Sure it’s 100% band wagon’ing if you only liked the Gators since 2006 because of Tebow, or if you dumped your previous NFL team for the Broncos. But there is no reason to hate on people who now like the Broncos because of Tebow. I enjoy watching the Vikings because of Harvin. Do I claim the Vikings? No, I don’t… But I do root for them now.

I would say every decade or so there comes a college player that you really enjoy watching play. Whether it be his amazing skills on the field or if you can relate to him off the field. So naturally when that player makes it to the pros you would enjoy watching him play still and of course you would want him to play well, so technically you are rooting for that team to do well.

This is where I disagree. Yes Btantley is our QB now, my avatar pic proved I am more then ready to see him play. But what does that have to do with Tebow in the NFL? If people want to become Bronco fans because of Tebow, how in the he’ll does that have anything to do with them being Gator fans? I root for Harvin and the Vikings but trust me when it’s Saturday I’m a Deonte Thompson fan all the way, or any other Gator player… So stop stressing so much on who people root for on Sunday as long as they are orange and blue all the way on Saturdays.

Who ever waste money on that broncogator crap is an idiot. No offense.

The moment I saw that BroncoGator website days after Tim was drafted, I was infuriated. It was immediately obvious this is some POS trying to make money off of Tim’s fame.

If you follow Tim as a player and respect him, buying up this garbage is NOT the way to show you value him as a person and an athlete.

I grew up in Utah watching the Utes play football every fall. College Football to me was watching the Utes win some, and loose some and a successful satisfying season was going to a mediocre bowl game like the Las Vegas Bowl, and winning. That all changed when Urban Meyer came to Utah and took us to the BCS and put Utah on the national scene. I never paid attention to College Football outside of the state of Utah until after he went to Florida. I was deployed to Iraq during the 2006 season, and due to mission constraints, the only football news I got that season was that Utah had won their bowl game, Boise State upset Oklahoma, and Florida won the National Championship. The following season, after I got back from Iraq is when I first started watching College Football. I hadn’t even heard of Tim Tebow until that season. Out of gratitude to Urban Meyer and his putting Utah on the map, I started following the Gators, mostly because I wanted to follow a team that could contend for a National Championship. Every time the Gators were on, I was watching. I knew nothing of Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Riley Cooper, Aaron Henrandez, Brandon Spikes or the Pouncey brothers until after I started watching and seeing what great talent came out of Florida. I grew a deep appreciation for the program because it was a guarantee that you would see good quality football every time the Gators took the field.

Because my roots are in Utah, I have faithfully watched them the few times I was able to see them on TV each year. It was a great thing to see them destroy Alabama in the Sugar Bowl during the 2008 season, and it seemed apparent that the 2008 season was the closest they would ever get to a National Championship. Even then I never thought that they would ever get to play for a National Championship. It was still as good as it gets.

 I’ve never followed the NFL until it was time for the playoffs because it seems like they have nothing to play for until the playoffs, so to me the game isn’t as exciting, however it is because of Tim Tebow that I will follow the NFL more closely this year. You can call me a fair weather fan all you want, and I would have to agree with you because I’ve never cared for NFL Football, yet I was one of the thousands who bought a Broncos Tebow jersey. If he had been drafted to the Seahawks, it would have been a Seahawks jersey I bought, so I agree that when it comes to the NFL, I am a fair weather band wagon jumper. Guilty as Charged.

Now that half of the Gators were drafted to the NFL after this last season, I am more excited than ever to watch the Gators play this fall. John Brantley is our man, and he is going to do some great things. My love for Gator Football has only grown more and more to match or even surpass my love for Utah Football. Now that Utah will actually have a legitimate chance to play for a National Championship starting in the 2011 season, I’ve been thinking about who I would cheer for if they ended up facing Florida for the National Championship, and while 3 years ago, I would have been all about Utah, now I’m not sure what my choice would be now. I have grown to love Gator football just as much, if not more than Utah Football. If that means that I am a fair weather Gator fan, then I am going to be a fair weather gator fan until I die. Like it or not, I’m here to stay.

A huge reason Tebow was so loved was how invested he was in the Gators. Compare him to the could-care-less QB’s like Doug Johnson or Rex Grossman. Did you really feel the same for Grossman as you did for all-in guys like Wuerffel, Leak, Tebow, and probably Brantley?

