This Tebow thing has got to stop

Can we please pump the breaks on the run away car that is the love affair with the prophet formally known as Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow?

His accomplishments on the field (2 National Championships, 1 Heisman, 110 total TD's) are undeniable, but things have officially gone too far.

Earlier last week, Urban Meyer had a plaque engraved with the so called speech Tebow gave after last year's 31-30 home loss to Ole Miss placed outside the front entrance of the Gators' new football complex.

(I can see the t-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, wall posters, coasters and other nick nacks being ordered by the campus bookstore right now.)

I have nothing against Tim Tebow, but this is going to turn the public lip lock the media is currently having with him into a full blow and unprotected orgy. It's bad enough FOX dedicated part of its coverage during the BCS National Championship Game to showing and telling us how spending 15 minutes in the presence of Tebow can "make your life better".  Now Urban Meyer has gone and put Tebow's "speech" on display as if it was the Gators' version of the Ten Commandments.

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Is there anthing in "The Promise" that hasn't been said before? I'm sure somebody stood up in Ohio State's lockeroom and said something to the effect of what Tebow said after the Buckeyes got buswacked by USC last season. I'd be willing to bet a nice chunk of change somebody made a similar proclamation in USC's lockeroom after they finished sleepwalking their way to a 27-21 loss at Oregon State nearly two weeks later. I was in the post game news conference after Oklahoma lost to what at the time was an underrated Texas squad and I sure do remember Bob Stoops or Sam Bradford saying the basically the same things Tebow did as they were answering questions. (That same Oklahoma team destroyed everybody the rest of the season on their way to the BCS National Title Game.)

To be honest, Tebow didn't say anything special. It was just deemed special by everybody because Tim Tebow said it. I know Tebow is the unquestioned leader of the Gators but was "The Promise" really worthy of being etched in stone and mounted as if it came from the big man upstairs?

"The Promise" wasn't more monumental or influential than Bo Schembechler's "The Team". It definitely wasn't as anger filled as Kellen Winslow's "I'm a soldier!" rant, and when it comes to sheer entertainment value, it pales in comparison to Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy and the YouTube sensation, "I'm a man! I'm 40!" tirade.

In this day and age where every coach preaches the word "TEAM" at nausea and the importance of not having any single player feel as thought they are above the rest of their teammates, isn't it funny Meyer, a noted acquaintance of Bill Belichick, has all but put Tebow on a pedestal above and beyond his teammates?

Again, Tebow's accomplishments on the field speak for themselves. However, the mounting of his post game comments after the Ole Miss loss is just too much. 

We already have to see the countless pieces on Tebow and his dedication to missionary work over seas. (Why don't the players at BYU get the same recognition?) Now we're going to be forced to sit through a season full of pieces dedicated to the "man love" between Tebow and Urban Meyer like the one ESPN just ran this past weekend for their weekly addition of Sunday Conversation.

With virtually everybody but Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy coming back, the Gators are probably going to start the season ranked at or near the top of every pre season poll. 

(Cue the soundbites of Urban Meyer with that stern look on his face as he talks about competing and going after another title.) 

With that said, it's a given ESPN and CBS will spend more than their fair share of time talking to the quarterback of the defending national champs.

If the hoards of media that will undoubtedly flock to the swamp ask questions about the upcoming season and the death march that is the SEC, that's fine. I'm just not sure though if myself or any other college football fan outside of Gainsville has the stomach to watch a season full of interviews dedicated to "The Promise".

Urban Meyer is a great coach, but this latest act in the name of Tebow is going to move his quarterback out of the realm of cult hero and into a category for which I have no name for yet. 

I'm a former college football player myself who's had the dubious experience of being in lockeroom after an unexpected and heartbreaking loss. Trust me people, I've seen a lot of guys make the same pledge Tebow made and nobody on the coaching staff, let alone the head coach, thought is worthy of being mounted on the front entrance of the football complex.

Urban Meyer has done a lot in his short time as the head man at Florida. He's won a couple of National Titles. He's produced a couple of first round draft picks in Reggie Nelson and Derrick Harvey. (It'll be three after some team in the middle to late part of the first round puts Harvin's name on the card they hand to Roger Goodell on April 25th.) He's even managed to draw the ire of new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin for blowing up a recruits cell phone while he was visiting in Knoxville.

I'm sorry, but it's impossible to do a story nowadays about anything related to the Gators without mentioning Lane Kiffin.

All that said though, the mounting of "The Promise" is just a little too much much mustard on the hot dog. It's too much salt on the french fries. To put a spin on Denzel Washington's line in Remember the Titans, Urban Meyer has over cooked the Tebow grits.

To put the top back on the can of worms this will ultimately turn into, I'll leave you with this.

"I'm not sure how the Gators will do this season, but I promise you one thing. A lot of ill humored signs and off colored chants will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire conference get booed as much as Tim Tebow will get booed this coming season. You will never see a player be supported by his team as much as Tim Tebow will be supported by his team this coming season. You will never see a team thrive off getting booed as much as the Gators will thrive off getting booed this season. God Bless."