Tim Tebow - Early Years

Early Years

Tebow's parents met while attending the University of Florida in the late 1960s. Pamela, his mother, was a freshman and his father, Robert, was a sophomore at the time. The couple married on June 12, 1971, before Pamela's graduation from the University. In 1985, the family moved to the Philippines where they served as Baptist missionaries and built a ministry. Prior to becoming pregnant with Tim, his mother contracted amoebic dysentery and fell into a coma. She discovered she was pregnant while recovering. Because of the medications used to treat her, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion however, the Tebows decided against it citing their strong faith and on August 14, 1987, she gave birth to Tim in Manila.

Tim Tebow is the youngest of five children. He and his siblings were all homeschooled by their parents, who worked to instill the family's Christian beliefs. In 1996, legislation was passed in Florida allowing homeschooled students to compete in high school sporting events. The law, also known as the Tim Tebow law, specifies that homeschooled students may participate on the team of the local high school in the school district in which they live. Tebow took advantage of this law when he decided to attend Trinity Christian Academy, the local high school in his hometown of Jacksonville, where he played tight end. In 2003, he moved into an apartment in nearby St. Johns County, making him eligible to play for the struggling football program at Allen D. Nease High School where he could play quarterback. His performance led to a minor controversy regarding the fact that, although homeschooled, he had his choice of school for which to play.

Tebow came to national prominence as a junior at Nease, known for his running and throwing abilities, as well as an intense competitiveness. Later that year, he suffered an injury to his right leg late in the first half of a game. Originally believed to be suffering from a bad cramp, he actually played the entire second half with a broken fibula, at one point rushing for a 29-yard touchdown. After the game the extent of the injury was discovered and he was held out for the remainder of his junior season. Nevertheless he was named Florida's Player of the Year and became a major college football quarterback prospect.

During his senior season he led the Nease Panthers to a state title, earned All-State honors, was named Florida's Mr. Football and a Parade magazine high school All-American, and repeated as Florida's Player of the Year. He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas which featured the top 78 senior high school football players in the nation and was shown nationally on NBC television.

Tebow was the subject of an ESPN "Faces in Sports" documentary. The segment was titled "Tim Tebow: The Chosen One", and focused on Tim's homeschool controversy and missionary work in the Philippines, as well as his exploits on the field of play and the college recruiting process. Tim Tebow was also featured in Sports Illustrated on the "Faces in the Crowd" page. In 2007, he was named to FHSAA's All-Century Team that listed the Top 33 football players in the state of Florida's 100 year history of high school football. Despite family ties to the University of Florida, where his parents met as students, Tebow considered other schools, including the University of Alabama. One of the reasons he gave for choosing Florida was coach Urban Meyer's spread option offense, an offense for which Tebow was deemed an archetypal quarterback. Prior to enrolling at the University of Florida, he spent three summers in the Philippines, helping with his father's orphanage and missionary work.