Tebow discusses Meyer pulling him to Florida

By Adam Silverstein
April 22, 2011

In an interview with 790 The Zone in Atlanta, GA, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow discussed a variety of topics including how he manages his many responsibilities, his thoughts about his statue outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and how he is finding a silver lining in the current NFL lockout situation.

Tebow also dove into more detail on his decision to attend Florida instead of Alabama, where then-head coach Mike Shula had almost solidified his commitment. In addition to all of the other factors, Tebow explained how former Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer ended up getting him to change his mind.

“It was very close. I mean, down to the very last second I had no idea where I was going to go and it was between two great schools. My whole high school career, I thought I was going to Alabama because Urban wasn’t at Florida at that time, and they had Coach Shula — I loved him, I respected him as family, I loved the passion Alabama fans had for the game. That was something, you watch me play, I love it, I’m passionate about it, and seeing those fans, I loved it, I was in to it. And they had great players and I had become friends with a lot of their players, so most of my high school career I honestly thought I was going to Alabama.

“Then this guy named Urban Meyer got the job at Florida, and he worked harder than any coach at single handedly trying to recruit for a year and a half. And at the end I bought into it, I believed him. You could see something about this guy in his eyes – that fire, that passion – that he’s something special, that he’s going to do something special. And I believed I could lead his team to do something extremely special. And I believed that. At the end of the day, that’s why I went to Florida. It wasn’t because it was close to home, it wasn’t because of the spread offense, it was because I believed in the man Urban Meyer.”

You can read the entire interview here, courtesy of the good folks at SportsRadioInterviews.com or listen to it by playing the file below.