It appears Tim Tebow has a new calling: uncharacteristically calling out college football teams instead of playing the role of “The Inspirational One.”
Last week, it was Tebow chiding Michigan for its “pathetic effort” in the season-opening loss to Notre Dame. This week’s object of Tebow’s chiding hits a heck of a lot closer to home for the former Heisman Trophy winner.
Last weekend, Kentucky dropped Tebow’s beloved alma mater, Florida, 27-16 in Gainesville. The loss ended the Gators’ 31-game winning streak in the series, with the Wildcats last winning November of 1986. It also marked UK’s first win in The Swamp since 1979.
Suffice to say, several former Florida football players had an opinion on the historic development, including Tebow. It was Tebow who, at the behest of first-year head coach Dan Mullen who spoke to the Gators prior to the UK loss; it was also Tebow who chastised that same team after the loss for, among other things, failing to take “the right type of confidence” into the game.
From Tebow’s appearance on the ESPN show First Take, as transcribed by USA Today:Tim Tebow: First time in 31 years, you can’t do that! You can’t do that.
Molly Qerim: “Come on, you’re supposed to be the inspirational one.”
Tim Tebow: “Not always! Listen, it was tough. 31 years… I wasn’t even born the last time Kentucky beat Florida. Are you kidding me?
I think Florida’s [moving] in the right direction. I think Dan Mullen’s going to get them there. I think it’s going to take a change in mindset. I was at practice Thursday before the Kentucky game and I spoke to the team; obviously, that didn’t do a lot of good.
There was a confidence, but in my opinion it wasn’t the right type of confidence. It was a confidence of ‘hey we’re Florida, we’re talented, we’ve got a lot of draft picks.’
Listen, draft picks don’t win games. Great players win games, OK? There’s a difference between being a great player and being a talented player. Florida’s talented players need to be great players.