Tim Tebow Gets OSU in Trouble With 8-Second Phone Call With Recruit

By Katherine Weber, Christian Post Reporter Friday, February 28, 2014

Ohio State University has self-reported a violation from 2013 when former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow spoke on the phone with recruit Clifton Garrett.

Clifton Garrett, a high school graduate and linebacker from Illinois, had called Ohio State University Coach Urban Meyer in March 2013. When Meyer received the phone call, he was reportedly on vacation with Tim Tebow, and Garrett had asked to briefly speak with Tebow to wish him luck on the upcoming football season. It's considered a secondary violation of NCAA rules for a recruit to speak with any former college football player on behalf of a college.

Garrett then tweeted about his 8-second conversation with Tebow, writing back in March: "I just called Coach Meyer just ta see whats up and next thing you know I was talking on the phone to TIM TEBOW!!! #InShockRightNow #Insane!"

OSU officials self-reported the incident, saying in a report to the NCAA that no recruiting was done, either by Coach Meyer or Tebow, during the short conversation.

"Upon receiving the call, Coach Meyer informed Garrett that he was on vacation and having lunch with friends and family, including Tim Tebow. Garrett asked Coach Meyer if he could wish Tebow good luck on the upcoming season. Coach Meyer handed the phone to Tebow and Garrett conversed with Tebow for approximately eight seconds. Coach Meyer stated that no recruiting conversation occurred, there was no intent to have Tebow recruit on behalf of Ohio State and he, in fact, did not recruit on behalf of Ohio State."

The OSU's Tebow violation was one of 42 secondary violations committed by the university during 2013 across all sports, and the school report citing the violations states that the number is not out of the ordinary. Other such violations include accidental "pocket dials" from coaches to recruits.

"Six out of the seven calls were for one minute or less and the other was a two minute call or less," reads the school report. "The coaches were unaware that the calls had taken place until the recruiting software flagged the calls in April of 2013. The inadvertent calls were not made through the recruiting software application on the coaches' phones and therefore, the coaches were unaware that the calls had occurred until the Compliance Office cross referenced the coaches' phone bills with the recruiting information in the software."

As the Orlando Sentinel notes, Tebow's conversation with Garrett ultimately did not have much impact on the linebacker, as he decided to sign with Louisiana State University earlier this February.