Perhaps this is just the Seminole fan in me talking, but all this hype about Tim Tebow NOT working out at the NFL Combine this week is making me a little sick.  I’ve said it all along and I’ll say it again: Tebow won’t do anything of note in the NFL at the quarterback position.  Defensive players in the NFL are too fast and too strong for him to escape like he did regularly in college.  And now he’s working on a new delivery and his footwork.  As Mike tells his students about practicing aural skills, “You can’t fatten the calf the day of the market.”  Yes, Tebow was a great college player.  It pains me to say that, but it’s true.  He won often and he won big.  Fact.  But, as many a Gator quarterback has proven, the NFL ain’t college.  What he’s been doing for four years in Gainesville can’t simply be unlearned and reprogrammed in less than a month before Pro Day (17 March).  As another adage goes, “Old habits die hard.”

On the other hand, Myron Rolle from FSU has been getting a lot of attention lately because of his unique combination of brains and athletic talent, and rightfully so.  He’s a brilliant guy whose future is amazingly bright, both on and off the field.  However, there are some in NFL circles who feel like his mental aptitude will hinder his NFL career.  I just don’t understand how people think that being intelligent and having aspirations IN ADDITION to NFL success can be hindrances.  Um, what?  The way I see it, his mental acuity can only HELP him, especially at the free safety position.  He’s the last line of defense: he has to read the whole field and react accordingly, which takes both athletic talent and intelligence.  Whatever team drafts Myron will be lucky to have him.  As he did at Florida State, he’ll represent that organization well in every aspect of his life.

Throughout their college careers, there was a gross incongruity in press coverage between Tebow and Rolle, due, in part, to Tebow’s success on the field.  Despite some of the NFL cynics, I’m glad to see some of press finally recognizing Rolle.  I’m looking forward to watching how these two men develop, both as players and as humanitarians.