Why Ohio State's Archie Griffin is Still Greater Than Florida's Tim Tebow

Posted by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation


I can't take this anymore.

Allow me the opportunity to say this—I think Tim Tebow is a great football player, a tremendous leader, and perhaps one of the greatest competitors to have ever played college football.

However, I cannot stand anymore talk about how he is, or will be, the greatest to have ever played.

The Stewart Mandel article I linked to, who by the way I greatly admire, has wonderful quantifiable evidence to show how Tebow has been statistically great; however, by his own measureables, Mandel's evidence shows Pat White to have been even greater than Tim Tebow.

How can one call Tebow the greatest when one's own evidence suggests otherwise?

There are other significant flaws in Mandel's calculations, including no statistical reward for National Titles, Heisman Trophies, Doak Walker Awards, Davey O'Brien Awards, etc., which make his argument appear to be another piece of Tebow fluff than it does a solid argumentative piece of journalism.

I will go as far as to say that Archie Griffin still stands as a greater collegiate football player than Tim Tebow has been, or, likely will ever be.

Using Mandel's statistical evidence as the model here for points, Griffin's 5,589 rushing yards and 26 career touchdowns equate to a total of 714.9 total points, considerably lower than Tebow's amased 831.

What I don't like about Mandel's evidence here is the fact that I cannot take into account any receiving yards or touchdowns Griffin may have accumulated during his career either.

Nor do I like the complete ignorance of awards won and impact on the college football landscape.

Ultimately all we've decided here is that Tebow would make a greater fantasy football choice—which isn't a serious means to establishing who is the greatest college football player of all time.

Let's move on past simple statistical methods of determination here and look another component—awards.

Archie Griffin still remains the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, a distinction that either Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford could ruin come the end of this season.

However, no one can take away that 34 year distinction.

Beyond Heisman Trophies, Griffin has also won: two Big Ten MVP's, two UPI Player of the Year Awards, two Walter Camp Foundation Awards, one Maxwell Award, and finally he was the 1975 Sporting News Player of the Year.

Tim Tebow, on the other hand, has won two Maxwell Awards, one Davey O'Brien Award, one Sporting News Player of the Year, one SEC Player of the Year, and, of course, his one Heisman Trophy.

Consider, also, impact.

While one cannot take away Tebow's speech, or his grit, his impact on the Gators is far less significant than the impact that Archie's NCAA record 31 consecutive games of 100 yards rushing.

Does this quantify greatness? I am not so sure, but I am not sold that the Gators don't still win last year's title with someone else quarterbacking them. Urban Meyer has accumulated too much talent over time and on these teams for one player to be the make or break kind of talent that Archie was.

I can only imagine how many more touchdowns Archie would have had if Pete Johnson hadn't gotten most of the goaline carries during Griffin's final three seasons.

Finally, I'd also like to consider winning percentages. In this facet, Tebow has a distinct advantage in the fact that teams play more games in today's college football landscape.

During Tebow's three years in Gainesville, the Gators have won 85.4% of their games while Griffin and the Buckeyes won 88% of their games during his four years in Columbus. It will take an undefeated season by the Gators for Tebow to reign supreme in this category.

So, yes, while I feel that Tim Tebow is without a doubt a fantastic football player and one heck of a competitor, in the grand scheme of college football, Archie Griffin (for now and maybe forever) still stands above Tim Tebow on the scale of individual college football greatness.


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Original article written by blogger Keith Godfrey for THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH and appears here.