Tim Tebow's college football career at Florida was full of memorable moments and historic achievements, including two national championships, a Heisman Trophy and a highlight reel as impressive as any quarterback in the sport's history.
But the most iconic moment might have been what followed after Florida's stunning loss to Ole Miss at home in Week 4 of the 2008 season. The Gators had a loaded roster and were expected to go undefeated -- something no Florida team has ever done -- en route to a national title.
But Ole Miss was the better team on that day and won 31-30.
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Former Patriots and Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden ran for 55 yards on that day, and like everyone else, he remembers Tebow crying after the game and the emotional speech he made in the postgame press conference.
Bolden joined NBC Sports Boston's Next Pats Podcast at the Super Bowl in New Orleans last week, and he was asked to share his favorite athlete on a team he doesn't root for. He quickly thought of Tebow and that game at the Swamp 17 years ago.
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"Oh, he's going to hate me for this -- Tim Tebow," Bolden told Phil Perry. "When we made him cry in college and that was kind of it. And it was like, you know what? I'm going to cheer for this guy for the rest of his career. And then we ended up in New England together for one camp.
"And the first time we spoke, shook hands, and I was like, 'You know, I've always cheered for you, ever since you cried on national television over one point.' He turned red. But we were best friends after that. … But yeah, Tim Tebow was one of those players I hoped he did well. So when he was in Denver with Josh McDaniels, I was cheering for him."
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Bolden played eight seasons for the Patriots and won two Super Bowl titles (2014 and 2016) before retiring after the 2023 campaign. He also played for the Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders.
Tebow played in 35 games between the Broncos and Jets from 2010 through 2012. He signed with the Patriots just prior to camp in 2013 but didn't make the final 53-man roster after being released on Aug. 31 of that year.
Tebow never made a huge impact in the NFL, but his college career speaks for itself. And a huge part of that legacy was impacted by Tebow and Florida's response to Bolden and Ole Miss upsetting them in the Swamp in 2008.
Also in this episode:
- Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner joins Phil from radio row in New Orleans
- Kurt Warner's take on Drake Maye, and what he thought of his rookie season
- Brandon Bolden joins Phil on radio row to discuss what he thinks it would be like to get recruited by Belichick and how he will relate to college kids
- How similar will Mike Vrabel be to Bill Belichick
- Offensive genius" Josh McDaniels will be perfect fit for Drake Maye