{"id":19011,"date":"2011-12-21T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/"},"modified":"2011-12-21T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-21T20:15:00","slug":"tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tim<\/p>\n
\n

Melvin Thomas and Tim Tebow<\/p>\n

Courtesy Melvin Thomas, Brian Dowling\/PictureGroup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As far as college classes go, Melvin Thomas wasn’t looking forward to biology lab. The University of Florida student would rather take a humanities course or an economics course or something more reading-intensive. Science, not so much.<\/p>\n

But his biology lab would prove to be one of the more memorable courses of his college career.<\/p>\n

His appreciation for his weekly lab started on the first day of class: the day Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow<\/a> walked into the room, nodded in his direction and sat down in the empty chair at his desk.<\/p>\n

“Hi, I’m Melvin.”<\/p>\n

“Hi,” Tebow, then the quarterback for the Florida Gators, replied. “I’m Tim.” <\/p>\n

They exchanged phone numbers.<\/p>\n

An Unassuming Presence<\/h4>\n

“It was surprising,” Thomas tells PEOPLE of the moment Tebow \u2013 whose six-week winning streak<\/a> came to an end Sunday night in a game against the New England Patriots \u2013 walked into his class, prompting the room to fall into a hush of college students “playing it cool.” He adds: “He honestly didn’t assume anything.”<\/p>\n

It was January 2009, and the UF athlete superstar had just returned to Gainesville, Fla., in glory from a victory BCS National Championship game in Miami. He had already announced he would spend his senior year as a Gator instead of entering the NFL Draft. He was recovering from shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n

Thomas says the two worked together nearly every week on assignments for the lab, which was geared toward non-science majors. (Tebow graduated from UF in 2010 with a degree in family, youth and community sciences.)<\/p>\n

When the class was working on a lesson about evolution, Thomas says Tebow “never argued or generated conflict” about the course material. “He did whatever he had to do for school,” he says.<\/p>\n

Thomas says Tebow, an evangelical Christian, believes in microevolution (as opposed to macroevolution, which refers to large-scale evolutionary changes).<\/p>\n

“The Busiest Person”<\/h4>\n

As far as star-sightings go in north-central Florida, he was “as much as a celebrity as any student could ever be.” Even in a charming college town with a population just less than 125,000, Tebow and Thomas had to plan their study locales wisely.<\/p>\n

So the library was off-limits.<\/p>\n

The two would often work in Thomas’s dorm room. Study breaks meant playing NCAA Football on Thomas’s Xbox.<\/p>\n

“He was really chill \u2013 down to earth,” Thomas says. “He’s probably the busiest person I have ever met in my life at all times \u2013 aways doing something.”<\/p>\n

“Doing something” often meant doing good for Tebow, who was no stranger to charity work even in college. (His Tim Tebow Foundation is now helping build a children’s hospital in the Philippines.)<\/p>\n

But sometimes doing good meant making a fan smile.<\/p>\n

Thomas remembers going to the Florida Museum of Natural History on campus with Tebow to complete a lab assignment. They filed through the museum, filling out a worksheet about the evolution of stingrays and various creatures. There was a class of local students there, too, on a field trip.<\/p>\n

“Half the time Tim had to hide because if a bus full of kids saw him, we’d never get our assignments done,” he says.<\/p>\n

They slipped out the back entrance \u2013 just not before Tebow signed a few autographs for his young admirers. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

View post:
\nTim Tebow Was My Lab Partner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melvin Thomas and Tim Tebow Courtesy Melvin Thomas, Brian Dowling\/PictureGroup As far as college classes go, Melvin Thomas wasn’t looking forward to biology lab. The University of Florida student would rather take a humanities course or an economics course or something more reading-intensive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nTim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Melvin Thomas and Tim Tebow Courtesy Melvin Thomas, Brian Dowling\/PictureGroup As far as college classes go, Melvin Thomas wasn't looking forward to biology lab. The University of Florida student would rather take a humanities course or an economics course or something more reading-intensive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-21T20:15:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\",\"name\":\"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-21T20:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Melvin Thomas and Tim Tebow Courtesy Melvin Thomas, Brian Dowling\/PictureGroup As far as college classes go, Melvin Thomas wasn't looking forward to biology lab. The University of Florida student would rather take a humanities course or an economics course or something more reading-intensive","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner","datePublished":"2011-12-21T20:15:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/"},"wordCount":566,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/","name":"Tim Tebow Was My Lab Partner - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-21T20:15:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/21\/tim-tebow-was-my-lab-partner\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/7910tim-tebow-1-440.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}