To the fans, and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida has never done here.

I promise you one thing; a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God Bless.

Memories. Nothing more than moments assigned emotional significance, a tagged snippet of time floating around in each person’s head. They are the beginnings of stories told to children by parents, a flash of impulses in your mind triggered by some random event.

This final home game, this Senior Week, this last game for a class that has won 46 games, more than any in SEC history,we are being treated to a somewhat longer ceremony for the departing warriors.Two extra minutes have been added to the normally eight minute farewell, giving folks ten minutes here in Titletown to bid a fond farewell to Urban Meyer’s first class of draftees at UF.

Those bonus minutes will be for the last senior announced, the one whose promise to an entire nation of fans is just one memory, one moment that will flood the Swamp come Saturday.To many of you going to the game, it allows the opportunity to add that last image of him on the field he made his home, a chance to say, “See that guy who just got inducted, I was actually there to see his last home game here way back in 2009…”.

It gives Gainesville a chance to say goodbye.

To me, there was no Gainesville without Tim Tebow.I travelled here two years ago and can’t imagine a time when Superman T’s and number 15 jerseys weren’t high fashion.I watched from Tampa during the first National Championship run, watched him roll out and throw a one yard TD pass to Caldwell (his only throw of the game), then take the ball through the Ohio State defense for another TD on the ground (one of ten carries).I remember a lot of people even then getting excited for him a couple hours to the south; I can only imagine what it must have been like to be here for that Genesis.

How many of you got to watch that first jump pass TD against LSU?Who was there that first game, got to see that grin shining through the helmet when he ran it in for his first short TD run, the first of eight rushing TDs that first year?

And Western Carolina?200 in the air for 2 scores, 47 o n the ground for two more TDs ring a bell for any of you out there?

You’re the lucky ones; I hadn’t started to take notice yet.

Arriving in the fall of 2007 to a city still flush with the rush of a National Championship win, as well as the giddy uncertainty of turning the reins over to young Tim, I was immediately struck by the outpouring of adoration that the people showered on this still untested quarterback.I thought it a bit much, made fun of the comparisons to Jesus, scoffed at the confidence fans had in him, and readied to watch a town collapse inward under the weight of their own expectations (being from Buffalo originally, you always tend to expect confidence to be rewarded with failure).

By the end of the season, we had watched a new record created in college football (the 20 pass/20 rush TD QB record as Tim hit for 32 in the air, took another 23 in himself), saw a sophomore win the Heisman for the first time, and played a game versus South Carolina that saw him throw for 304 yards, score 7 times (tying for the single game school record), five of them on rushes (another UF record).

How many times did you watch him play?How often do you curse yourself now for missing it?Missing his NCAA best streak of 14 games with at least one TD on the ground, one in the air?

As 2008 came and went, Gainesville found itself one win away from perfection and in possession of another Championship trophy.It was the year of “The Promise”, the speech that would become his legacy.It was the year of disbelievers, of haters, of accusers.

“Tebow can’t possibly be that clean…”

“Now they’re just running up the score…”

“Well, they won’t be able to take Alabama…”

“Here’s why the Gators can’t beat Oklahoma…”

While Percy was the flash and talent of 08, Tebow was the raw power and the heart and the flat out will of that team.We began to see greatness, a word too often forced on people, more often assigned to one ’s self in sports, but now applicable to the young man who earned the trust and faith of Gator Nation.He was the potential we were all told of as kids, realized and made whole.He was the truth behind the promise of working hard, an actual example of what living a good life can result in, and while outsiders resented him for it, we elevated him further.To this town, he was the goods.

And now, we all watch it pass away into record books and memories we will one day lose.

2009 is a blink from being gone, the fourth and final year for Tebow to play for us.We saw him go down in Kentucky, but never saw him miss a start, and even watched him march into LSU and break a 32 game home win streak for the Tigers in his next game.He listened with the rest of us as the media steadfastly assured us he would never play as an NFL quarterback, yet never lost a game and complete 65% of his passes for 14 TDs.We watched him break another running back record in the SEC, elevating him past names like Emmit Smith and Hershel Walker, his 11th TD for the year and the 54th in his career with 09 three games from done.Oh, and no one was underestimating him this year, in fact they organized and planned for him, changed defenses for him, made personnel imitate him during practice, and still watched him make it through eleven games without a loss.

So, what do you remember?What will you be thinking of in those last two extra minutes given to Tebow during Senior Week ceremonies?

Admit it, many of you never even considered life without Tebow for more than a few moments.The entire landscape of sports in this town (hell, in the whole SEC) is about to change forever, our little snippet of time is about to end, and yet the whole town acts like it’s any other season.If reports are correct, even Tim isn’t ready to start thinking about it yet, though Coach Meyer got a taste of it Monday during questions about the upcoming farewell, pausing several times to gather himself after considering life post Tebow.

Watch with wonder this weekend, as a name that will forever echo in the halls of NCAA legend takes his last snap at home, throws his last pass at home, gets hit for the last time at home, walks off the field for the last time at home.

Let the pundits and statisticians and historians argue about where he ranks in the all time lists.Let the media worry about where he’ll end up next year.Let Tim worry about what path he’ll take from this point on, for our time with him is now over and we are left with nothing more than memories of what we once saw, what we once felt, and even these things are slipping quickly through our fingers.

So, what will you remember?

Is it how he could seemingly impose his will on games, winning them on third downs he had to make?Is it the backlash you read of from those who resented all he got because he actually seemed to deserve it?Is it the way competition energized him?How he leapt around like a five year old when the game ended and Florida had just won their second in three years?A smile or kind word he gave you on campus?

Or, like me, are you just trying to remember where all the time went.

I mean, is this it?

Too bad that the best things in life are always fleeting, but at least we got to watch, got to cheer, and we get to say goodbye.

Me?I remember reading this quote, "I am not better than anyone else just because I play football."

Nope, but you are for saying that, for knowing that, and for living that life every damn day you were here.

We appreciate you giving us some of your time, Tim.

Oh, and when you’re all done, with this season (no rest for the weary and the winners), with the NFL, with whatever; just know that we’ll keep the sidelines warm for you.

Go Gators, you’ve made us proud.

Thanks, Tim.

Joshua Bauer is a Columnist for GatorTailgating.com.