Tim Tebow Explains Why NFL Has Absolutely Nothing Like College Rivalry Week
There is nothing in this world like a true rivalry game in football, whether it’s the kids from your hometown high school giving a black eye to those bums from the next town over or the guys from Old State U sticking it to Old U State on Thanksgiving weekend.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the Egg Bowl (Mississippi-Mississippi State), the Apple Cup (Washington-Washington State) or the Fremont Cannon (Nevada-UNLV). Your school could go 1-11, but as long as the 1 is against that rival, nothing else matters.
Likewise, you could go 11-1, make the College Football Playoff, win the national title, but if you lost that rivalry game as the 1, your season could be seen as a failure.
Tim Tebow, whose Florida Gators beat the ever-loving daylights out of Florida State 41-14 on Saturday, knows what college football rivalry week is all about, and he was happy to tell ESPN viewers all about it.
“When you put on that rival’s uniform, you instantly dislike ’em,” Tebow said, pointing out that “some are friends, you grow up playing against them, Pop Warner, high school, All-America games,” but none of that matters in college.
“It’s no longer, ‘Oh, it’s OK, we’re shaking hands, everything’s fine.’ No, it’s a different level of dislike.”
And indeed, if you ever have a hankering to get a mid-sized American suburb’s worth of people to hate you all at once, try wearing some Ohio State merch around the campus of the University of Michigan, especially in the fourth week of November.
Tebow pointed out that there’s no equivalent in the NFL, and he got to the heart of why by pointing out exactly that analogy about the 1-11 team.
“When you’re an underdog in this game, and your season is almost over and it’s been disappointing, and you’re 4-6 or 4-7 heading into this game,” he said, “you can still win and claim everything by beating your rival.
“That’s why this Iron Bowl (between Auburn and No. 1 Alabama) is so special. Because if Auburn wins, their season’s made by beating the No. 1 team in the country.”
Tebow also speculated on the Seminoles, saying, “If FSU beats Florida, a terrible season is made great by beating your rival. …”
“That’s why it’s so special. It’s unlike anything else.
“And for people that have never been a part of this rivalry, why it’s special is because you will do anything possible to win this game. That’s how much it means.”
Amen, Tim. Happy Rivalry Week, and if you went to a D-1 football school, may your school find success on the gridiron.
Unless you went to UNLV. I hope you guys lose by 50. Go Wolf Pack.
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