Tim Tebow gave it his best shot at making it in the NFL, and now he’s giving it a try on the baseball diamond, but he’ll always be associated with SEC football.

Even though it’s the New York Mets organization that signed Tebow, his attempt at making it in baseball has largely kept him in the Southeast. Many of his instructional league and spring training appearances were in the Sunshine State, and his new team is the Columbia Fireflies, home of former SEC rival, the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Fireflies are in Rome, Ga. on Monday, and there will almost certainly be plenty of Georgia Bulldog fans in the stands to get a look at the Gator gridiron great swinging the bat.

Atlanta-based college football writer Barrett Sallee caught up with Tebow in Rome to ask about the reception he gets in what was rival territory during his UF career, as seen in the above video.

“It’s awesome. I think the thing that people don’t always understand about SEC country, is that when you’re playing against the other team, it is incredibly intense,” Tebow said. “And they might say some things to you that they don’t always mean. But then, when you’re away from playing against, let’s say, Georgia… then people support people from the SEC.”

Tebow’s charming personality, clean-cut image and inspirational message made it easy for fans of the Bulldogs, Vols, Gamecocks and other SEC rivals to like him whenever their teams weren’t playing the Gators. When he’s not playing baseball, Tebow appears as an analyst on the SEC Network. On “SEC Nation” it’s not uncommon to see adoring Tebow fans in places like Columbia, Knoxville or Baton Rouge. While the above video cuts off mid-answer, Tebow implies that there was more SEC unity than SEC rivalry in the NFL.

First pitch between the Fireflies and the Rome Braves is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.