Tebow aims to join Griffin as only two-time Heisman winners

Dec 12, 2008 - 6:10 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Tim Tebow made history last season when he became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

Florida's all-everything quarterback once again will attempt to rewrite the Heisman record book, although he will certainly face a stiff challenge from Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.

Tebow, Bradford and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy have been named as the three finalists for the 74th Heisman Trophy, which will be awarded Saturday night.

If Tebow takes home the prestigious award, he will join Ohio State running back Archie Griffin as the only two-time Heisman winner. Griffin won the Heisman in consecutive years in 1974 and 1975.

"It's a great honor to (be named as a Heisman finalist) again," Tebow said. "Winning it changed people's perspective of me. All your life, you're known as a Heisman winner."

Since the inaugural Heisman was presented to Chicago quarterback Jay Berwanger in 1935, the first 71 winners of the famed trophy were either seniors or juniors.

But Tebow broke that trend last year after becoming the first player in major college history to pass for 20 touchdowns (29) and rush for 20 scores (22) in the same season.

Although his statistics have been slightly less impressive this season, Tebow quarterbacked the Gators (12-1) to the SEC title and a berth in the BCS championship game in what will be a showdown against Bradford and the top-ranked Sooners.

"It's a tremendous honor for Tim to be invited back to the Heisman Trophy presentation in New York City," Florida head coach Urban Meyer said. "This is a great achievement and a reward for the fantastic season he has had in leading his teammates to the Southeastern Conference title and a berth in the BCS national championship game."

Tebow passed for 2,515 yards and 28 touchdowns while rushing for 564 yards and 12 scores this season. The junior revealed he will take a more laid-back approach to this year's trip to New York.

"It will be a little different than last year," Tebow said. "Last year was more of a whirlwind, but this time, it won't be so overwhelming. It should be fun."

While Tebow has become accustomed to the hype surrounding the Heisman, the staggering media attention is somewhat new to Bradford, a redshirt sophomore who assaulted Oklahoma's record book by quarterbacking the most prolific offense in major college football history.

In fact, Bradford has emerged as the favorite to win this year's Heisman after leading the FBS with 48 touchdown passes while throwing for more than 4,464 yards - both single-season school records.

Bradford strengthened his Heisman candidacy last Saturday when, despite playing with torn ligaments in his non-throwing hand, he completed 34-of-49 passes for 384 yards and two touchdowns in a 62-21 rout of Missouri in the Big 12 title game.

It marked an NCAA-record fifth straight game that Oklahoma (12-1) scored at least 60 points. The Sooners also set a Football Bowl Subdivision record by finishing this season with a whopping 702 total points.

The overall statistics for McCoy, who recently announced that he would return to Texas (11-1) for his senior season in 2009, are not quite as eye-popping as the numbers produced by Bradford.

McCoy threw for 3,445 yards and 32 touchdowns. However, he completed 77.6 percent of his passes and also was the Longhorns' leading rusher with 576 yards and 10 TDs.

Texas was beaten out by Oklahoma for a spot in the Big 12 title game despite handing the Sooners their only loss, a 45-35 defeat in the annual Red River Rivalry game.

"I can say this without question, (McCoy) has done more for our team running and throwing than any other quarterback has done for their team this year," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I don't think there's any doubt we would not be in this position today if it wasn't for him. He means to this team what Vince Young meant to the one in 2005."