Tim Tebow Act likely to pass in Alabama, allowing home-schooled athletes to play on high school teams

Video: Way Back When - Tim Tebow
See the star quarterback in action for Nease High, where he played despite being home-schooled

To allow home-schooled students to play on state federated teams or not. That is the question.

The debate has been circling around state associations for years, but with Tim Tebow's name tied to latest legislation — The "Tim Tebow Act" — the debate seems to be swirling like a twister.

According to Rob Stott of associationsnow.com, 30 states have some sort of Tebow Act legislation, up from six from 2007.

Tebow's name is tied to legislation sort of like "Tommy John Surgery." John had groundbreaking surgery on his left arm in the 1970s, but had nothing to do with how it was done.

Tebow is arguably the country's most famous home-schooled athlete, having led Nease (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) to a state title despite not actually attending the school. Even though Florida's home-school legislation passed in 1996 and Tebow led Nease in 2003 and 2004, the home-school rule became known as the Tim Tebow Law.

Alabama is likely to become the next state to pass legislation to allow home-schooled athletes play on high school teams. The state's House of Representatives approved the bill earlier this month and the Senate should vote on it this week.

Stott approached NFHS Executive Director Bob Gardner on the topic, and he offered both sides and noted states are pretty much divided.

"Some permit home-school students to play in the district where they reside and have done so for years, and others are very adamant that that's one of the cardinal principles of why state associations came into existence in the first place — that you need to attend the school before you can play for that school," he said.

"Eligibility rules have been on the books for nearly a century now, and the discussion around home-school student-athlete participation has been going on for at least the last few decades. Tim Tebow's notoriety and fame certainly increased the attention around the discussion, but this is not a new conversation in our industry."