Spurrier invites QB to play for his Orlando team

Former Gators star has spot in new league

As one Florida Gators legend to another, Steve Spurrier has a message for Tim Tebow:

If you get tired of baseball and get the hankering to play football again, there’s a spot for you on Spurrier’s Orlando team in the new Alliance of American Football.

“That would be wonderful,” Spurrier said on our Open Mike radio show Monday when I asked him about the potential of Tebow making a return to football in Orlando. “I think Tim knows about our league. He knows he’s welcome to come down (to Orlando) and play.

“Obviously, if his baseball career is going well, he may decide to stick with it, which I would certainly understand. But if it doesn’t go too well and he has the urge to play football, we would certainly welcome him in Orlando.”

Tebow is currently playing for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies — the New York Mets Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League. Tebow hit a home run in his very first at-bat a few days ago and has only played in two games thus far. He is currently 1-for-7 with one homer and three strikeouts.

Spurrier was announced as the very first coach of the very first team in the new Alliance of American Football on Saturday with other teams and big-name coaches in the eight-team league expected to be rolled out in the coming days and weeks.

The inaugural 10-week season is scheduled to begin Feb. 9, 2019.

There is no name for Orlando’s team yet, but the Alliance has announced that games will be played at UCF’s Spectrum Stadium.

“When they (league officials) told me there was going to be a team in Orlando, I said, ‘I’m very interested!’” Spurrier said. “I don’t think I would move out of Florida, but to coach a team in Orlando among all the Gators and Seminoles and especially that UCF bunch, that will be thrilling.

“We’re going to try do what those UCF Knights did — they won the championship; they won it all last year. To me, they were at least one of the national champions. If you ask me, we had co-national champs last year — UCF and Alabama.”