Thursday, December 11, 2008

Questions On The Table, Part Nth

(1) Who was the best player in college football this season, regardless of position?

ANSWER: Andre Smith

(2) Who is your favorite college football player of all time?

ANSWER: Tim Tebow (well, at least mine)

(3) In picking the best college football player(s) ever, what criteria should be used (i.e., stats, W-L, titles, Heismans/awards, mythology)

ANSWER: Mythology is the No. 1 criteria (see Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Herschel Walker)

Each of those questions could probably make for an epic post and conversation. Isn't it nice to cram them all into one single post?

-- D.S.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dan-

For the sake of my question, assume Florida beats Oklahoma in the BCS title game. A win in the 08 BCS Championship Game gives Tebow two National Championships, without which, his mythology is no more than say, Darren McFadden, who was also the best player in CFB as a soph and joined Nutt and Felix Jones in spreading the Wild Hog. Yes, he won the Heisman (or two), but so did Gino Torretta.

My challenge for you: rank Tebow, Urban Meyer, and the Gators defense in order of impact on the two national championship teams.

I dont think this will matter for Tebow historically, which is why I ask the question now. I would argue that Tebow would rank third. Granted, football is the ultimate team sport, so the team's result is skewed to favor the importance of a unit as dominant as the Gators D was against Bama and OSU in 06. I find it interesting to think that as Tebow's individual legacy grows, the question remains: Has he truly "carried" the Gators to the top of the mountain? Even in his Heisman campaign, Tebow didn't even manage a bowl victory against (gasp!) a Big 10 team. Maybe only VY can claim such a lofy place in history.

Please note that my assumptions are in no way meant to pull an ESPN/USC Greatest Team of All-Time jinx. If the Quickie Jinx hasn't stopped UF, a comment on the blog spinoff should have no such luck, and much to my midwestern chagrin, I will be rooting for Florida in January.

Unknown said...

It's amazing how Florida fans forget a certain player who must be included in "The best ever" argument. He may still be breaking tackles of UF's linebackers....

LOOK AT TOMMY FRAZIER!!!! HOW MANY TACKLES CAN ONE MAN BREAK!!!

Go Big Red!

ryan said...

tommie frazier - so great, husker fans can't even be bothered to spell his name correctly.

Unknown said...

Question 3 - In picking the best college football player(s) ever, what criteria should be used.

I think the lone factor should be success that can be attributed the individual player.

Compare VY and Linehart. Texas winning in the national championship game added to VY's lore, but had they lost, VY still would have been a better college player than linehart. VY made Texas contenders, while Linehart spread the ball around to the likes of Bush, White, Jarrett, Steve Smith, and was able to do so standing behind a NFL quality O line. Their D was not shabby either.

While VY also had talent around him, it was to a different extent.

Is Florida's success because they have Tebow at QB, or because they are loaded? It will be tough to judge this until after he has left. Its easiest to judge based upon how the program did before and after the player was on campus. The Chris Leak led 05 squad was 9-3. They won the national championship in 06 with Tebow on the squad, but under the leadership of 1st team all SEC QB Leak. Basically the Gators were NC contenders w/o Tebow, if they remain their post-Tebow....well how much did he (individually) add to the program?

RHOmea said...

There is only one way to know how much Tim Tebow affects the play of the Florida Gators.
Go read what his teammates & coaches have to say about it. Because a QB who is also the team leader in the gym, in practise and on the field, can't be quantified by cold stats alone. You have to be there to feel the heat a leader generates.
Everything else is outsider speculation.