Another day, another trophy for Tim Tebow.

Last night at the New York Athletic Club, the ballyhooed Florida sophomore quarterback picked up the prestigious AAU Sullivan Award, which is given to the nation’s top amateur athlete.

Tebow, who helped starter Chris Leak and the Gators to a national title for the first time in 12 years as a freshman in 2006, followed that up last season by becoming the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He also won the Maxwell Award (nation’s top player) and the Davey O’Brien Award (best quarterback) in his first season as starter.

To say Tebow is celebrated would be an understatement.

“I’m honored to be here and win this award,” Tebow said last night. “Both the Heisman and [the Sullivan] are phenomenal awards and both times coming to New York have been special to me.”

But the Sullivan Award is different. With a history dating to 1930, the Sullivan is five years older than the Heisman and puts emphasis on both athletic achievement and strong moral character. The last football player to win was Peyton Manning in 1997, the year the Tennesse quarterback was denied the Heisman by Michigan’s Charles Woodson.

“This award means so much because it’s important how you are off the field and your personal character,” Tebow said. “No matter how many trophies you win, you’re never going to be truly happy unless you’re a good person.”

Tebow is often praised for his work off the field, following in the footsteps of his parents, who were both Christian missionaries in the Philippines. Tebow, 20, has spent the last couple summers going on Christian missions to less-fortunate areas, where he works with his father’s group, the Bob Tebow Evangelical Association.

“We’re all running in the game of life,” Tebow said in his acceptance speech, “and we can all win.”

That may sound cliché, but on the field, Tebow lets his numbers speak for themselves. Last year, he was the first player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 20 touchdowns, doing a lot of it with a bruised shoulder and a broken non-throwing hand. He threw for 3,286 yards (66.9 completion percentage) and rushed for 895, setting SEC records for total touchdowns (55) and rushing touchdowns (23).

Although it was a great individual season, the Gators finished No. 16 in the final USA Today/Coaches poll, and that’s something Tebow doesn’t like. For a program that prides itself on competing for a BCS title every year, last year’s record of 9-4 – including a bowl loss to Michigan and regular-season defeats to rivals Georgia, LSU and Auburn – isn’t going to cut it. That’s also why Tebow’s plans include, at the least, playing his junior season.

“I was born a Gator and I’m going to die a Gator,” Tebow said, referring to both his parents being Florida alumni and his rooting interest as a child. “My plan [is to come back] and hopefully I’ll stick to it. I’m going to graduate, but you never know how things are going to turn out.”

Considering amateur athletics are thinned out by the money and fame that professional sports bring, the Sullivan often ends up in the hands of athletes whose sport has no professional league. Over the last 20 years, only five award winners have gone on to play pro: Charlie Ward (’93, NBA), Manning (’97, NFL), Chamique Holdsclaw (’98, WNBA), Coco and Kelly Miller (’99, WNBA) and J.J. Redick (’05, NBA).

The other finalists this year were Jonathan Horton (gymnastics), Jeff Lerg (hockey), Phillipa Raschker (track and field) and Angela Tincher (softball).