Like a baseball-playing, Heisman trophy-winning superhero, Tim Tebow found himself once again at the scene of a near disaster over the weekend.
Meet Savanna Collins, a telecommunications student at the University of Florida. Collins is 20 years old and works for ESPN Gainesville, which operates out of the journalism school on the UF campus. Collins also found herself on the receiving end of one of the worst hits in college football this past weekend.
“I was filming the highlight, and I was zoomed in really tight on the running back, and so I didn’t see the defenders around him through my lens. I kinda peeked up, and I saw they were coming right towards me.” Collins described to SB Nation, “I started trying to back up, but there were so many reporters that by the time I started trying to back up, I knew I was going down. I braced myself, and I put on a tight grip on that camera.”
Collins caught up with the Georgia player who accidentally hit her after the game, “I said, ‘Hey, you’re Smith aren’t you?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, yeah’ and I was like ‘I’m fine, I’m the girl you ran over.’ And his face … I shouldn’t have said anything, because he was so apologetic. I was like, ‘No, no, I just had to let you know you pack a mean punch behind your hit. You just need to know that.’ And he just kinda laughed and walked off.”
So how did Tebow make himself a part of all this? According to Collins he ended up as the one holding the shattered pieces of her camera. “Well, before the play started coming over, he was standing actually directly to my left,” Collins explained. “I was fully aware of who he was, but I wasn’t gonna bother him. I knew he was there to enjoy the game. I’m just kinda going about my business. But after I get hit and fell on the ground, he was one of the first people right there beside me. He grabbed my arm, said, ‘Are you OK, are you OK?’”
Collins managed to turn the situation to her advantage by scoring an interview with Tebow.
So, if keeping score at home, Tim Tebow found himself on the scene of a man having a heart attack on an airplane, he comforted and prayed over a fan who went into a seizure at an autograph signing after a minor-league baseball game, and now he happens upon the scene of a ferocious sideline hit where he provides the video that will likely land a young student her first job.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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