Multiple times this season, I’ve described Kyle Trask as the best Gators QB since Tim Tebow.
The fact that we use Tebow as the demarcation line when discussing Gators QBs is for many reasons. There is the fact that he was the last Gator great at the position, and so every Gators fan remembers him. There are the two national championships and the Heisman Trophy. There is “The Promise” speech after the Ole Miss loss. And of course, there is the faith that he espoused that made him both a beloved and a polarizing figure.
Those are a lot of the benchmarks that you need to become a legend. But there’s one aspect of Tebow’s Gators career that I think often is overlooked when people examine why he is held in such high esteem.
He came back.
After Florida won both the SEC and a national championship in 2008, it would have been understandable if Tebow had followed Percy Harvin’s lead and left early for the NFL. After all, Tebow had finished first and third in Heisman voting in 2007 and 2008. He had averaged over nine yards per attempt both years. And perhaps most importantly, he had run the ball 475 times in his Gator career up to that point, experiencing significant wear-and-tear.
He didn’t have anything left to prove. In fact, even though he was drafted in the first round in 2010, I suspect that getting picked apart during the 2009 season probably hurt his draft stock. Remember all of the discussions at the time about Urban Meyer not helping him fix his throwing motion because winning was more important than NFL preparation?
But he still decided to come back.
There are lots of enduring images of Tebow. You might remember the jump pass against LSU. You might remember the “30 minutes for the rest of our lives” speech against Oklahoma. You might remember him converting multiple fourth downs against Tennessee in 2006.
But my enduring memory of Tebow is him on one knee, crying after losing the SEC Championship to Alabama. He wanted to win a much as we wanted him to. He cared.
And that brings me back to the decision in front of Kyle Trask.
My colleague Nick Knudsen laid out a convincing case last week that Trask should make the leap to the NFL. His draft stock is only likely to go down. He’s going to turn 23 in March, which is old for a QB heading to the NFL. And NFL money is far from guaranteed, as the league has earned the acronym “Not For Long.”
Trask has already had one of the best statistical seasons in Florida history, but if he returns and replicates his 2020 campaign – which would be a step-back for a full season and doesn’t include the bowl game against Oklahoma – he would end up with the following:
- The most yards of any QB in Florida history (11,353 to Chris Leak’s 11,213).
- The second most TD passes in Florida history (112 to Danny Wuerffel’s 114).
- The highest yards per attempt of any QB in Florida history with more than 200 attempts (9.5 to Wuerffel’s 9.3).
- The highest QB rating of any QB in Florida history (176.7 to Tebow’s 170.8).
Trask has an opportunity to be considered the best QB Florida has ever had. But to do that, he’d need to come back for one more year.
Tebow undoubtedly still would have had a statue out front and a place in the Ring of Honor even if he’d left early. I do think he augmented that significantly by staying for his senior season. But what about Danny Wuerffel?
Wuerffel took over as the undisputed starter in 1995 and led Florida to play for the national championship against Nebraska. Florida got blasted in the Fiesta Bowl by the Cornhuskers 62-24 after Wuerffel finished third in the Heisman voting to Eddie George and Tommy Frazier. He was a second-team AP All-American and named first team by Football News, again bested by Frazier for most awards.
That comes really close to mimicking what we’ve seen with Trask thus far.
While Florida didn’t make it to the playoff this season, he went toe-to-toe with Alabama and Mac Jones, who is likely to win the Heisman this year. Trask has been named a first team All-American by CBS but placed behind Jones in the AP, Athletic, ESPN and USAT All-American voting.
Wueffel’s 1995 team gave up 20.2 points per game (ranked 31st that year). He actually won the Heisman in 1996 with a lower QB rating but with a significantly improved defense (17.0 points per game).
Trask put up fantastic numbers – better through the air than any Florida QB in history against SEC-only competition – while losing three games because of a defense that surrendered 39 points per game in those three losses.
The Ring of Honor has criteria associated with admission, the following of which is applied to players:
- Heisman Trophy Winners
- Former UF All-Americans Inducted into NFL Hall of Fame for Accomplishments as Players
- Former UF All-Americans Who Are NFL Career Category Leaders
- Collegiate Career Category Leaders
- Players with 2 or more consensus All-American honors (AP, Walter Camp, Sporting News, AFCA, FWAA, UPI) who have also been named National Offensive/Defensive Players of Year (AP, Walter Camp, Sporting News, ABC, AFCA, FWAA, UPI)
Wuerffel wouldn’t have been eligible had he not returned in 1996, just as Trask won’t be eligible based on his 2020 campaign (unless he pulls out an unlikely Heisman victory). How different would we think of Wuerffel had he gone to the NFL after 1995 and Doug Johnson or Noah Brindise had led the 1996 squad?
That isn’t to say that Trask isn’t within his rights to go to the NFL. He certainly is and I wouldn’t begrudge him that one bit. He’s earned the right to make that decision and take the next step.
But Florida fans have a special place in their heart for the elite QBs at the school. Trask is reminded of that every time he walks past the statues in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Right now, Trask occupies a space similar to Rex Grossman, who had a fantastic 2001 season that many Florida fans believe should have been Heisman-worthy, but ultimately led a team that fell short of championship aspirations. Grossman left after a down 2002 season under new coach Ron Zook, but what would Florida history look like had he returned in 2003 and replicated his 2001 performance?
Again, I don’t begrudge Grossman his decision. His career earnings were over $15 million. Had he struggled after coming back in 2003, that likely would have been far less. That is a risk for anyone making that decision, along with the very real risk of injury.
But coming back gives you an opportunity to join the elite-of-the-elite in Gator lore. That’s why this decision is difficult for someone in Trask’s position. It’s why the fact that he’s playing in the bowl game against Oklahoma may point towards him coming back to Gainesville for another year.
He isn’t going to improve his draft position significantly by playing. He certainly isn’t avoiding the risk of injury. Now, it could just be that he has a sense of commitment to his teammates and the program to finish out this season so maybe I shouldn’t read too much into it.
Or maybe – just maybe – he has a desire to be embraced by Florida fans for the next 30 years in a way that few players ever have an opportunity to be embraced.
It’s not an easy decision. But it’s not as clear cut as “take the NFL money when you have a chance.”
Because for some, no amount of money may be worth the chance to become a true Gator legend.