Tim Tebow and Gemma Spofforth Honored as Ben Hill Griffin Award Winners

University of Florida student-athletes senior quarterback Tim Tebow and senior swimmer Gemma Spofforth were named the 2009 recipients of the Ben Hill Griffin Award, announced Tuesday by the University Athletic Association.
The award, established by Gator Boosters, Inc., and the UAA, recognizes and honors the top male and female student-athletes who excel in both athletic and academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement. Tebow is the first three-time winner while Spofforth is being honored for the first time.
Tebow finished his career with five NCAA, 14 Southeastern Conference and 28 Florida records. He was the first sophomore in NCAA history to collect the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and is a two-time recipient of the Maxwell Award. This past season, he was the winner of the 20th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy, along with Lowe’s Senior CLASS award. He was also named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year for a second consecutive year, marking the first time a scholar-athlete was named the Academic All-American of the Year for University Division Football in two straight years.
In 2009, Tebow was named first-team All-SEC by the AP and the league’s coaches, while also being named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy for the third time, the Davey O’Brien Quarterback Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Maxwell Award and the Manning Award.
The quarterback threw a touchdown in 39 of his 41 career starts. In his final game in the Orange & Blue, Tebow set career records with 31 completions (35 attempts), 482 passing yards and a career-long 80-yard touchdown to classmate Riley Cooper. He also passed for three scores and tallied 51 yards on 14 carries in the 51-24 victory over No. 4 Cincinnati in the AllState Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. He also set Sugar Bowl and BCS Bowl records for total offense (533 yards), passing yards and completion percentage (.886). His 31 completions was a new Sugar Bowl record, while he tied a previously set mark for touchdown responsibility (four) and his 80-yard TD was the second-longest pass in the bowl’s history.