Tim Tebow Wears Charlie Ward PJs

I was reading this article where Bobby Bowden allegedly says that Charlie Ward was better than Tim Tebow. I say allegedly because after reading the article a couple times, I can't find anywhere where he says those words. Apparently he was misquoted by a UF paper to create some buzz. He didn't say that Ward was better explicitly; he only stated that it was plausible. It is not nearly as far-fetched as Gator fans choose to believe.
First, let me say this, Charlie Ward was ahead of his time. There would be no Tim Tebow if it weren't for Charlie Ward. He was the first dual-threat QB. Before Ward, you were a passer or a runner. You had veer or wishbone QBs at Nebraska and Oklahoma, or dropback passers at FSU, Miami and the Pac-10 schools, but never both. Florida State tweaked its pro-style offense around Ward. They called it "The Fast Break," (after Ward's ability as a PG on the basketball team) and it employed a no-huddle shotgun that let Ward use his receivers, or streak from the pocket if he saw a hole. Charlie Ward paved the way for all the spread QBs (Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Graham Harrell, Sam Bradford) you see today. And he was doing it when Tebow was in a crib. In fact, Tebow should be indebted to Ward for the fact that he is even playing QB. In Ward's day, Tebow would've been playing LB or TE. The only way he would've gotten under center was if he beat him on a blitz, sacked the QB, and the center fell on top of him.
And what Ward did like a butterfly, Tebow does like a bulldozer. He's a TE playing QB. Tim Tebow is Charlie Ward Heavy. Ward looked like an honest to God athlete while he was making defenders look stupid. Michael Vick would be a better comparison. I'd say Charlie ward was the precursor to Michael Vick. The guy had a canon attached to his shoulder. And if that didn't get the job done, he ran like a wide receiver. He threw better than Tebow, had a better arm, and was more athletic.
POINT: Ward-transcendence.

Check it out, but unfortunately you'll have to type it in. Some jackhole disabled embedding on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1VTnrl645E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDCgOgtTRCU&NR=1

THE NUMBERS
Here's the ones UF fans would like you to see:

CHARLIE WARD: 473-of-750 passing (63 percent), 5,747passing yards, 49 TDs, 22 INTs, 889 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs

TIM TEBOW: 448-of-681 passing (65.8 percent), 6,390 passing yards, 67 TDs, 11 INTs, 2,037 rushing yards, 43 rushing TDs

But those are career stats. Charlie Ward played two full seasons as the FSU QB. His statistics are skewed by his first season as a starter with no learning curve, hence 18 of his 22 career INTs coming in that season. Who knows what he would've done with another year under his belt. Tebow has been QB for 2.5 years. Of course his stats will be higher with additional games played. Let's compare apples to apples.

Heisman Seasons:

CHARLIE WARD (1993): 264-of-380 passing (69.5 percent), 3,032 yards, 27 TDs, 4 INTs, 339 rushing yards, 4 rushing TDs
12-1 National Champions (Loss in the GAME OF THE CENTURY @ Notre Dame) *Charlie also missed a game his senior year and bowl statistics didn't count for season totals at that time.

TIM TEBOW (2007): 234-of-350 passing (66.9 percent), 3,286 yards, 32 TDs, 6 INTs, 895 rushing yards, 23 rushing TDs
9-4, no bowl win

Put your tongue back in your mouth. People say Tim Tebow's Heisman seasons was ridiculous, but look at Ward's. Not too shabby. True, Tebow did more damage on the ground, but only because he was allowed to. Better yet, because he had to. Florida's running backs in 2007 were nobody. Tebow was the Gators' best running back, so he ran the ball. When Ward won the Heisman, the starting FSU running backs were Warrick Dunn and William Floyd—both first-round NFL Draft picks. Hell, the backup, Sean Jackson, was a fourth-round pick. Ward averaged 6 yards per carry—because he was that good—but Dunn, Floyd and Jackson weren't bad. Tebow was scoring on one-yard plunges that were being given to the RBs of FSU's team. If there was a touchdown to be scored on the ground, Dunn or Floyd scored it.
POINT: Push

RECORDS
Florida fans like to tout Tebow as some sort of transcendent competitor in the mold of Micheal Jordan. Career records see it differently:

