Report: UF Wanted To Combat White Supremacist Rally With Tim Tebow

The University of Florida tried to parry hateful dork Richard Spencer’s recent speaking appearance with a call for unity in the form of a video featuring famous alumni, according to emails obtained by the Huffington Post. The most obvious choice would have been perpetually humbled and blessed quarterback Tim Tebow, and UF senior director of student engagement Nancy Chrystal-Green attempted to wrangle him from ESPN to denounce Nazism.

Tebow was in Gainesville less than a week before Spencer’s rally, filming for SEC Nation. The athletic department helped Chrystal-Green get in touch with ESPN PR. From the report:

“I’m sure you have seen the news about a white nationalist coming to speak at UF on Oct. 19,” Chrystal-Green wrote in an Oct. 6 email. “One of the things we are doing is showing a virtual assembly during the speech. We are getting in contact with famous alums asking to record a brief message of unity, togetherness, Gator Nation, etc. Obviously a message from Tim Tebow would be a great addition. Is there an easy method by which to ask him?”

He declined to film such a message. That wasn’t Chrystal-Green’s only disappointment: The Huffington Post’s report shows that the Spencer team was fairly inept, regularly forgetting about scheduled meetings and once even bouncing a check for $10,565.

Had Tebow showed up, he wouldn’t have been the only athlete there that day.

[ Huffington Post]