Well of course they did.
Inextricably linked since their success together at Florida, Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow have once again teamed up to generate an offseason headline for our ogling pleasure.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer by way of the Orlando Sentinel, Ohio State included a secondary violation involving Tebow among the 43 its athletic department self-reported for all sports in 2013. As the story goes, Meyer and Tebow were having lunch together in March of 2013 when a recruit, four-star 2014 linebacker Clifton Garrett, called the coach. What happened next pretty much, along with pastagate, sums up the inanity of the NCAA’s War & Peace-like rulebook.
From the Plain Dealer‘s report on the findings of its open records request:Upon receiving the call, Coach Meyer informed Garrett that he was on vacation and having lunch with friends and family, including Tim Tebow. Garrett asked Coach Meyer if he could wish Tebow good luck on the upcoming season. Coach Meyer handed the phone to Tebow and Garrett conversed with Tebow for approximately eight seconds. Coach Meyer stated that no recruiting conversation occurred, there was no intent to have Tebow recruit on behalf of Ohio State and he, in fact, did not recruit on behalf of Ohio State.
Çoach Meyer reported that Garrett was not instructed to call by anyone from the Ohio State football staff and that neither he nor Tebow had any other communication with any other prospects during the lunch. Coach Meyer further indicated that Tebow has never spoken with any other prospective Ohio State student-athletes. Coach Meyer understands that the communication between Garrett and Tebow was an error on his part. However, he was adamant that it was a reflexive, courteous action rather than an intentional attempt to involve Tim Tebow in the recruiting process.
Thank goodness for the NCAA’s ever-present vigilance. Society really dodged a eight-second bullet on that one.
And for those who are curious, Garrett, who actually “broke” the news of his brief talk with Tebow on Twitter shortly after it happened, was not swayed by St. Timothy as he signed with LSU earlier this month.