"That’s how much it matters to me": When Tim Tebow recalled fighting through injury and chaos in the Florida-FSU rivalry

The Florida Gators-Florida State game is one of the most anticipated in-state rivalries in college football, and it mattered a lot to Tim Tebow while growing up. The former Gators quarterback grew up in Jacksonville and his allegiance was with his future school.

After playing a few minutes for Florida in the rivalry game as a backup in 2006, Tim Tebow was the Gators' starting quarterback in 2007 when the two teams met.

Tebow recalled one of his favorite memories of his career came against Florida State as he played with an injury to secure a 45-12 win in Gainesville in November 2007. He called the fighting through injury during the game in an interview with ON3 in November 2023.

“Freshman year, going there and beating them in a close game, and then my sophomore year, I remember just — probably one of my favorite memories, even though it was painful, was on one of the first drives of the game I was stiff-arming one of the guys and another FSU guy hit my hand and broke it because it got in between two facemasks," Tebow said.

“I was just like, there’s no chance I’m telling anyone my hand is broken, even though I knew it, because I could feel it. There was no chance. Even when we were beating them bad at the end of the game, I’m still playing this game to the very end. That’s how much it matters to me.”

Tim Tebow threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns in the game despite playing with an injury. He also rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns to earn the emphatic win.

Tim Tebow explains what the rivalry means to his family

In the day leading up to the rivalry game in November 2023, Tebow narrated what the rivalry game meant to him and his family while he was a young boy. His parents graduated from the University of Florida, showcasing the level of connection he had with Gainesville growing up.

“Every year growing up we would watch the game and if we won, it was, ask my parents, arguably the best day of the year and if we lost, it was mortifying,” Tebow recalled to local reporters ahead of the rivalry game in 2023.

“I was probably, I would lose perspective and it felt like the world was ending and I begged them to let me not go to church on Sunday because I couldn’t handle the FSU fans.”

The Heisman Trophy winner went 4-0 against the Seminoles with the Gators, throwing for 929 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for 219 yards and four touchdowns.