NEW YORK - There should be a more succinct way to describe why Tim Tebow deserved to become the second player ever to win two Heisman Trophies.
To do that, however, you would need to truly understand Tebow. Know how and why he does what he does. Comprehend the soul he has been blessed with.
I can't. Tebow's a far more superior human being than me. Tebow's filet mignon, and I'm the Whopper Junior - my diet while working nights in the Alligator office can prove so.
I have seen, however, the impact Tebow has had on his teammates
Some of those guys are more on my level. Nothing personal.
Last season, Tebow couldn't figure out how to push his teammates harder. It's doubtful if anybody could have. They were 18- and 19-year old boys who thought they would win Southeastern Conference football games like they were pee-wee games against third graders.
This season, Tebow has pushed more than 50 men past what they are capable of. Tebow had the play of the year in college football - perhaps sports itself, pending what happens on Jan. 8 - when he stepped to a podium and went on a soliloquy about he would make sure he and his teammates would outwork everybody else for the rest of the season.
Sam Bradford had a remarkable year, and it's hard to argue with giving him the award. When you become just the second sophomore to ever win the award, you have to have a better season than the first sophomore to win it. You put the 2007 Tim Tebow on Oklahoma's roster this year, and they might not lose that Texas game. This year's Sooners have the leaders and the maturity last year's Gators did not. Bradford has not outperformed the 2007 Tebow - on and off the field - this season. Now let's talk Colt McCoy.
There's a tough comparison. McCoy scored just two touchdowns more than Tebow did this season, but he didn't have a conference championship game to bolster his stats. McCoy's one loss came because his defense couldn't stop Texas Tech with 1:22 left.
If his defense holds, McCoy and Tebow are the two quarterbacks playing for a national championship on Jan. 8. And he has done it all with the least talented team among the finalists. Texas doesn't have the position players UF or Oklahoma does.
He has also the unquestioned leader of the Longhorns.
McCoy is more deserving than Bradford.
Years from now, though, when the 2008 college football season is talked about, people will be talking about Tebow. McCoy has had a fantastic year, but he has not transcended the sport of college football. Tebow has.
Name the last linebacker-sized quarterback who actually plays like a linebacker. There isn't one. Tebow has changed the way a college athlete can lead his team. He has shown it is possible for a 21-year-old man to put the pressure of a multi-million person fan base on his shoulders and succeed.
With all due respect to McCoy, name another quarterback who chest bumps his offensive coordinator before a game, gets into the special teams and defensive huddles and then proceeds to thank Jesus Christ for his ability to do that.
Maybe that's not the Heisman. It wasn't to a lot of the voters. It does make for one unbelievable person who has learned how to make the lives and attitudes of others better than they were before.
