O-town Gator
Gator Fan
Off-topic from one of my favorite Gator blogs, Alligator Army: http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2010/6/23/1531530/alligator-army-off-topic-john
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John Brantley is your quarterback, Tim Tebow is Denver's quarterback
- Thread starter O-town Gator
- Start date
AK Gator
Gator Fan
I've never been to that site before, but the author makes a number of great points. Here are my thoughts on his first three bullet points.
1) It takes a team
This is something that has bothered me for a lot of Tebow's time in Florida, the coverage was all about Tim Tebow with side stories about Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes. There was so little rational thought directed at the rest of the Gator teams during their run of dominance that it was pretty much frustrating on a daily basis. Tim Tebow was a great talent, but the fact of the matter is that he had some phenomenal team mates by his side each and every week, win or lose. Just like he will need in the NFL if his super stardom is to exist any longer.
2) College Dictating NFL Fandom
I find nothing wrong at all with keeping close tabs on your favorite players from college and wishing plenty of success on them in the NFL, so long as you don't do so at the expense of any team that you have been a long term fan on. I'm a huge 49'ers fan so when Louis Murphy started dragging in a few game winning catches down in Oakland I posted something on another forum along the lines of "I hope that Murphy catches every single touchdown for the Raiders over the next few seasons, but that he gets out of that town as soon as he can." I don't like the Patriots at all, but I'll be rooting for all three of their new Gators to have great individual seasons while the team as a whole doesn't win another Super Bowl.
If you've managed to never have a favorite NFL team and then you choose the Broncos solely because of Tebow, more power to you. Like the blogger stated the odds of you being a true fan to them are slim, but if you aren't abandoning an allegiance to another team - Gators or NFL - just to follow Tebow then I hope you enjoy your time cheering for him and find some other reasons to enjoy the team along the way. This leads me to number 3...
3) Bandwagoners
For good or for worse the University of Florida has been the stopping point for a huge amount of people simply because they were the most visible team. Everyone who wanted to be a winner went out and bought a fantastic amount of game day Gator gear, sported it proudly, and had no idea what the tradition was. Conversely, just as many people jumped online and ranted about the Gaytors and TeBlow for four years because, in my opinion at least, they just hate the success of others when it comes at the expense of their own. No matter what their team did, it would be eclipsed by the Gators so the only reaction they had left was blind hate.
With Tebow leaving the team I imagine a great number of both kinds of band wagoners will leave with him. It won't be as productive to cheer for the team who isn't getting as many headlines anymore, just like you won't be able to rant and rave about how no one talks about anything other than the Gators when it's no longer the case. Also, when it comes to the huge outpouring of Christianity towards the Gators - it will be a welcome reprieve this season when it cools considerably compared to the last few seasons. I'm not a religious person, but if you are cool. However, when the football team that I'm following is becoming more church that football, it gets old. The work that the Tebow family does and has done is great. They've made a difference in a lot of lives and they have inspired even more. Still, the fact that Tebow's mission work in the off season got more praised the scores of other players blood, sweat, and tears to be prepared to take the field - combined mind you - isn't fair to them or the fans. All of those closed eyes and hands raised up high won't be there this season and, in all likelihood, won't return until another marquee player on the team is outwardly and overtly religious in their play on the field. There will be thousands of Christian fans of the Gators still, I'm not saying that they'll all leave, but what I am saying is that only the ones who were football fans will remain...which is quite sad.
I've got another football season or two left in my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Florida and I will gladly give my attention and fandom to the Gators regardless of what someone in the #15 jersey does during those season. It's all about the Florida Gators at the end of the day, and I'm glad that myself, my brothers, and the majority of my friends here in Gainesville understand that fact. Here's to next season and to Brantley making a few people happy that Tebow isn't here anymore simply because it won't mean the end of the world every Saturday.
1) It takes a team
This is something that has bothered me for a lot of Tebow's time in Florida, the coverage was all about Tim Tebow with side stories about Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes. There was so little rational thought directed at the rest of the Gator teams during their run of dominance that it was pretty much frustrating on a daily basis. Tim Tebow was a great talent, but the fact of the matter is that he had some phenomenal team mates by his side each and every week, win or lose. Just like he will need in the NFL if his super stardom is to exist any longer.
2) College Dictating NFL Fandom
I find nothing wrong at all with keeping close tabs on your favorite players from college and wishing plenty of success on them in the NFL, so long as you don't do so at the expense of any team that you have been a long term fan on. I'm a huge 49'ers fan so when Louis Murphy started dragging in a few game winning catches down in Oakland I posted something on another forum along the lines of "I hope that Murphy catches every single touchdown for the Raiders over the next few seasons, but that he gets out of that town as soon as he can." I don't like the Patriots at all, but I'll be rooting for all three of their new Gators to have great individual seasons while the team as a whole doesn't win another Super Bowl.
If you've managed to never have a favorite NFL team and then you choose the Broncos solely because of Tebow, more power to you. Like the blogger stated the odds of you being a true fan to them are slim, but if you aren't abandoning an allegiance to another team - Gators or NFL - just to follow Tebow then I hope you enjoy your time cheering for him and find some other reasons to enjoy the team along the way. This leads me to number 3...
3) Bandwagoners
For good or for worse the University of Florida has been the stopping point for a huge amount of people simply because they were the most visible team. Everyone who wanted to be a winner went out and bought a fantastic amount of game day Gator gear, sported it proudly, and had no idea what the tradition was. Conversely, just as many people jumped online and ranted about the Gaytors and TeBlow for four years because, in my opinion at least, they just hate the success of others when it comes at the expense of their own. No matter what their team did, it would be eclipsed by the Gators so the only reaction they had left was blind hate.
With Tebow leaving the team I imagine a great number of both kinds of band wagoners will leave with him. It won't be as productive to cheer for the team who isn't getting as many headlines anymore, just like you won't be able to rant and rave about how no one talks about anything other than the Gators when it's no longer the case. Also, when it comes to the huge outpouring of Christianity towards the Gators - it will be a welcome reprieve this season when it cools considerably compared to the last few seasons. I'm not a religious person, but if you are cool. However, when the football team that I'm following is becoming more church that football, it gets old. The work that the Tebow family does and has done is great. They've made a difference in a lot of lives and they have inspired even more. Still, the fact that Tebow's mission work in the off season got more praised the scores of other players blood, sweat, and tears to be prepared to take the field - combined mind you - isn't fair to them or the fans. All of those closed eyes and hands raised up high won't be there this season and, in all likelihood, won't return until another marquee player on the team is outwardly and overtly religious in their play on the field. There will be thousands of Christian fans of the Gators still, I'm not saying that they'll all leave, but what I am saying is that only the ones who were football fans will remain...which is quite sad.
I've got another football season or two left in my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Florida and I will gladly give my attention and fandom to the Gators regardless of what someone in the #15 jersey does during those season. It's all about the Florida Gators at the end of the day, and I'm glad that myself, my brothers, and the majority of my friends here in Gainesville understand that fact. Here's to next season and to Brantley making a few people happy that Tebow isn't here anymore simply because it won't mean the end of the world every Saturday.
