most fans aren't going to remember what we did against LSU or Miami in those games this year. What they will remember is Tebow's presser. And that is what makes it a great moment.

[13-1LiftTheTrophy]

It certainly was a "romp."

2009 won't need a speech. If there is a speech it will be something like, "man, we just slaughtered everyone."

@LSU
@Miss State
@ South Carolina ( should be another blowout)

Potential slips on the schedule. Who can say, Ole Miss certainly wasn't suppose to be a slip up in 08.

14-0 Gator Nation....lets do this

[Mike]

Any other school would have done the same thing.

[RicoPallazzo!]

Though i loved the passion and the fact that he even took it upon himself to make the speech,I think memorializing it like that is rather cheesy. It seems very FSU-ish to me. If/when he wins the Heisman next year and goes down as the greatest college football player in the modern era, then the school can spend money to make the appropriate tributes.

[Gator Rod]

How goofy is this? Tebow is a great college player but this is kinda over the top. Just play FB and quit kissing Tebow's ***. Plus, the school could of donated the $ for that plack to Tebow for his spring break trip to feed kid's!

[Adam S.]

Rico, that was a good post. I think it would've been more appropriate to have done it at a later time, like after he graduated.

And the $ for that plaQUE is already set aside for costs in the complex, it didn't come from anywhere else.

[Fast Times]

Superman wears Tebow pajamas! Would have seemed fitting to at least wait until he had left the program.

[Dino]

Hey! Forget Tebow---fsu needs to get one of their players to give an emotional speech to fire up the team after one of their losses this coming year. Maybe something like this:

"I just want to say one thing. To the fans and everybody in Seminole Nation, I'm sorry, again. I'm extremely sorry for another loss. We were hoping for a good bowl game, instead of some minor bowl game sponsored by some nut company or sporting goods chain. That was my goal, something Florida State hasn't done in a long time. But I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country party as hard as I will the rest of this night, and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push tonight at the local clubs and on the dance floor and the rest of the season to get these #%@#% losses out of our minds. God #%$##@."

[Go Gators]

If anyone lived in Gainesville during this season (like i did) and saw the kind of spirit this guy gave a whole city, then they wouldn't have a problem with this plaque. I was in front of the school after the win and watched people run around with card board cut outs of the guy. He's a hero here in Gainesville. I just watched the 2008 Gators DVD today, AGAIN, and i get pumped every time. Could they have waited until he left? Sure they could have but they didn't. The plaque is up now, it's not coming down, so if he would have deserved it 2 years from now, then he deserves it now.

[Adam S.]

Good post, GO Gators.

[rob roberson]

GHEEEYYYYYYY

[Jerrell]

Tim Tebow wears Greg Hardy Pajamas.

[Reginald Van Cleef]

Tebow should know from reading his Bible: Pride cometh before the fall!

Yeah, the Gators will be brought low by this act of hubris, for who is Tim Tebow but a mote in God's eye? Tho he roareth like a lion, he is but a sacrificial lamb to the mighty Trojans, shoudst they ever get the chance to smite his puritanical behind.

[St.PeteNole]

Wow...that is the douchiest thing I have ever seen..UF has really outdone itself.

[atlstew]

wow.that is really, really, gay.

[Brad]

Gotta love the haters. Tebow will probably leave as the most decorated college football players of all time. Keep hatin', losers. It will continue to motivate him and inspire his team to back him up.

[Brad]

"conveniently leaving out the detail of losing to the Rebels."

You never cease to amaze me with your subtle shots. By the way, once we were handed that trophy, the loss to Ole Miss meant NOTHING. Tim and his team got the rings.

I know that hurts most of you, including you, Goodman.

[Goody]

FYI, I didn't write this blog post.

-jo-

[banjax]

This is why America has begun to sour on Tebow, Gators fans.

[Rebs Take Gators In Gainesville]

Tebow will always remember that the Ole Miss Rebels took his NC Florida team down and would do it again. He will NEVER be able to think about this year without knowing THAT.

BTW, Notre Dame's NC team also were spotless in their record in 1977...save for the Ole Miss Rebels defeat as the Rebels were the only team that beat them that year as well.

[Joe Mama]

disgusting...

[sebastianIBIS]

That is so gay.

[Dan]

How bout them GAYtors

[dutch]

jealous losers out in full force today

[Macey Peyton]

Listen, hate all you want, comment all you want, but who won the National Title. I'm pretty sure we did. Yep! And at the game i was walking past the oklahoma band and they were yelling things like thirteen and ole-miss. So if you want to play that game, didn't ole miss beat Texas Tech who beat Texas who beat Oklahoma. Yes....Yes they did. See you gator fans in California!

[Inversiones en oro]

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