How a Dropped Phone Call Almost Led to Tim Tebow Choosing Alabama Over Florida Minutes Before He Announced His Commitment

Arguably the greatest player in college football history almost had a career path which would have looked very different.

On FOX Sports' Ring Chronicles, Tim Tebow told the story of his commitment to Florida and how his decision between the Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide came down to quite literally the last minute and a dropped phone call.

Tebow recalled being backstage just minutes before he announced his decision and still going back and forth between the two schools before his dad asked which one he'd pick if he had to make the choice based on one person. Tebow said he believed in Urban Meyer and wanted to play for him. He then decided he would call Alabama head coach Mike Shula to deliver the news.

“I said ‘Hey Coach Shula, I’m so sorry I’m not gonna go to Alabama, I’m gonna go to Florida,’" Tebow said. "He says ‘Timmy, you stop right there. I love you just as much now as if you came to (Alabama). You’re gonna have a great career and hopefully I'll coach you one day.’ So I hang up the phone and I look at my dad and say, 'That was the coach I was supposed to play for!'"

Meyer and Tebow then both recalled how Tebow, still in tears from delivering the news to Shula, called Meyer to tell him he planned to announce his commitment to Florida when the call dropped just before Tebow was supposed to go on stage.

"I'm driving home and my cell phone rings and it's Tim," Meyer said. "And I was like, 'Oh man, here we go.' He was kind of crying on the phone ... and he goes, 'I've decided to go —' and right when he says that, the phone goes out."

"I literally am dialing him back and dialing him back and they're literally pushing me on stage. We have a full auditorium at Nease High School full of people on one side in orange and blue and the other side is red and white," Tebow said. "And so I'm mic'd up and I go, 'Dad, I didn't actually tell Coach Meyer I'm going to Florida, I could still go to Alabama.' And so the guys that could hear me on ESPN are like, 'What? Is this real?'"

Ultimately, Tebow obviously stuck with Meyer and the Gators, but how different college football history could be if that decision went the other way. Though Tebow would have committed to Shula, a guy by the name of Nick Saban became Alabama's head coach during Tebow's sophomore year.

There's no telling what that duo could have done.