I’m headed to Miami tomorrow for the BCS National Championship Game and couldn’t resist the opportunity to post this great article about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (yes, full disclosure, I am a proud Gator). Tim makes good on and off the field. The Heisman winning quarterback is the first to both rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a season, making him a exceptional role model for many sports fans. More importantly though, the son of Christian missionaries, he balances athletics with more than his share of charity work. Here’s more from ESPN:

There are plenty of athletes who talk the pious talk. Plenty of athletes who write scripture on their eye black the way Tebow does or thank God after victories. But how many have walked the walk like Tebow — walked it into the prisons, into the slums of the Philippines, into the hearts of people in need of a role model? How many, at age 21, have done as much work on behalf of those less fortunate?

“There are people in the public arena who are playing games — and I’m not talking about football games,” said Tebow’s father, Bob. “He’s not playing games. There’s a lot of phony people in the world. He genuinely cares about people. You have to care about people to go to the hospital and visit the sick on your own.

Recently the whole Gator team participated in the Gator Charity Challenge in Gainesville. You can takepart with Uplifting Athletes or any of the non-profits the Gators picked to support : American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Children’s Miracle Network, March of Dimes and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Now that’s something to cheer about – that and winning the national championship! Go Gators!

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)