Tebow played quarterback for Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and was ranked among the top quarterback prospects in the nation as a high school senior. He ultimately chose to attend the University of Florida. Tebow was a dual threat quarterback, adept at rushing and passing the football. As a college freshman, the Gators' coaches largely used him as a change of pace to the team's more traditional passing quarterback, Chris Leak. Tebow contributed to the Gators' 2006 college football season as a key back-up, helping the team win college football's national championship game for the first time since 1996.
During the 2007 season, Tebow was Florida's starting quarterback and became the first college football player to both rush and pass for 20 or more touchdowns in a single season and the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. In addition to winning the Heisman Trophy, his 2007 performance earned him the Maxwell Award as the nation's top football player, the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback and the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete in any sport. In 2008, Tebow led Florida to its second national championship in three years. He was named the offensive MVP of the national championship game.
On January 7, 2007, Tebow was featured prominently in an ESPN "Outside The Lines" feature on homeschooled athletes seeking equal access to high school athletics in other states. Because a homeschooler's access to public and private school athletic functions vary by state, Tebow and New York Jets defensive end Jason Taylor (who was allowed to play at his local high school in Pennsylvania) argue in favor of extending the right to play for local teams to more states.
Upon becoming the first home-schooled athlete to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy, Tebow remarked, "That's really cool. A lot of times people have this stereotype of homeschoolers as not very athletic – it's like, go win a spelling bee or something like that – it's an honor for me to be the first one to do that."
Tebow's example inspired equal access supporters in Alabama to name their bill in the Alabama Legislature "The Tim Tebow Bill". The bill, which is pending in the Alabama Legislature, will allow Alabama homeschool athletes to play for their local high school teams just as Tebow did in Florida.
In January 2009, the "Tebow bill" was introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly. This bill, which is still pending, is also modeled after Florida state law, allowing homeschool athletes to play for their local sports teams.
Tebow received the 2008 Quaqua Protégé Award as an outstanding home-education graduate.
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