No reason to impeach Tebow

Here's how my Heisman Trophy ballot shook out:

1. Tim Tebow, Florida; 2. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma; 3. Colt McCoy, Texas.

Fooled you, right? Most of you thought I would try to profit from the process with a something like this:

1. Jesse Jackson, Jr.; 2. Valerie Jarrett; 3. Heisman Candidate 6.

Sorry to disappoint you, but for some reason the Heisman Trophy, won by Bradford on Saturday night, isn't as valuable as a seat in the U.S. Senate. Sort of makes you wonder where our priorities are.

(Seriously, I want the Fitzgeralds - U.S. attorney Patrick and Northwestern football head coach Pat - to know I didn't have my hand out.)

Anyway, as usual I selflessly voted my conscience and went for the player most deserving of the Heisman Trophy. Many candidates were worthy this year, a departure from some years when it was difficult to find one who wasn't unworthy.

This seemed like the right time to review exactly what the Heisman Trophy Trust wants to determine.

Is it the college player most likely to be the next No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft? The one with the best statistics? The one with the highest grade-point average? The most popular? The most congenial?

No, the ballot asks us to vote for "the most outstanding college football player in the United States for 2008."

All three finalists - and a few others - would qualify as the "most outstanding college football player" in most years. I went for Tebow, Bradford, McCoy. It could have been Bradford, Tebow, McCoy. Or McCoy, Bradford, Tebow.

But as the defending Heisman winner, Tebow was like the reigning heavyweight champion. He had to be knocked out to lose his title.

He often was knocked down but never out.

Most outstanding, huh? Well, if all the players in the country walked into a room - whether it be in a suit, overalls or a toga - Tebow is the one who would stand out. This particular quarterback has that particular "it" that sets him apart in a crowd or on a football field.

The word that comes to mind is special. Tim Tebow is special.

I played golf this summer with a legendary Florida sports columnist. He's semiretired now, lives near Gainesville and has viewed Tebow up close for years.

"I've been looking for something wrong with him but I can't find anything," he said, making it sound like Tebow is everything college football is supposed to be but rarely is.

Listen, Tebow isn't the best quarterback in America and he certainly won't be the No. 1 overall pick in any NFL draft.

Instead, Tebow reminds me of Walter Payton, who doesn't hold the NFL career rushing record anymore and wasn't the greatest running back in history even when he did.

But to me Payton is the most outstanding pro football player ever because of everything he did and Tebow is the most outstanding college football player of 2008 because of everything he did.

Payton ran, blocked, caught passes, threw passes and played every game but one despite enduring an extraordinary physical pounding.

This season Tebow threw the ball, ran it, was a remarkable team leader and played every game despite enduring an extraordinary physical pounding.

So Tim Tebow received my Heisman vote. And nobody had to pay me for it.