Kentucky Coach Compares Tebow To A Baker

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- What's funny about Tim Tebow is that so many people want to drop the "best-ever" hyperbole on him, but almost all do it in such a way that describes the Florida senior as one of the best-ever players in college football history, never one of the best-ever quarterbacks, the position he's played for the Gators for going on four years now.

The coach of Florida's next opponent, Kentucky's Rich Brooks, added his name to the list of those who need to categorize everyone and everything at UK's weekly media luncheon at the ole Wildcat Den Monday. In heaping praise on the Gators' Heisman Tropy-winning QB, Brooks made sure to emphasize the word "player," implying that maybe Tebow's quarterbacking skills alone might not be deserving of such recognition.

Brooks compared Tebow to Terry Baker. Ah, yes, Terry Baker. Who doesn't think of Terry Baker while watching Tebow bull his way through the line on 3rd-and-goal?

Actually, this is high praise indeed. Baker won the Heisman Trophy when he and Brooks were teammates at Oregon State in 1962. And to glorify Tebow or any player for his complete body of work -- saying he's greater than the sum of his parts, essentially -- is a stronger compliment than just saying he's a great position player. If I recall, God created the football player on the sixth day -- those are the words of Ampipe senior cornerback Stefen Djordjevic, not mine -- and he must have looked like Florida's No. 15.

Anyway, here's Brooks' take on Tebow, whose Gators pay a visit to Lexington's Commonwealth Stadium Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff: