UK Football
Tebow's sacker: 'I don't want to be known as that guy'
There's nothing that can make a defensive lineman's eyes light up more quickly than the sight of a completely unblocked quarterback.
So when defensive end Taylor Wyndham saw he had an open shot at Florida's uber quarterback Tim Tebow, Wyndham admits he was more than a little excited.
"It makes you happy to see him open like that," the soft-spoken red-shirt freshman from South Carolina said. "I was unblocked, so I came, and I hit him."
Little did he know it would end up being the sack heard 'round the football world Saturday night.
Tebow, the seemingly indestructible Florida quarterback, not only went down hard, he stayed down. On the way down, Tebow's head struck teammate Marcus Gilbert's leg.
"When I saw the hit, it knocked me back a little bit," Kentucky senior linebacker Sam Maxwell said.
"When I saw him go down, I saw his eyes go straight up. Everybody knows Tebow gets back up when he gets hit and to see him still laying down like that, I knew something was wrong."
The star quarterback has a possible concussion and is being held overnight at UK Hospital for observation.
After Tebow was hit, he was helped off the field with 3:57 left in the third quarter. Then the senior quarterback sat in a daze on the sideline for at least 30 minutes.
With 12:41 left in the game, Tebow walked on his own to the cart and was driven out of the stadium to a rousing cheer from the Florida faithful. As he was wheeled out, the quarterback was seen throwing up into a red plastic bag.
After seeing Tebow on the ground, Wyndham went from feeling ecstatic in getting his second sack in three games to feeling bad for Tebow.
"When I got up and saw he was hurt, I was kind of upset about it," Wyndham said. "It's football, but you always hope that nobody gets injured.
"It was a good hit, a clean hit. I'm sorry he got hurt; I wish the best for him."
Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks stressed that it was a "clean hit" on Tebow and said he didn't like to see the Gators star leave the game injured.
"I feel bad ... that he had a concussion," Brooks said. "When you look at how many times he carries the ball and how many times he throws it and everything, he's really never had too many injuries. He's been a very fortunate guy."
After the play, Brooks argued that the ball hit the ground before Tebow did, but officials reviewed the play and disagreed.
As for Wyndham, he seemed embarrassed to be known as the guy who knocked out Tim Tebow.
"I really don't want to be known as that guy," Wyndham said. "I want to be known for other plays and making big plays and stuff."
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