NCAA changes bylaws for dad of Florida Gators' Tim Tebow

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The NCAA helped make Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's decision to return to school for his senior season a little easier.

The governing body of collegiate athletics said on Thursday that it worked with the Tebow family, the University of Florida and the Southeastern in recent months ''to help interpret and apply'' NCAA bylaws, making it possible for Tebow's father, Bob, to accept donations for his orphanage in the Philippines.

Tebow ''would not be our quarterback any longer if that did not happen,'' Florida coach Urban Meyer said on Thursday in Tallahassee.

Tebow's father operates the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association, a nonprofit organization whose mission, according to its website, is to serve in the Philippines with ``five major priorities: evangelism, church planting, pastor training, an orphanage and the training of the next generation of evangelists.''

According to the NCAA, the orphanage, known as Uncle Dick's Home, is no longer supported financially by the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. A link to the orphanage can be found of the association's website.

"All donations to the Uncle Dick's Home go directly to the orphanage and not to the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association or the Tebow family, and no member of the Tebow family serves on its board of directors or staff,'' the NCAA said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald. "As a result, donations to the orphanage (or any other nonprofit entity) from the university or its boosters are allowed under our bylaws.''

Meyer, Tebow and other representatives of the University of Florida were in Tallahassee on Thursday morning for a breakfast at the state capitol honoring the Gators' 2008 national championship football team. Meyer said that UF and the Tebows were granted a waiver by the NCAA, paving the way for Tebow's return to Florida for his senior season.

According to the NCAA, it did not grant UF and the Tebows a waiver but instead helped the university and the Tebow family to work within the parameters of the current NCAA bylaws. Had the NCAA not worked with the Tebows, Tim Tebow likely would have declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft.

NCAA bylaws prohibit an institution or boosters from providing benefits to a student-athlete or the student-athlete's family that generally aren't available to any student in the general student body."

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Uncle Dick's Home?

[bluedigger]

1. I have no problem with what the NCAA did, but

the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association sounds like it has one priority - self propagation - using the orphanage as a combination of a public symbol of "good works", a revenue source, and a captive population of fresh recruits, fully indoctrinated. Very cultish and very ugly, but maybe I'm too harsh.:shrug:

[joeybee12]

2. You're not harsh...you're accurate.

Feed and clothe the orphans, don't make this simply one assembly line of nutjobs like the Tebow family.

[cobalt1999]

3. Can you imagine the backlash by Christians, the Phillipine govt., and football fans...

if the NCAA didn't permit a "waiver"?

They'd be absolutely torn apart in the press, online, and by the politicians.

[ticapnews]

4. Or if it was Uncle Abdul's

Anything but a Judeo-Christian cult and we'd be inundated with protests.

Also if it was any lesser player I doubt the NC$$ would bend over backwards.

[LisaM]

5. Typical Tebow

Sounds like him - the guy who was home-schooled (costing the public school district money) and not only wanted to avail himself of public school facilities to play football, apparently cherry picked which high school football program he wanted to play for, so he and his mother rented an apartment nearby.

I don't think the Tebow family has ever seen a rule it didn't think should be broken for them. That guy gives me the freaking creeps. I'm glad he stayed in school so that the Lions wouldn't draft him.

[trumad]

6. Actually I think he's glad he stayed in school so the Lions didn't draft him

I'm not a Tebow fan but I don't see where he broke any rules.