Tim Tebow reveals what he loves most about Trevor Lawrence (and it’s not about football)

Trevor Lawrence may be the most accomplished college football quarterback since Tim Tebow. So what does Tebow think of the Clemson quarterback on and off the field?

Trevor Lawrence has had the weight of expectations on him since before he arrived at Clemson. But with a national championship already on his resume and an obvious path to being the top pick in the NFL draft, anything less than another title that would be considered a failure.

Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow knows all about the crushing weight of expectations after he won a national championship as a freshman and became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy one year later, in 2007. Tebow won a second national championship as a junior and returned for another shot at college football immortality as a senior.

Tim Tebow loves Trevor Lawrence as a football player but also for what he does and represents off the field

If there’s anyone equipped to talk about the pressure — both internal and external — that Lawrence is dealing with, it’s Tebow, and he talked about how Lawrence can manage it and what he loves about the Clemson quarterback as a person off the field.

“Yeah, I feel like he’s got a lot of expectations on him, a lot of pressure,” Tim Tebow said in a recent phone interview with FanSided. “I think probably some of the most in recent history. I think Tua [Tagovailoa] at Alabama had a whole lot. I think Trevor is right up there with him, as far as the pressure, the hype, the celebrity around him, which only makes it harder. I mean, anywhere you go, you’re getting pulled and he’s having to balance that.”

Lawrence came to Clemson as the No. 1 overall recruit and signed with a team with annual championship aspirations. He won the starting quarterback position from Kelly Bryant early in the season and proceeded to throw a freshman-record 30 touchdowns and became the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national championship since 1985 when Jamelle Holieway led Oklahoma to the title. He’s been hailed as the presumptive No. 1 pick since his freshman season and the hype hasn’t subsided with another championship game appearance as a sophomore. He’s the Heisman favorite and Clemson is the betting favorite to win it all.

That only makes it harder for Lawrence, but Tebow thinks he’s handling it as well as possible.

“I think everybody predicting them to win makes it hard, so he’s handling all of that,” Tebow said. “But I got to tell you, he’s handled everything his entire career so well from how he speaks, to the way he loves his teammates, to the way that he serves his community. Every area, he handled it so well. And even the way that he handled the loss in the national championship last year against LSU. And if we’re being honest, he didn’t play his best game. But the way he handled it with humility, it made me even more of a fan of his, because of that.”

Being a star since high school can cause some athletes to have an ego as large as the moon. When everyone tells you how great you are and how special you are, you tend to believe them. It can cause people to change their personality, change how they treat others and become entitled and not work as hard as they did in the past. But that’s not the case with Lawrence and it’s what Tebow likes most about him as a person, regardless of the special talent he brings to the football field.

“Something that I love about him is there’s a Passion Conference in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” Tebow said. “He came to that conference. We’ve been multiple times. But you know what? They offered him nice seats where you can sit up front and he just was in the back. He was just wanting to listen and learn at this conference and didn’t have to be the center of attention. I just thought what an example to his teammates, in the way that he handled it.

Then the stories I hear. Those are stories that other pastors were talking about him, and other friends and people, and I just think, it’s so cool the way you impacted it while you are a celebrity and you have a big stage and platform and sometimes you need to use that to speak up. He used it in such great ways on both ends. I think he’s really impacted a lot of people. I think that perspective can really help him with the pressure as well.”

Whether on the field or off, Lawrence has maintained a humble approach and relentless work ethic to manage the pressure and weight of expectations. Pressure can burst pipes or make diamonds. In the case of Lawrence, it’s clear how he’s responding to the pressure.

Lawrence was named to the 2020 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team for his work in the community, including numerous community service initiatives such as Anderson Interfaith Ministries’, assisting with COVID-19 relief programs and helping organize on-campus demonstrations against racial injustice.

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