Art by Tim Carroll

A man is only as good as his word.  In the world of sports, words that are spoken are taken very seriously.  The actions that follow either turn that man into a hero or a goat.  Sure, anyone can "talk the talk".  The question is:  Can they "walk the walk"? 

On September 27, 2008, the Ole Miss Rebels travelled down to Gainesville for an anticipated beatdown from the undefeated Florida Gators.  Reigning Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow had already cemented himself as a Gator hero.  In the previous year, he had become the first Division 1 college football player ever to rush for 20 touchdowns and pass for 20 touchdowns in the same season.  He set multiple SEC records, and had re-written the Florida Gator record books as a running quarterback.  His season was capped off with that Heisman trophy, which was the first time in history the prestigious award had been given to a sophomore.  Although the SEC is one of the strongest conferences in the nation - nobody outside of Oxford, MS gave the Rebels a chance to pull off the upset, especially in the SWAMP.  After a key blocked extra point toward the end of the game, Ole Miss left town with a 31-30 shocker.  Gator Nation was STUNNED.  How would Tim Tebow, their loveable leader, react?  Would this be the time we would finally see the chink in the armor? 

Tebow took the podium that evening almost in tears.  However, he wasn't sad.  He wasn't mad at his team.  There was just something burning in him about losing AT HOME during a season in which you were supposed to run the table.  He only said 107 words during his speech, and he didn't stop to answer questions.  What he said was unrehearsed - straight from the heart.  He took responsibility for the loss, and he wanted to give the Gator fans a reason to watch for the rest of the "disappointing" football season:

 

"To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry.  I’m extremely sorry.  We were hoping for an undefeated season.  That was my goal, something Florida has never done here.  I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this.  You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season.  You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season.  You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.  God Bless."

 

 

And so the rest of the season began.  What kind of man would Tim Tebow be?  Could he talk the talk AND walk the walk? 

 

 

 

****I used the speech above for this piece.  It is written 35 complete times left-to-right (and one partial). It measures 25.5" x 19.5".  Graphite on Canson paper.  Total words written:  3,769.  Total amount of time:  16.25 hours.  Completed November 20, 2009.****

 

 

 

 

Tebow promised that "a lot of good would come of this."    And it did.    PROMISE KEPT.

 

 

 

 

 

He promised you would never see any player in the country play as hard as he would.    And you haven't.     PROMISE KEPT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He promised you would never see anyone push his team like he would push his.    And you didn't.     PROMISE KEPT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#15 promised you would "never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season."    And he was right.     PROMISE KEPT.

 

 

 

 

 

On January 11, 2009 - 3 days after the National Championship game -  the Florida Gators held an event to celebrate their season.

 

Tim Tebow held up the PROMISE HE HAD KEPT.

 

 

 

A little closer:

 

 

 

 

And a little closer:

 

 

 

 

One final look:

 

 

 

 

It is worth noting that after the Tim Tebow "Promise" speech on September 27, 2008.........the Florida Gators did not lose again until the SEC Championship Game on December 5, 2009 (almost 15 months later).