Even in Bulldog Country, Tim Tebow feels (some) love

Tim Tebow, the Florida quarterback, was not a popular figure for those who cheer for the rival school in Athens, Ga.

Some Georgia fans look at Tebow in a different light now in his post Gator life, which includes his role as an analyst for SEC Nation.

“It’s cooled down,” Tebow said. “First they’ll ask for selfies and then they’ll boo.”

The traveling pregame show on the SEC Network brought Tebow to town this weekend as it set up shop on the Special Collections Libraries lawn for its Saturday morning show.

Tebow wrapped up his Florida career in the 2009 season but not before winning two national titles and the 2007 Heisman Trophy. He went on to play three seasons in the NFL with the Broncos and Jets and had stints with the Patriots and Eagles.

His latest foray was as a minor league baseball player this past season where he hit .226 with eight home runs and 52 RBI for St. Lucie and Columbia, Class A teams in the Mets organization.

“Go Fireflies!” one fan in Athens shouted to Tebow, alluding to the team he played for in South Carolina.

Tebow makes appearances at events in Georgia and the reception is often like it was Friday. Tebow stopped as fans snapped photos with him and shook his hand following a taped segment for the program SEC Now.

“Honestly, for the most part, it’s really good,” Tebow said. “It’s funny you get a lot of love and support. I’ll come speak in the state a lot. I spoke the last couple of weeks here. On one hand, they want to show their love for Georgia and their dislike for Florida but on the other hand, I think there’s a lot of people there’s more important things here than just football. It’s their character, their faith, the way they stand up for things. So I think we have that in common. Hopefully it transcends the game a little bit.”

Tebow is much more than just an athlete as his 4.18 million Twitter followers attests. That’s more than Magic Johnson, Kate Upton, Megyn Kelly, Bill O’Reilly and Al Roker.

He has been with SEC Nation since its launch in 2014 and the show has been to Athens each year so Tebow the analyst has been up close with Georgia fans.

“You’ll still get booed from time to time,” he said. “I remember when I went to one of the games in Atlanta when I was in college and I got booed and the whole place is chanting something that I can’t repeat. At the same time, you’ll have events and everybody will turn up and be excited.”

Georgia fan John Sims from Decatur snapped a selfie with Tebow before he boarded an SEC Nation bus Friday.

“I’m a fan of him, big fan of him,” Sims said. “I catch a little flak for it but it’s all good.”