I know you want him back.
You miss watching him hop around in The Swamp pumping up the crowd. You miss him plowing through defensive lines and side-stepping linebackers before unleashing a bomb down the field.
But to borrow a line from noted basketball coach and Italian restaurant love-maker Rick Pitino: “Tim Tebow is not walking through that door.”
Not even wearing Trey Burton’s No. 8 jersey.
TV commentators miss Tebow almost as much as you do. He provided endless highlights and fodder for discussion, and they’re eager to fill the void.
After Burton went off for six touchdowns against Kentucky two weeks ago, those people saw a chance to choose a new Chosen One. They anointed Burton, a freshman wildcat quarterback/tight end/receiver/fullback, the man for the job.
But he isn’t. No one is.
There won’t be another Tebow at Florida. There won’t be another Percy Harvin, either. And anyone who gets labeled as such is having unfair pressure heaped on top of an already pressure-packed job.
Andre Debose got the “next Harvin” tag before he graduated from high school, and more than a year after he arrived on campus, he’s struggling to meet those lofty expectations.
The hype was too much for Debose, but that isn’t stopping people from making the same mistake with Burton.
Here’s what it took for the Burton-Tebow comparison to be made:
1. Burton is playing as a running quarterback in his freshman season. Hey, Tebow did that!
2. Burton looks excited when he scores touchdowns. So did Tim!
3. Burton loves Jesus. No way! This kid’s the second coming!
It would make for a cute story, but it isn’t true.
Sure, there are some similarities, but Burton is a different type of player.
Tebow was one of the nation’s most coveted prospects coming out of high school after spending his prep career dominating with both his legs and his arm. From the moment he announced he would attend UF, he was the quarterback of the future.
Burton was a three-star prospect surrounded by serious doubts about his skill throwing the ball, an area where even he admits he isn’t the best. He’s functioning as a Swiss Army knife for Florida’s offense, and he’s doing it pretty well.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
CBS commentators went so far as to try and stir up a quarterback controversy between Burton and starter John Brantley during the Florida-Alabama broadcast, which evoked memories of the calls to replace Chris Leak with Tebow in 2006.
Here’s one thing Tebow and Burton have in common: both of those ideas were stupid.
The biggest complaint about Brantley is he’s too one-dimensional to run the option and that Burton’s running ability makes him a better fit. That’s true, but Burton’s struggles throwing the ball would make him predictable, too. At least with Brantley and a running back, the offense can have some balance.
Burton is a good change-of-pace option, just like Tebow was as a freshman.
But Tebow grew from that into a premier quarterback, which isn’t the likely path for Burton. Not to knock him, but he isn’t the quarterback of the future.
He’s a good football player with a chance to be great, but let’s not try to make him something he’s not.
