Brandon Spikes recalls meeting Tim Tebow at Alabama football game as Crimson Tide recruits
By David Wasson
Published:
Former Florida superstar and two-time All-American linebacker Brandon Spikes stopped by the Marty & McGee set Saturday morning in Gainesville to talk about former teammate and SEC Network analyst Tim Tebow.
Spikes, who was Gators teammates with Tebow from 2006-09, was asked by co-hosts Marty Smith and Ryan McGee if the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback was a trash talker while in Gainesville.
“It was more so those piercing eyes. See that look in his eye? The words don’t need to be said,” Spike said with Tebow sitting beside him. “I knew he was ready to go every time. That was one of the reasons I followed him here to Gainesville, and it was definitely one of the best decisions of my life.
“My brother is family, man, for real. We go way back to when I was like 16.”
Tebow said that he and Spikes met on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa in 2005 while being recruited by former Alabama coach Mike Shula before deciding to play at Florida and win 2 national championships under coach Urban Meyer. Shula would be fired by Alabama after the 2006 season.
“We were in Coach Shula’s offense, along with Percy Harvin, and he looked at us and said, ‘If I could get you guys, I could win a lot of ballgames,’” Spikes said. “But Urban got us instead.”
And the rest is SEC history.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
