I was born in another state, grew up with no ties to UF and could not care less if the Gators generally win or not.
But I am whole-heartedly pulling for Tim Tebow to win the Heisman.
And I seem to be in the minority of those not wearing orange and blue who think Tebow should lift the trophy on Dec. 8.
For the last few weeks, everybody purposefully ignored Tebow, looking for reasons not to give him the award.
He?s a sophomore.
He has three losses (Darren McFadden has four).
He is a product of a system (Colt Brennan and Pat White can vouch for that, too).
It reminds me a lot of this time last year, when everybody hopped on the bandwagon and said UF did not deserve to play for the national title.
These could be the same idiots who started liking the Red Sox in 2003 or 2004 or the Colts last season or Miami football six years ago.
While pushing Tebow down, other, less deserving players have been given undue hype.
It?s terrible that Dennis Dixon tore his anterior cruciate ligament, but I don?t even think he should have been ahead of Tebow in the first place.
Since Dixon?s injury, McFadden has been the trendy pick for Tebow haters.
I would not be surprised to see McFadden, likely the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, win the Heisman over Tebow.
In fact, as each day passes, I am starting to expect it more and more.
I will give McFadden all the credit in the world for racking up 206 rushing yards and three touchdowns on LSU?s vaunted defense.
That was an outstanding game.
But the Heisman Trophy does not go to the most outstanding player in Week 13.
It goes to the most outstanding player for Week one through Week 14.
Unfortunately, many voters could over-emphasize each player?s final game.
McFadden played on national TV with no other competing games on at the same time.
Though UF played on CBS on Saturday, almost the entire country missed Tebow?s first two scores because the Tennessee-Kentucky game went into four overtimes and overlapped into UF?s time slot.
By the time most people tuned into the romp at The Swamp, the game was in hand and not really watchable for the average college football fan.
McFadden has had a great year with 1,725 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, both bettering his stats from a year ago, when he finished second in the Heisman balloting.
But Tebow has had an even greater season.
He has 3,132 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Tebow has seven more rushing touchdowns than McFadden, and, oh yeah, ranks second in the nation in passing efficiency.
Tebow hasn?t had a game with more than one interception, while McFadden didn?t show up for one of his biggest games, against Auburn.
The Tigers held McFadden to 43 yards rushing on 2.5 yards per carry.
Tebow has broken records previously held by Emmitt Smith, Herschel Walker and Rex Grossman while dealing with a sore shoulder.
Everything Tebow has done this year has been outstanding.
I can?t say the same thing for any other player in the country.
