There are 12 days until Florida's football opener against Florida Atlantic on September 3. There are 24 entries remaining in our 50 For 50 series. You do the math. And check out Alligator Army's 50 For 50 series for more of our 50 reasons to be excited for Florida football in 2011.
Florida Gators fans understand the Tim Tebow thing. It's nothing new to us for Tebow to be treated as a messianic media rainmaker; we've known how special, magnetic, and polarizing he is for many years. Many of us loved Tebow before it was cool to do so (and, thus, long before it became passe to do so), and some of us hated or were skeptical of Tebow well in advance of this NFL backlash.
Some of us are tired of Tebow, too. (Is this where I raise my hand?) And we're tired of the media coverage, too: we've been hearing it for a lot longer.
But mostly, we get Tebow's situation, the media predicament, and the Broncos fan's conundrum right now. We know Tebow's not going to be a traditional NFL starting quarterback, and we get that it burns him that he's not getting a chance to show what he can do. We know that covering him to death is likely a thing that even the most numbers-aware outlets are worried about doing right now. We understand what it's like to doubt Tebow — that happened, briefly, in that two-week period before the Tennessee game in 2008 — and we know what it's like to realize his shortcomings.
We understand all of this, and most of us don't mind talking about it. So we're definitely good resources if you, your friends, or literally anyone on Earth wants to talk about Tebow.
And that's a good thing, entering this Florida football season, because Gators fans will be asked about Tebow. Relentlessly. And probably not always kindly. Just know, when you are asked, that you know and get the Tebow thing better than most. And answer the questions with candor, charm, and friendliness.
That's what Tebow would do, isn't it?