TEBOW: 22-5 (81% winning percentage), 1-1 Bowl Record, 1 National Title (first one goes to Leak)

WARD: 23-2 (92% winning percentage), 2-0 Bowl Record, 1 National Title

If you really want to play the who-wants-it-more card, you will be sadly disappointed, Gator fans. In Ward's 2 years as a starter, he lost only twice. In '92, they lost to the 10-2 (at season's end) Hurricanes by a "Wide Right" field goal in Miami. In '93, they lost to the #1 Ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend. Count 'em up. That's 2 losses. In Tebow's two seasons as the starter thus far, he has lost a total of 5 times—including twice at home—one of them to an unranked team. So why do people talk about Tebow like he "willed" his team to win? Is it because he cried after the Mississippi game? Probably. That stuff is for the cameras. I'll guarantee you the team didn't play any harder because Tim Tebow cried at the press conference. Leadership is done on the field, in the locker room and in the weight room. And I'm not talking about running down the sideline and hyping up the kickoff team when you're up by 20. That's easy. I'm not saying Tebow isn't a good leader, either. I'm just saying it's not for the reason's the media outlines. If he is the ultimate leader, it's because of stuff you won't see on a camera.
POINT: Ward (for now, but we'll have to see what Tebow does this season).
EXTRA POINT: Ward. You never saw him crying after a game. Not because he was tougher or anything, but he simply did not let the 'Noles lose games they weren't supposed to.

SCHEDULE
Some people like to say that FSU played a weak ACC schedule that year. Yes, the ACC was a joke back then. Everybody else was playing for second place in the ACC. And I'll admit, the SEC is tough (I'm from GA, so you're not going to get me to go against the SEC). But a schedule is conference games plus non-conference games. The year Ward won the Heisman, FSU played seven teams ranked among the top 17 in the country at the time they played FSU. Ward and the 'Noles played No. 17 Clemson, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 3 Miami and No. 15 Virginia in conference. They played No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 7 Florida and No. 2 Nebraska out of conference. Tebow played down teams all year. The only challenge was Oklahoma.
POINT: Ward

HYPE
Tim Tebow is big today because of exposure. True, there was a national media frenzy over Charlie Ward. But Ward's career came before the maximum exposure era of the Internet, blogs, and sports talk radio and also before ESPN became the monster that it is now, that is saying something. Make no mistake, for two years Ward was the No. 1 star in college football and a major media phenomenon that transformed the sport. Word on the street is that even Madonna—who at the time was the globe's No. 1 celebrity—wanted to meet Ward (Ward declined). That's huge. If Charlie played in this day and age, The hype machine surrounding him would be monumental, too.
POINT: Tebow

In the end, I guess it depends on which argument you want to visit. Who is a better QB? I think Ward. He was a better athlete. Also a better passer. That leads me to believe that Charlie Ward could definitely do what Urban Meyer asks of Tim Tebow, but I don't think Tim Tebow could do what Bobby Bowden asked Charlie Ward. Charlie Ward means too much, not only to his own team, but to NCAA football. Far more than Tebow has, or ever will, mean to his team, or football. Who is more decorated? Obviously Tebow. Who is a better leader? That's debatable. Who is the better athlete? Obviously Ward. But who is the best to play college football? I'll leave you with this: In 1993, Ward won the Heisman trophy by the second-biggest margin in Heisman history, beating a field that included Marshall Faulk by more than 1,600 points. In 2007, Tebow won the trophy by just 254 points. And no runner-up has ever earned more than Darren McFadden's 291 first-place votes. So if Tebow is the best player of all time, how then, at his best, was he just barely the best player in 2007?

I'll tell you this: Tommie Frazier may have an argument, but in my opinion, Ward is the best college player to never play a down in the NFL. Better yet, he's the best college football player to ever play in the NBA. Hell, he may be one of the best athletes of the last quarter century. He was a collegiate basketball and football player, a retired NBA basketball player, Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O'Brien Award winner and a Major League Baseball draftee (drafted as a pitcher by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1993 free agent draft and by the New York Yankees in 1994, though he didn't play baseball in college). Ward still holds FSU basketball records for career steals at 236, steals in one game at 9 and still ranks sixth all-time in assists at 396. He was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame with Emmitt Smith and Bobby Bowden in 2006.