ORLANDO, FLA. — Call a blitz when Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow throws the ball and he won't blink.
Wince as massive defensive linemen try to stop his fearless runs then watch him shrug off his wounds, which this season included a broken bone and shoulder bruise in his right (non-throwing) arm.
"If those guys are out there giving 100% for me I can take on a few guys for them," he said of his teammates.
But tell Tebow that he can't oblige every autograph-seeking fan and he will be miserable.
In the three weeks since Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy he hasn't been able to go anywhere without being swarmed or having his photo taken and flashed around the Internet. He accepts the role-model part of the deal and the scrutiny that comes with it.
"It really makes you think about everything you do, that someone's watching. That's a good and bad thing," said Tebow, whose 29 passing touchdowns and 22 running TDs made him the first player in NCAA Division I-A history to achieve that 20-20 double in the same season.
"Hopefully it's a good thing, that they see things I do and are impressed with and I can influence people for the better. But it can also be a bad thing if you're not careful about what you do."
It's tougher for him to accept the possibility that he might disappoint someone.
Tebow's easygoing manner masks a competitiveness that blazes as fiercely when he's wearing the blue and orange of the 9-3 Gators as when he's sitting at a video-game game console with friends.
He spent untold hours in the weight room this season to fortify his 6-foot-3, 234-pound body to withstand the punishment of his running exploits. He accounted for 3,970 yards -- 838 running and 3,132 passing -- and the Gators needed every one after losing nine players from the defense that powered them to the national title last season.
An academic All-American, he's also a generous soul who reaches out to Gainesville-area prisons and community centers. He shares the faith passed to him by his parents, who were Christian missionaries serving in the Philippines when the youngest of their five children was born 20 years ago.
Clearly, he enjoys touching lives and being touched. Except now, immersed in preparing to play Michigan on Tuesday in the Capital One Bowl, he has had to pull back.
