(08-18-2021, 07:55 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: So I came out my front door this morning, and some guy was walking down the street talking on his cell phone, and he was saying something like, "...he was arguably the greatest college football player off all time..." I'm sure he was talking about Tebow, and I have heard this from other people.  But I wouldn't put Tim Tebow in the top 10 college football players of all time. 

Is there any case at all that Tim Tebow is one of the all time great college football players?  He's a legend in Jacksonville, and among Gator fans, but seriously, all-time great in all of college football history?  No.

Absolutely. That case has been made many times by many pundits. For college players, the body of work is very relevant. Because the proposition on the table is not "who was the most talented player to play college football." Jerry Rice was arguably the greatest receiver to ever lace them up -- but his college and conference was inconsequential, and it's understood there's an "impact" factor on the whole body of work when looking at the greatest college players. Bo Jackson was the freakiest freak that ever freaked. Hershel was probably the best football player of all time. But body of work, consequential games, those things come into when trying to say the greatest.

Keep in mind, your question wasn't "Is he definitely the greatest" or even "is he the greatest." Your questions was "is there any case" for it. Yes. Just a few data points:

1. Two national championships. First one, wasn't the quarterback, but led that team in touchdowns. (Not many players have two, and those that do get in the conversation on that basis).
2. First sophomore to win the Heisman.
3. Only returning Heisman winner to win a national championship.
4. Broke Herschel Walker's SEC record for rushing touchdowns (which, in the conference that had Hershel, Bo, and so many other great tailbacks, is kind of the gold standard).
5. While breaking that rushing TD record, threw for 88 TD's (finishing 3rd in SEC history, one behind Peyton Manning's 89. Think about that -- rushed for more than Hershel, passed for about as many as Peyton.
6. First 30-20 man in college football (30 passing TD's and 20 rushing TD's). There are still only three (Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson).
7. Did all of this in the most difficult, competitive conference, at a time when that conference was at one of its peaks.

So there will be those that go "that's not I score it. He was on good teams and I want to give more points to guys who accomplished less with lousy teams." But you can see how from a story standpoint he's one of the most consequential players of all time.

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