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Tim Tebow explains how LSU made the rivalry personal for him in 2007
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Tim Tebow had a lot of memorable moments during his career as QB of the Gators, and some of his strongest battles came against the LSU Tigers.
Florida did go 3-1 against LSU during Tebow’s time with the Gators, but the two matchups in Baton Rouge were extremely hard-fought battles. Florida-LSU has been a rivalry for a while, but it has been a much tighter rivalry since Tebow’s freshman year of 2006.
LSU has won six of the last 11 matchups, and Tebow also views that year of 2006 as a sort of defining moment for the intensity of the rivalry.
Edgar Thompson with the Orlando Sentinel shared Tebow’s comments:
“They were battles,” said Tebow. “So many players from those (2006 and 2007) teams were really good in the NFL…Those rivalries, everything that happened. Sometimes the way that their fans could act, our fans don’t necessarily just embrace them with open arms.”
Tebow also pointed out that the rivalry became personal for him following the many threats he received in 2007:
“For me, it was also all the threats and the phone calls and all that stuff,” Tebow explained. “A lot of people say you can’t take that stuff personal. I think as athletes you try and take everything personal because it is personal.”
Florida and LSU will try and produce another classic when the teams line up this weekend. Saturday’s kickoff is set for 3:30 pm EST on CBS.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
