Mr. Touchdown wins the Heisman

So Tim Tebow was chosen for the Heisman trophy, breaking the sophomore curse. Congratulations, Mr. T. You definitely earned it with your play this year. I would have voted for McFadden, myself, but both men were certainly worthy, and Its wonderful that the Heisman is back in SEC hands.

So what is the reaction from around the blogosphere? Well, the first place I always turn for Heisman information is the Heisman Pundit. But today, there is a liveblog with HP doing the honors over at Orange and Blue Hue, and you can replay the entire liveblog from there.

But Heisman Pundit also has stats and pics on his own blog from the cermemony, which he attended. Very cool.

Ryan Ferguson, who also writes for Orange and Blue Hue, had this to say at Fanhouse:

What, you weren't surprised?

Oops. Sorry.

Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. He joins two former winners from the University of Florida: Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel.

When Tebow's name was announced, he made his way to the podium and took a minute to compose himself. The speech started slow, gained steam, and then started looping: the Gators QB thanked his Savior first, family second, and players/coaches/etc. third. Then he did so again. And again.

Great stuff. Tim Tebow is truly an amazing football player, and I cannot even imagine what kind of an impact he will have on the NFL when he eventually finds his way there.

Mlmintampa writing for Alligator Army is understandably as proud as if he were Tebow's papa:

It is impossible for me to express how proud I am of Tebow. As fans, we take ownership of these guys as if they were our brothers or sons, so to see our guy thanking offensive linemen by name along with Jesus was pretty great.

So true. Living vicariously through athletes is a kind of national pastime here in America like nowhere else. Tebow seems like a very humble and grounded young man. Florida fans should be proud.

Year2 has more Florida fanblog reaction:

Only 4 schools have more Heisman winners than Florida does - Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC each with 7, and Oklahoma with 4. Florida is tied for fifth with Army, Michigan, and Nebraska. When you compare Florida’s tradition with the rest of those schools (about 30 good years out of 101), that’s not too shabby at all.

No, indeed, that isn't shabby whatsoever. It's always great when an SEC school brings home the hardware, and this year we had both first and second place.

Speaking of second place, let's get some reaction from the Arkansas bloggers. TipsterHog, writing for Razorbloggers Network, has lots of links to the media reaction. Whole Hog Sports had this quote from D-Mac himself:

“I have no regrets,” McFadden said. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way. I love all my fans back home. I don’t think they are going to disown me because I didn’t win the Heisman.”

You were awesome, brother. I'll never forget the game you had against South Carolina, it was simply some of the most fantastic running I have seen. D-Mac will be an unbelievable NFL stud, in my opinion. He is a winner in every meaning of the word.

Now just a few quick reax from around the other SEC schools, starting withGeux Tuscaloosa:

Tim Tebow is an outstanding player who had an outstanding year. He did things that have simply never been seen before on the college football field. We've simply never seen a strong-armed quarterback who is also a power running back and also a natural team leader. Or at least, we've never seen it from someone playing at so high of a level as Tim Tebow does.

It amazes me how much responsibility on the football field this kid has. Almost every play runs through him. On 90% of the offensive plays, Tebow is either throwing the ball, taking the ball on a designed quarterback run, or running an option play that requires him to read defenders and choose to either keep it or give it to a running back.

Indeed. Add to that his amazing durability, and you have Larry Czonka (am I dating myself here?) with Bob Griese's arm.

Of course, Orson Swindle has a little ... err, different take on the Tebow Heisman:

Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy this Saturday in New York, an award all but ensuring an end to his lifelong streak of athletic excellence.

...

“I’ll follow the example of my boyhood hero Danny Wuerffel and help those less fortunate by preaching the word and working in the community. It would also really help if I didn’t have to throw anything ever again, since I couldn’t toss a sandwich wrapper into a wastebasket with any accuracy now. I would also appreciate not being jostled or bumped.”

A chorus of chuckles rose from the Heisman voters, who included Troy Smith, Gino Torretta, Chris Weinke, and Andre Ware.

Heh. No doubt, winning the Heisman is no guarantee of continuing success. I think, though, in Tebow's case, it is really hard to imagine that he is the next Gino Toretta. But you have to love this finish:

The only two-time winner of the award, Archie Griffin, was unable to comment for this story. Griffin has been on bedrest for 32 years following the awarding of his second trophy, after which he became so weak he could not stand or feed himself. He is said to be happy for Tebow and is also extremely fond of a nice, warm bowl of nutritious chicken broth.

Only Swindle.

Finally, we go to Third Saturday in Blogtober:

This year, several coaches who received a “vote of confidence” are looking for jobs and a few coaches who vowed loyalty have interviewed elsewhere. Also this year, an honest-to-God kid with no arrest record who blushes at the thought of girls won the Heisman.

Somehow, I doubt if Tebow blushes at the thought of girls. But now that I think of it, there was that man-kiss earlier this year ... ugh. Maybe TSIB is right about that, after all ...