As a recovering Gator Hater, I am going through a 12-step program to help me deal with my animosity toward orange and blue. Well, not exactly. More like a recovery program to help me accept another Gator championship for the sake of cherishing the bigger picture.

Honestly, I have tried to pull against Tim Tebow all year but it has been a nagging struggle. This young man is everything I want my son to be. Courageous. Passionate. A cultural rebel. A man who loves God and fears nothing. A man who makes good on his word.

After Florida’s sole loss to Ole Miss earlier in the season, Tebow held a press conference declaring, “You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season and you’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season.”

He backed up those words with actions the rest of the way as Florida rolled, winning their next eight games by an average of nearly 40 points – then delivering in the championship title game against Oklahoma.

They say even Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas to bed at night.

He’s a product of the right kind of homeschooling – not the kind that shelters kids from the rest of the world, but the kind that prepares them to engage the world. I want all of my kids to experience the same kind of moral fabric, spiritual strength, relational skills, leadership qualities, boldness, and youthful maturity that Tebow personifies. Every sports analyst I have heard who has interviewed Tebow says his maturity level is beyond his years. Yes, we all want it to be said of our kids.

Tim Tebow is an incredible role model for all of us who want to follow Christ with more passion, resolve, and sheer doggedness. And because of this, we can forgive Mr. Tebow for being a Gator. At least temporarily.

We will just love him more when he leaves Gainesville for the NFL.