College football has undergone some dramatic changes in recent years.
But one is getting on the nerves of fans and commentators.
And Tim Tebow was ready to go to war against this big problem in college football.
The rise of fake injuries in college football
College football teams are always trying to find a way to get a competitive edge.
An increasing number of teams run no-huddle, up-tempo offenses that do not give defenses a chance to regroup after a play.
Faking an injury can give a defense time to catch its breath and make substitutions.
It can also function as a free time out on offense.
The fake injury situation has become a major controversy in the SEC and the Ole Miss Rebels have been accused of being one of its biggest abusers.
Blatant fake injury from Ole Miss vs. Kentucky😬
(via @ESPN)pic.twitter.com/l09rrJ7cA1
— On3 (@On3sports) September 28, 2024
Ole Miss running back Matt Jones was caught falling over and acting hurt in the team’s game against the Kentucky Wildcats.
Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow was known for being one of the toughest players in college football during his playing days.
The SEC Network commentator does not want to see college football become soccer with fake injuries stopping the flow of the game.
“I’m a soccer fan. I love that we’re bringing teams here to Jacksonville,” Tebow said. “I think soccer is a great sport. But we don’t want to turn football into soccer.”
Flopping is a longtime tactic in soccer to try and draw a penalty on the other team.
“There is a difference. I don’t think that we should just be tapped and ‘Oh my gosh, I’m gonna go fall down.’ No, no, no,” Tebow explained. “That works in another sport and it’s the biggest sport in the world. But we’re celebrating college football right now. Both are amazing. Let’s keep football as football and let’s not do that.”
A potential solution to fake injuries
One of the biggest problems in stopping fake injuries is that it is difficult to tell if a player injured themselves.
There are obvious examples of faking like the Ole Miss running back but most are judgment calls.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a letter to head coaches and athletic directors warning them to stop faking injuries.
“When defending against a ‘hurry up’ offense, you are to use the allocated team timeouts if you need to stop play or you may allow the play to continue with the personnel and defensive play call in place,” Sankey wrote. “When on offense, if the play clock is running out, you are to use a team timeout or accept the delay of game penalty.”
Video of a game can now be sent to the SEC office to be reviewed to determine if a player faked an injury.
Head coaches can be fined $50,000 if it’s determined that an injury was faked, and they can potentially be suspended on a third offense.
“As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs,” Sankey stated. “Play football and stop the feigned injury nonsense.”
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
