Tebow uses his head

Everybody knows Tim Tebow is a tough, competitive guy, a football player always willing and able to fight through pain and play with injuries.

In one high school game, he scored a touchdown on a broken leg. Over the course of his Florida career, he’s played with a fractured hand, a hyper-extended knee and back and shoulder injuries.

But a concussion is different. It’s one injury even Tebow was not going to take any risks with, he revealed Monday.

“It’s something you have to be very careful with. It’s your brain,” he said. “You don’t want to have long-term effects. It’s something I wanted to be smart about.

“People were sharing their feelings about how they don’t want anything to happen to me, they don’t want me to push it and come back too soon and do any real harm. I don’t want to be injured. I don’t want to have brain trauma. I want to be OK.

“It was not something I could fight through. It doesn’t matter how tough you are.”

This is one injury Tebow didn’t even attempt to tough out, he said. Instead, he rested and healed, and did everything the doctors and trainers told him to do. He also listened to very insightful advice, some of it from former NFL quarterback Steve Young, who had several concussions during his career.

“I got to talk to a lot of people,” Tebow said. “One person who really gave me a lot of encouragement that I talked to several times was Steve Young. He went through a lot with concussions.

“He was very kind in reaching out to me and talking to me. He just gave me different things that could possibly help with it in getting back. I really appreciated it.”

Tebow said Young stressed to him to be patient and don’t attempt to come back too soon.

“He was encouraging me not to push it,” Tebow said. “It’s something big I sometimes do. You always want to go. OK, let me run a sprint and see how it feels. Then you’re taking a little step back. He said, ‘No, take time off. When they say do your test, then do it. Don’t keep testing yourself.’

“I’m a competitor. I love to do that. Am I OK yet? He said, ‘Just rest yourself and you’ll be back soon enough.’ I tried to take his advice and do that.”

Tebow sustained a concussion late in the third quarter of the Kentucky game Sept. 26 and was hospitalized overnight.

He did not practice the following week during an open date and underwent daily testing with a medical team that was overseeing his treatment and monitoring his progress. The daily testing continued through this past week.

Tebow was cleared by doctors to return to practice last Tuesday. Early Saturday, doctors gave him the go-ahead to play in Saturday’s game at LSU.

Tebow took a shot early in the game completing a pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez. Even though UF had a relatively conservative game plan designed to limit Tebow’s contact, he was hit numerous times. But he experienced no problems, he said.

“I felt great through it all,” he said. “It was a big relief (to go out and play). The stress of not knowing (for two weeks) and wanting to be in there playing and helping my teammates, just playing (was a relief).

“I don’t have too many more opportunities to play college football, play for the Gators, so I didn’t want to miss this one. Once I was out there, everything was OK. The doctors said I was OK, coach (Urban) Meyer said I was OK. I felt good.”

Tebow said he continues to undergo some testing.

“They’re checking up on me, just like any concussion,” he said. “They’re constantly checking to make sure everything is OK, but not to the extent of the tests (the first two weeks). They’re still doing balance tests, eye tests. I honestly don’t know (if it will continue the rest of the season). I just do what they tell me.”

Tebow was injured when he was sacked and fell backward, his head crashing into the knee of UF offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert.

He said it took a while to remember things after the hit.

“I remember a little bit, kind of getting in the ambulance and stuff. Then I started remembering fully when I was in the hospital,” Tebow said.

Two weeks later, he’s back playing.

Tebow said the whole experience has been humbling.

“You know any moment it can be over,” Tebow said. “Instantly, lights out. You don’t know how much football you have left.

“You realize you love the game and love playing. Something I missed the most was not being able to go out there and practice and play. I realized how much I loved the game. It was humbling.”

Contact Robbie Andreu at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.