As for if they wear the orange and blue garnering praise all the same, if you were a Nebraska fan, woudl you really have rooted for Lawrence Phillips? Isn’t character involved?

Thankfully for me, I’ve been a Broncos fan for as long as I’ve been a Gators fan – I started following American sports in the early 90’s – so this doesn’t really apply to me. I’m also a junior at UF now, which apparently ups my cred. As a writer for Mile High Report (SBNation’s Denver Broncos’ blog) I’ve seen the Tebow effect in the NFL. We’ve embraced the incoming fans and I think it’s more lasting than you think. Tebow brought in plenty of new fans into the Gator Nation and they’re not all walking out the door now that he’s wearing different shades of Orange and Blue. Likewise, his fans won’t forget that the Broncos were the franchise that believed in him when no one else did and they’ll cheer for the team even after he leaves Denver, too. Regardless, these are fellow fans, not soldiers enlisting to battle whose loyalty and/or intensity may mean life or death. All in all, I’d say go with the flow and stand with the courage of your convictions. You need not point out others’ flaws to extol your own virtues…

wanted him on the bills. that didnt happen. i will not root for the broncos, but i would like to see tebow do well. i cant stand josh mcdaniels, so i really dont like the broncos. i root for harvin, and tebow, and maybe haden (but i really dont like any team from ohio) to do well, but not well enough it affects my team…

Thank you, i’m glad to see others who root for the team and not a player. Its find to like or follow a player but its hard for me to see people jumping onto and off of bangwagons. There’s no loyalty except to the player

I’m a regular reader, but this one really got to me. Clearly you are a devoted and knowledgable Gator. I also bleed the blue and orange. However I feel like you are missing a pretty critical part of the fan experience.

I didn’t root harder for Tebow because he was a good Christian boy or harder for Harvin because he came from a working-class background. As long as they wore orange and blue, they were my boys

Huh. Would Mike Vick or OJ Simpson be your boys if they wore the orange and blue too? Clearly an extreme example, but by stating that all you care about is the university they chose to enroll in, it is the 100% the logical conclusion to that thesis.

And why are you so disturbed by people becoming fans of the Broncos because of Tebow? And why does the concept of bandwagon Gator fans disturb you so much?

The bottom line is that an increased fanbase is nothing but beneficial for Gator Nation, and more importantly to the University of Florida. It leads to increased enrollment & applications, more merchandising money, and a general benefit to all alumni and future students to our great UF. Holding some kind of arbitrary elitist grudge against “bandwagon” fans certainly doesn’t outweigh that.

I’m the editor of BigCatCountry.com, I’m sure some of you know who I am. Just want to say we put this as a fanshot on our front page. I’ve said things like this numerous times because of the situation with Tebow and the Jaguars, but I’m just a “Gator Hater”, so it’s great to see it by a Gator fan.

Very well done.

I’ve got the opposite story for you. I grew up in Jacksonville always rooting for the Gators and Jaguars. The Jaguars are my team through and through, those are my roots. When I didn’t choose to go to UF, I still rooted for the Gators and went to games when I was home. My biggest problem is the mentality of these fans that are overly passionate about a single player in a team game (I think you said it perfectly). When “Jaguar” fans are clamoring for the Jags to draft Tebow or they won’t buy season tickets, it KILLS me. When all these people in Jacksonville are suddenly wearing Broncos gear, it KILLS me. People are going to root for whoever they want, but to me it seems like part of the reason the Jags are on life support because of Tim Tebow (through no fault of his own). It’s gotten to the point where I started resenting Tebow and the Gators. He was a hell of a player on the field and has done off the field, but that’s all, he’s a football player not the Messiah. I’m rooting for John Brantley, I really think he could be special, and what’s even funnier, is I think he’ll actually do well in the NFL.

If your mad at the local fans for not being loyal to thier NFL team, then post that crap on your own blog. Don’t blame Tebow or the Gators. The ppl that are now Bronco fans were never jag fans to begin with. I used to have a Fred Taylor jersey and I live in Tampa bay area, and everyone understood why I wore it, they didn’t cry about how I should never wear other teams jerseys just because he played for the Gators.

Bandwagoners can jump off a bridge for all I care